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| Upcoming
Tournaments |
Stiga U.S. Open
July 24, 2010
Lemont, IL
USA
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Battle at Binghamton
November 2010
Binghamton, NY
USA
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Let's Play Hockey Championships
Jan. 24, 2011
Las Vegas, NV
USA
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Stiga North American Championships
March 18-19, 2011
Detroit, MI
USA
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Great Lakes Invitational
June 2011
Madison, WI
USA
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Current Events |
USTHA presents awards to top 10 U.S. players for 2009-10 Tour Year 7-25-2010
USTHA board member Paul Brotz of the Detroit area presented framed certificates to most of the top 10 U.S. players on Saturday, July 24 at the Stiga U.S. Open in suburban Chicago. Brotz wanted the organization to honor the top 10 finishing players for the recently-concluded 2009-10 tour year and carried through the idea. Seven of the players, including Player of the Year John Labianca, got their awards handed to them. Three others will get theirs in the mail. The USTHA plans on continuing the practice in the years to come.
#3 Player in the World Wins Stiga U.S. Open 7-24-2010
Edgars Caics of Latvia, ranked #3 in the world, won the 2010 Stiga U.S. Open in Lemont, IL on Saturday, July 24. He went 39-0 on the day, showing off his skills to an enthusiastic crowd. He faced Jeff Puopolo of Groveland, MA in the finals. Taking third was Kent Richter of Edmonton over Dany Leclerc of the Montreal area. Winning the B group was Jeff Thill of South Holland, IL, while the C group was won by Eric Dibacco of Weirton, WV. D group honors went to Steve Puopolo Jr. of Groveland, MA.
Stiga U.S. Open kicks off 2010-11 North American Tour 7-23-2010
The U.S. Open tournament in suburban Chicago is the site of the first stop on the new tour year. Around 40 players are scheduled to battle it out, with Edgars Caics of Latvia headlining the event. He's ranked #3 in the world and is believed to be the highest-ranked international player ever to play at a North American Stiga event. Organizers plan to post results from their two tournaments. The Friday night Coleco tournament results will be posted here. The Saturday Stiga main event results will be posted here. Thanks to Paul Ruiz of tablehockeyheaven.com, the official message board of the U.S. Open and the USTHA.
North American Tour 2009-2010 over after inaugural Madison event 6-28-2010
The 2009-2010 North American Tour is in the books after the final event of the year, the first-ever sanctioned Great Lakes Invitational, was held in beautiful Madison, WI last weekend. We'll have more on the recently-concluded tour year --- and some notes on the 2010-11 tour --- in the coming weeks. The Madison tournament was organized by Darwin Sampson and Jason Huberty, two Stiga die-hards in a town known for its local microbrews. The A Pool went to Eric Krol of the Chicago area, winning the finals 4-3 over Tim Walker of the Detroit area. The B Pool went to Darwin Sampson of Madison over Mike Hibbard of New Glarus, WI. Tournament was penalized 5 points for falling under the 16-player standard, but gained 5 points on strength of field. Thanks to everyone who took part in a tour event the past 12 months. If not for the players, we wouldn't all be having so much table hockey fun.
Still time to sign up for Madison tournament 6-6-2010
Still a couple weeks left to sign up for the first-ever Great Lakes Invitational. It'll be held in Madison, WI on Sunday, June 27. It's the last tournament of the 2009-10 tour year. For more information, please click on the tournament logo in the left-hand column of this page.
Axelsen repeats in Montreal 6-5-2010
Bjarne Axelsen of Denmark successfully defended his title at the Montreal tournament, winning the Rose Bowl Classic IX. He defeated Denis Maille of Montreal in the finals. Maille got there by beating Bernie Kunzler of Kitchener, ONT in the semifinals in a 7-game thriller. Arne Holmin of Norway won third. Patrick Cote's alter ego won the B Pool and Francois Larivee won the C Pool. Congrats to organizer Pierre Chastenais for another talent-filled edition of his long-running event. UPDATE: You can see the results by clicking here.
Update: Rankings page has been updated to reflect Montreal 2010. Falling off were results from Montreal 2008 and Southern California 2008.
Kunzler wins Gatineau 4-25-2010
Bernie Kunzler of Kitchener, ONT defeated Dany Leclerc of the Montreal area to win the 2010 Canada Challenge on Saturday, April 24 in an efficiently-run tournament. Taking the B group was Michel Decarie of the Montreal area over John Cooke, the tournament organizer who hails from Snake River. Making the trip up north was a group from Binghamton, NY, which will put on their next tournament in November. The next tournament is the Rose Bowl Classic IX in Montreal the first weekend in June.
First-ever Great Lakes Invitational announced 4-15-2010
A group of organizers in Madison, WI has announced the first-ever Great Lakes Invitational. The players had talked about holding a tournament since last summer and after attending the fine Stiga North American Championships in Detroit, were inspired to submit their sanctioning application at the end of March. It was approved unanimously to join the tour and also approved to be the last event of the current 2009-2010 tour year. You can find out more about the tournament at the event web site. And you can discuss the tournament in this post at tablehockeyheaven.com. Best of luck to the organizers of this new event.
Preparations underway for Canada Challenge in Gatineau 4-05-2010
Tournament organizers are busy prepping for the next event on the Stiga North American Tour. It's the Canada Challenge, a long-running tournament held in Gatineau, Ottawa. This year, the profits will go to the Ottawa Food Bank. There are lots of talented table hockey players in Gatineau, so it's a trip worth making. Sign up today! For more information, please click here.
Axelsen wins Detroit 3-27-2010
Denmark's Bjarne Axelsen won the Stiga North American Championships tournament in Detroit, besting Bernie Kunzler of Kitchener, ONT in the finals. It was a rematch of last summer's U.S. Open finals. Taking third in the top group was Kent Richter of Edmonton, AB. B pool winner was Jeff Thill of South Holland, IL. C pool winner was Paul Ruiz of Toledo, OH and D pool winner was Eric Dibacco of Weirton, WV. To see a list of winners, please click here.
Update: Rankings page has been updated.
Detroit table hockey weekend results 3-25-2010
The Stiga North American Championships are going on this weekend in Detroit. The Coleco tournament is Friday night. We'll be posting results as we can. And the Stiga tournament final will be carried live on the internet. To see Coleco results, please click here: Coleco results. To see Stiga results, please click here: Stiga results. To see the Stiga finals live, please check the tablehockeyheaven.com Web site by clicking here: Watch Stiga finals live.
New Web page for Canada Challenge tournament 3-13-2010
Canadian Table Hockey Association President John Cooke has put up a Web page with the details on the April 24 Canadian Challenge tournament in Gatineau. Find out everything you need to know about the tournament, including how to register, by going here: Canadian Challenge web site.
Detroit table hockey weekend builds momentum 3-1-2010
The Detroit double shot of table hockey is less than four weeks away. The Saturday Stiga tournament is humming along with 27 players already signed up. The Friday night Coleco tournament has about half that amount. The details are here: SNAC web site.
Now we go to school 2-28-2010
Top Swedish player Thomas Petersson has set up a Table Hockey School web site to teach some Stiga basics. It's a great resource for both new players looking to get a few tips and veteran players looking to tighten up their games. You can check it out here: tablehockeyschool.com site.
Detroit tournament details announced 2-8-2010
Organizer Paul Brotz has delivered on the details of the Stiga North American Championships. The two days of table hockey will take place on March 26-27, 2010. The main event is the Saturday Stiga tournament. On Friday night, there will be a Coleco 5380-style tournament. The details will be available here: SNAC web site.
Fridell comes all the way back to win Las Vegas 1-26-10
Lars Fridell overcame a 3-0 deficit in the finals to defeat Pontus Eriksson 4-3 in the Best of 7 finals at the Let's Play International Table Hockey Championships on Monday, Jan. 25 in Las Vegas, NV. The two Swedish stars played a series for the ages. Taking third was Bjarne Axelsen of Denmark over Juri Artamonov of Estonia. B Pool winner was Jim Rzonca of Lemont, IL over John Labianca of Las Vegas. C Pool winner was Kevin Rafferty of Laguna Hills, CA over Jay Petrick of Las Vegas. Full results soon, but for now you can click here to check it more information.
Update: Rankings have been updated. Please click here.
Las Vegas tournament results 1-25-10
We'll hopefully be posting some results from the round robins and playoffs at the stigalasvegas tournament throughout the day Monday. Keep in mind, Vegas is in the Pacific time zone. The results will be available on tablehockeyheaven.com, the official message board of the USTHA. Please click here to check it out.
Check out these table hockey videos 1-18-10
Hello. Hoping to make this a semi-regular feature here on the USTHA web site: table hockey videos. We've got three this time. First up, check out this How-To center trick by TC Yarin by clicking here. Next up, check out this European battle from the JML Open. It's got Sweden's Jimmy Eklund, ranked 72nd in the world. Check it out: by clicking here. And last up, a league match from the Detroit CAGA league. It's Mike Sowa on the left and Kevin Williams on the right: Click here for CAGA.
Canada Challenge on its way back 1-9-10
The Canada Challenge tournament in Gatineau is back on the schedule. CTHA President John Cooke and player/organizer Eric DesJardins are working on staging the great tournament once again. It'll take place Saturday, April 24 is the date being targeted at the Clarion, the same venue as before. Check back at this web site for more later or check out the developments by clicking here.
Vegas first tournament of the year 1-7-10
The new year kicks off as it has for five years now --- with the Let's Play Hockey tournament in Las Vegas. Organizer Jim Rzonca is putting on the fifth edition of the Stiga Las Vegas event, this time at the MGM Grand. Several European players are expected to attend the tournament on Monday, Jan. 25, 2010. Check out the links: Discuss the tournament, Visit the tournament Web site, Learn about the Coleco tournament the day before. You can also chat live Jan. 11 at tablehockeyheaven.com.
Stefaniszyn repeats at Stiga Shootout 12-12-09
It was an all-Edmonton finals at the U.S. Stiga Shootout in Southern California. Reggie Stefaniszyn defeated Kent Richter 4-0 in the finals to repeat as champion. Tom Warren, from the San Fran area by way of Detroit, took the B group finals over Dan Brown of Manchester, NH. More results up at tablehockeyheaven.com so please click here.
Update: The rankings page has now been updated.
Gamache wins Binghamton 11-21-09
The second Battle at Binghamton was a smash success, drawing 30 players plus more for a kids' division. Taking the top group was Alain Gamache of the Gatineau, CAN area. Winning the B pool was Matt DiDomizio of Cromwell, CT over Eric Dibacco of Weirton, WV. The third group honors went to Len "Rodwarriors.com" Mecca of Cherry Hill, NJ over Jerry Kiballa, one of the local tournament organizers. And ring up the fourth group for Don Heckathorn over Sean Corrigan, both from the Binghamton area. Earlier, we got some live results up at tablehockeyheaven.com click here.
Update: The rankings page has been updated. To check it out, please click here.
Momentum building for second Binghamton tournament 10-29-09
The player list continues to grow for the 2nd edition of the Battle at Binghamton table hockey tournament. It's a USTHA/CTHA sanctioned event taking place Saturday, Nov. 21 in upstate New York. A great tournament for traveling players and East Coast-based players alike. Several recent signups include players from north of the border. Don't get shut out...sign up today. The tournament web site is here.
New Stiga table hockey tournament in Toronto 10-28-09
There's a new Stiga tournament just announced that's taking place on Saturday, Nov. 7 in Toronto. It's called the "Great Canadian Stiga Expert Table Hockey Championship." It's limited to 48 players and you can use NHL figures only. The new tournament is not part of the Stiga North American Tour (at least not in its first year). You can find out more information about the event by clicking here.
New web site, date announced for Rose Bowl Classic IX 10-27-09
Pierre Chastenais has announced the date for his ninth RBC tournament. It's June 5, 2010. He's also working on a new web site. You can see by click here.
Axelsen wins Edmonton Centennial 9-27-09
Denmark Bjarne Axelsen won his fourth North American tournament since January when he took the Centennial Cup Challenge at the West Edmonton Mall on Saturday, Sept. 26. He bested tournament organizer Reggie Stefaniszyn 4-1 in the finals. Third was Kent Richter. Taking the B Pool was Eric Krol of suburban Chicago. C Pool went to Wesley Miller and D Pool to young Kalder Pelkey-Ruiz. Axelsen won Vegas in January, Rose Bowl Montreal in May, U.S. Open in August and now Edmonton. Binghamton is next.
UPDATE: The rankings have been updated.
Second Battle at Binghamton is set 9-3-09
The organizers of this year's Battle at Binghamton have a set a tournament date. It's Saturday, Nov. 21. The first edition of this tournament last November got great reviews from those who attended. To sum them up: it's good fun, good table hockey fun and an ice hockey game at night to boot. Thank you to organizers Mike Horan and Jerry Kiballa. You can get all the information on this great event by clicking here.
Table hockey updates 8-14-09
We don't have a traditional-style blog here yet at the USTHA, but I'll post some updates from time to time on the organization's official message board at tablehockeyheaven.com. The latest has some information about old tournaments and potential new ones. You can read it by clicking here.
Axelsen wins U.S. Open 8-2-09
The new North American Stiga Tour year began much like the last one ended: with Bjarne Axelsen of Denmark winning a tournament. Axelsen defeated Bernie Kunzler of Canada 4-1 in the finals to become the 2009 Stiga U.S. Open champion. The tournament in suburban Chicago drew 38 players. Winning the B Group was Jeff Farwell of Yorkville, IL. C Group champion is Ron Chesick of Montreal, QUE and the D Group was won by Pierre Chastenais also of Montreal. Results will be posted soon but you can get a preview of them by clicking here.
Several North American events part of ITHF World Tour 7-25-09
Four events in the U.S. and Canada are part of the 2009-10 International Table Hockey Federation World Tour. They are: Chicago U.S. Open (Aug. 1), Edmonton Centennial (Sept. 26), Let's Play Hockey Las Vegas (Jan. 25) and Detroit SNAC (March 27). You can see all the World Tour events by clicking here.
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Welcome |
The USTHA is the national governing
body for the sport of table hockey in the United States. |
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theSCORE
Official North America Newsletter (sample issue only) |
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Current
Top 10 US Players
June 2010
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1. Eric
Krol - 123
Homer Glen, IL
2. John
Labianca - 122
Las Vegas, NV
3. John
Medema - 113
Tinley Park, IL
4. Jeff
Farwell - 112
Yorkville, IL
5. Ron
Marsik - 110
Hickory Hills, IL
6. Kevin
Rafferty - 109
Laguna Hills, CA
7. Paul
Brotz - 105
Canton, MI
8. Paul
Shabi - 102
Fraser, MI
9. Tim
Walker - 99
Madison Heights, MI
10. Matt Rogers - 98
Rowley, MA
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Ranking
Points
in Red
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USTHA Official Message Board at Tablehockeyheaven.com |
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