Table Hockey Heaven

[EricK]

Hello. Thought I'd start this up and hopefully I'll remember to update it every day between now and the Stiga U.S. Open, to be held Saturday, July 28 in Lemont, IL near Chicago.


Today's fact: this year marks the 6th Stiga U.S. Open. The event started in the backyard of Jerry Pytlewski in August 2002 and we've held it every year since.

[Jim Rzonca]

AUGUST 2002 ~ LEMONT TABLE HOCKEY LEAGUE BIG 54 / U.S. OPEN RON MARSIK CHAMPION

Big 54 / U.S. Open Round Robin Results (also serves as Week 11 of LTHL)


PLAYER W L GF GA POINTS
Ron Marsik 17 1 114 28 10.5
Bernie Kunzler 17 1 110 25 9.5
Scott Pytlewski 14 4 63 41 8.5
Jim Rzonca 14 4 91 37 7.5
Garry Butler 14 4 77 37 6.5
Eric Krol 13 5 83 50 5.5
Pierre Chastenais 12 6 69 39 4.5
Mike Lisowski 11 7 80 57 3.5
Jim Gove 10 8 59 44 2.5
Joe Salazar 9 9 59 50 1.5
Bill McDaniel 7 11 45 75 1.0
Jeff Thill 6 12 33 58 1.0
Jerry Pytlewski 6 12 39 98 1.0
Jason Walker 5 13 28 69 1.0
Jeff Farwell 5 13 49 82 1.0
Will Sundwall 4 14 33 49 1.0
Matt Soukup 3 15 29 80 1.0
John Butney 3 15 22 94 1.0
John Phillips 1 17 18 88 1.0


Most goals scored: Marsik, 114
Most goals given up: Jerry P., 98
Least goals scored: Butney, 22
Least goals given up: Kunzler 25
Best differential between goals scored and goals given up: Marsik +86
Worst differential: Butney -72

Marsik also wins the Big 54 plaque by being the first player on the
evening to score 54 goals.


Top 4 faced off for playoffs.

Ron Marsik defeats Bernie Kunzler 2 games to 1 in over 100 degree heat index around 2 am to win the event. It was hotter than Hell.

*Each player gets one point for playing in the tournament. To
determine the number of points for first place, take the number of
players and divide by 2 (9.5). Second place gets 8.5 points, and so
on.

[Jim Rzonca]

Here was Erics write up in the old Table Hockey Cafe 2002.
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/TableHockeyCafe/message/2052?l=1

What a time we had............

Jim Rzonca
****STIGA U.S. OPEN****
www.lemonttablehockey.com/usopen


It was a table hockey tournament for the ages Saturday night in
Chicago as the Lemont Table Hockey League drew its largest crowd ever
for the Jerry Pytlewski Big 54 Open. It was a night that featured
incredible play, good sportsmanship, and a dramatic best-of-three
finals. Nineteen players braved the heat and humidity to play a round-
robin tournament that started at 7 p.m. and ended at 2 a.m. In the
finals, Ron Marsik defeated Bernie Kunzler two games to one to win
the first-place plaque. Scott Pytlewski took third and Jim Rzonca
fourth. More on all that later. Let's take this one from the top.

The Big 54 Open was a way for LTHL Commissioner Jerry Pytlewski
to mark his 54th birthday. Friends, family and table hockey fanatics
gathered to eat food graciously provided by the Pytlewskis. Visiting
Canadians Piere Chastenais of Montreal and Bernie Kunzler of
Kitchener were the guests of honor, each taking long bus trips to
play in the tournament and bunking out at the Pytlewskis. Both
brought a high level of play and a lot of class to the proceedings.
Scott Pytlewski did a great job setting things up and organizing the
tournament, which saw 19 rounds go off without a hitch as each player
got in 18 games in the round-robin portion of the evening. Kunzler
and Marsik dominated the round-robin, each going 17-1. Pierre made
good on his message board post on Saturday, defeating Kunzler 4-2 for
Kunzler's only defeat of the round-robin. Kunzler handed Marsik his
only loss of the first 18 games, winning 4-3. The top four finishers
were scheduled to make the playoffs, but Scott Pytlewski, Rzonca and
Garry Butler all tied at 14-4. And since they all went 1-1 in head-to-
head play, a round-robin was held to determine the third and fourth
seeds. Rzonca defeated Butler 1-0 in a tight game. Scott Pytlewski
beat Butler 4-2, eliminating Butler, who took fifth. Other notes from
the round robin: Eric Krol had his best night of the year, going 13-5
to finish sixth, with his only losses coming to the five players who
finished ahead of him. Krol even had Kunzler down 3-0 with about 3
minutes left, only to lose 4-3. Pierre finished a solid 12-6 to take
seventh, while Chicago Table Hockey League 5-time champion Mike
Lisowski went 11-7 to take eighth. The returning CTHL'er Jim Gove
showed little rust, going 10-8 for ninth. CTHL'er Joe Salazar was
even at 9-9, placing 10th and getting the last points of the evening.
Two other newcomers were present, the two Jeffs, Farwell and Thill.
It was the first time on a Stiga for either, and the two Coleco
veterans acquitted themselves well and were good guys to boot,
staying until the end.

The Final Four: As previously determined, the top four finishers
played a round-robin to determine who would go to the best-of-three
finals. Kunzler defeated Rzonca 6-2, while Marsik defeated Scott
Pytlewski 4-1. They flipped players but not scores in the second
frame of the round robin, with Kunzler beating Scott P. 4-1 and
Marsik downing Rzonca 6-2. That left the third and final frame of the
final four, as Scott P. and Rzonca squared off for third place. The
winner would get a plaque and the loser would have only the
satisfaction of a job well done. Scott was up 2-1 until Rzonca tied
it with one second left on a timely goal from his center. But Scott
proved up to the challenge of overtime, putting one in with his
center about a minute in to take home that plaque 3-2. That meant the
Marsik-Kunzler contest was only to determine which player would get
his choice of table and side for the first game of the finals. This
one also went into OT, with Kunzler coming out on top 4-3.

The Finals: Incredible is the only word to describe the final three
games of the night. The finals featured Bernie Kunzler, who finished
fourth in Montreal this year, against Ron Marsik, a four-time
tournament winner in four different cities in the 1970s and `80s who
boasts more doubles tournament wins than any other player. Oh, and
Marsik is semi-retired from the hobby and hasn't played much Stiga.
When these two big boys of table hockey squared off, the music
stopped. It was as quiet as church. Ref Jim Gove dropped the puck….

Game One: Both players were feeling each other out, as Bernie went up
1-0 with about three minutes left in the five-minute game. It was
still 1-0 with 1:38 left when Kunzler scored again to stretch his
lead to 2-0. Kunzler executed a box defense to perfection in this one
as Marsik could not put one home. Kunzler put in two late goals in
the final 30 seconds to win 4-0 and push Marsik to the brink of
elimination.

Game Two: Don't bury Marsik, however. He ain't dead yet. It's nearly
2 a.m. at this point, and these two guys have been playing for seven
hours. With fatigue a factor, both players dug in their heels, and
there was no score for the first minute-and-a-half. But Marsik scored
with his center to go up 1-0. With 1:40 left, Marsik used his center
to perfection again for a 2-0 lead. Within 20 seconds, Kunzler halved
the lead. In the end, though, Marsik held for the last shot to win 2-
1, evening the series and forcing a dramatic game three.

Game Three: After a short breather, these two table hockey stalwarts
hooked `em up for the final game of the evening. Or early morning, as
the case was. Marsik scored a quick one in the first five seconds,
then went up 2-0 with three minutes left. Marsik decided the best
defense was a puck-control offense, as he held the puck for much of
the game. With two minutes left, it was still 2-0 though. Marsik went
up 3-0 with 1:10 left, and that's how it ended, with all the
remaining players giving these two great players a hearty ovation.

By far, the best night ever in the LTHL. Thanks to Pierre and Bernie
for making those bus rides just to play with us, and to Jim Rzonca
for putting in lots of time setting the games. And to Scott, Jerry
and the Pytlewski family for the food, drink and fun. What a way to
celebrate a birthday.

Coming up next: the standings for the evening.

byline302@...

[EricK]

Stiga U.S. Open fact of the day for Tuesday, June 5:

Kenny Dubois has won more Stiga U.S. Open tournaments than any other player: three. He won in 2003, 2004 and 2006. And in 2005, the year he didn't win it all, he made an appearance in the finals.

A truly great table hockey competitor whom we hope to have back this year.

[EricK]

OK, sorry, I really slacked off on posting new ones. To make up for it, here are two new ones:

At the 2006 Stiga U.S. Open, Alyson Pohlman became the first woman ever to compete at our tournament. And, boy, did she compete. Not only did she eliminate her husband, Zach, in the playoff quarterfinals, but she upended Jonathan Kittner for third place in the B pool. The Madison, WI resident showed the boys how it's done.

Pierre Chastenais has scored first-round playoff upsets two years in a row now. In 2005, he surprised higher-seeded Pascal Theriault in the A-pool playoffs, winning a seven-game series 4-3 in which no fewer than five of the games went into OT. Then last year, 12th-seeded Chastenais upended the hot-headed Dan Lord, the fifth seed, 4-3 in a Best of Seven series. Pierre held a 3-1 series lead before dropping the next two. He recovered to win Game 7 by a 5-4 tally. Proving that Pierre still has something left in the tank!

[Cowboy]

Keep them coming!

They are fun to read.

Thanks, Warren

[Jim Rzonca]

Alyson Pohlman vs Phil Hamilton ****STIGA U.S. OPEN**** 2006

[EricK]

Only four players have played in every Stiga U.S. Open dating back to 2002. They are: Jim Rzonca, Eric Krol, Joe Salazar and Jeff Thill.

Jeff Farwell and Jerry Pytlewski have only missed one year (2005).


Additional trivia: that night in 2002 at the Pytlewskis marked the first time Jeff Thill and Jeff Farwell came out to Lemont to play table hockey. They've been coming ever since for Stiga and Coleco, winning way more games than they've lost. Great competitors both!

[EricK]

Garry Butler was a founder of the U.S. Open, deciding to become a Stiga games and teams dealer and supplying the event with enough games. In short, it's possible the U.S. Open would have taken place without his help, but it's impossible that it would have been as nice of an event as it's been.

Garry passed away from cancer in October 2005, less than 24 hours before his beloved White Sox won the World Series. The 2006 U.S. Open was held in his honor and was an enormous success, raising something like $17,000 for his childrens' college fund. His tremendous friends and family built a big fund-raiser around a table hockey event through an auction and raffle.

The winner of the U.S. Open each year now gets to hold up a new gold trophy called the Garry Butler Memorial Trophy that's got all the winners listed on it. There's a picture of it on the tournament web site main page (Ken Dubois, the 2006 winner, with Mrs. Candy Butler):

http://www.lemonttablehockey.com/usopen/index.html


Just 40 days left until the Stiga U.S. Open (and 39 days until the Coleco U.S. Open). Have you registered?

[Jim Rzonca]

Trophy Photo by Jim Rzonca

[img]http://tablehockeypro.com/SU6/IMG_0850.html[/img]
Candy Butler Kenny Dubois with Trpohy Photo by Paul Ruiz

[PC_Gone _Crazy]

[Jim Rzonca]

I think that would Pierre Chastenais of Montreal.

Jimm Rzonca

[EricK]

Who's that? Never heard of him.

[EricK]

No one has won more Stiga U.S. Open tournaments than Ken Dubois (three).

His play in round robins has been nothing short of phenomenal. Check out the totals:

2003: 30-0-0
2004: 25-1-1
2005: 24-1-4
2006: 27-1-0

TOT: 106-3-5

Wow.

[EricK]

Since I'm on a roll with these, I'll post Tuesday's a day early...

Dubois has been equally impressive in the playoffs, where, at least in theory, the competition gets tougher. Here's a look:

2003: 15-0 (perfecto)
2004: 13-5 (lost to Chargo in finals, only playoff series ever lost at Open)
2005: 16-6 (Marsik pushed him to limit in semis)
2006: 16-0 (no one laid a glove on him)


The U.S. Open is July 28...are you registered?

[Jim Rzonca]

2003 Kenny Dubois goes 45-0 to win the Stiga U.S. Open. http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/TableHockeyTavern/msearch?query=45-0&pos=80&cnt=10

Jim Rzonca

[Jim Rzonca]

Well here is 2002. Our first tournament at Jerry Pytlweskis. Shown left to right is Pierre, Scott Pytlewski, Rzonca and Jerry Pytlewski. This is at about 11 pm and 100 degrees. Its so hot we were on FIRE!




What a time we had.............
Jim Rzonca

[EricK]

That guy on the right with no shirt on is deadsexy...

[EricK]

We're up to 34 players registered for this year's event. That's just nine off from the high-water mark for the Stiga U.S. Open. That came in 2005, when we drew 43 players.


Number of Stiga U.S. Open participants over the years:

2002: 19
2003: 32
2004: 40
2005: 43
2006: 42




Just 38 days left before the 2007 Stiga U.S. Open (and 27 until the Coleco U.S. Open)...get registered today...

[Jim Rzonca]

Yep would have been 43 again last year if Garry was there.....

Missin
Jim Rzonca

[EricK]

As the Stiga U.S. Open has grown each year, so has the size of the room.

The first year, the Big 54 tournament, which celebrated Jerry Pytlewski's 54th birthday, was held at the Pytlewski backyard in Lemont.

The next year, 2003, the Stiga U.S. Open moved to the Lithuanian World Center in Lemont, where it's been ever since. We had a small room that first year, with a wedding going on in the larger half at night. Come 2004, we moved to the bigger part of the room and the smaller part was dark. The past two years (I think, but definitely last year) we had the whole big ballroom to ourselves. I think that'll be the case again this year.

Here's what it looks like: (click on hall rental on the left)

http://lithuanianworldcenter.org/


Eric

[Jim Rzonca]

Every single match at this event was played with a ref. All tied matches went to overtime.

Jim Rzonca

[DETMURDS]

Jim,...that is what I love about you buddy,..you bring some history to the table everytime! You are always the ICON of tablehockey! :not_worthy:

[Jim Rzonca]

Thank you very much Paul. This was pretty much a Pytlewski, Butler, Krol & Rzonca production. It was a great day for all of us!

Jim Rzonca

[EricK]

Chicago is a transportation hub for America. That's helped attract players to past tournaments.

In that spirit, I just got an e-mail from Southwest Airlines, which flies into Midway Airport (closer to Lemont than O'Hare, and almost no delays at Midway. Can't say the same for O'Hare). Summer special airfares:

Chicago (Midway), IL
$59 one-way, to/from Cleveland, OH
$59 one-way, to/from Columbus, OH
$59 one-way, to/from Detroit, MI
$157 one-way, to/from Ft. Lauderdale, FL
$145 one-way, to/from Ft. Myers, FL
$49 one-way, to/from Indianapolis, IN
$133 one-way, to/from Jackson, MS
$76 one-way, to/from Kansas City, MO
$135 one-way, to/from Orlando, FL
$123 one-way, to/from Philadelphia, PA
$49 one-way, to/from Pittsburgh, PA
$125 one-way, to/from Raleigh-Durham, NC
$73 one-way, to/from St. Louis, MO
$135 one-way, to/from Tampa Bay, FL
$79 one-way, to/from Washington (Dulles), DC