Table Hockey
Hibernation or table hockey
During the long, dark Scandinavian winters, foul weather has a tendency to keep people indoors. To while away the days until the spring thaw, locals entertain themselves with indoor sports like badminton, swimming, ping pong, and ice hockey. Others play table hockey. With a passion.
A chilly showdown
In 1982, things heated up amid the deep Northern chill in Upplands V￤sby, Sweden. Hopeful players from across the land descended upon this municipality, located just north of Stockholm, to compete in the world's first national table hockey competition. Indeed, the International Table Hockey Federation (yes, there is one) recognizes this event as the rite of passage that took table hockey from parlor game to full-fledged sport.
Don't mess with Sweden
Sweden proudly claims more than simply being the birthplace of table hockey. Of the nine Table Hockey World Championships played since 1989 (currently, the ITHF holds the world championship biannually), a Swede has captured first place in each tournament. Sweden's success in team play has been similar; it wasn't until 2005 that Team Sweden, unseated by their Finnish rivals, failed to take the tournament.
Home ice advantage
Perhaps the Swedes have an unfair advantage. The official table of table hockey is made by Stiga, a Swedish company that has been manufacturing table hockey games for decades. Before these games found their way into Norway, Finland, Russia, and the Czech Republic (Sweden's closest competition), they had long been fixtures in Swedish households.
Made to be broken?
Regardless of where the Table Hockey World Championships is played, ITHF rules demand that only Stiga table hockey games be used in tournament play. A few other rules the uninitiated may find surprising:
- In table hockey, three seconds must elapse after each face-off before a valid goal can be scored.
- The center forward is not allowed to score a goal directly off a face-off. The puck must hit a bank or another figure (other than both center forwards and opponent's goalie) before a goal can count.
- Unlike ice hockey, the puck must stay in the goal cage to count in table hockey. If the puck goes out from the goal cage, the match continues without interruption.
- It is not permitted to retain possession of the puck without making any recognizable attempt to score a goal. Players must pass or shoot within five seconds of gaining control of the puck.
Words to the wise
Petter Bengtsson, Swedish table hockey player and journalist, described the sport by saying, "Table hockey has a lot to do with strategy and tactics. One could say that table hockey is a mixture of chess, ice hockey, and ping pong."
We should probably take his word for it, as Sweden boasts an imposing history in each of these.