BUFFALO, NY — It's no secret that Buffalo is a hockey town. The city celebrates all forms of the sport, including bubble hockey. A recent tournament put the spotlight on the ever-popular and vibrant world of bubble hockey.
The Disin Super Chex Bubble Hockey Tournament was held July 13 at the Thin Man Brewery warehouse on Chandler Street.
“Our company was founded over 40 years ago and has manufactured products for not only commercial coin-op gaming machines, but now many home gaming consoles as well,” said Greg Kania, sales director for Innovative Concepts in Entertainment.
They may not have invented the first table hockey game, but it's their Superchexx model that you see and think of today.
“We try to keep a low profile in Buffalo, but it's exciting just to see the guys come out,” Kania said.
It was only natural that the Clarence-based team would attract some of the best bubble hockey players in the world, such as Mark Wojtkiewicz.
“I've been playing since '99. It was a Bud Light tournament when Rob Ray came to town,” he explained.
Wojtkiewicz has made a name for himself over the past quarter century, popping bubbles everywhere from Boston to Detroit to St. Louis.
“I've never played a good celebrity before,” he said, laughing.
In this tournament, he was once again part of a field of over 30 players, defeating tournament competitors one by one.
“I've won a few tournaments. It's always a good time. You play to win. It's very competitive. There are a lot of good players here,” he said.
Though they came very close to winning, Wojtkiewicz, tournament creator Matthew Keeler and others involved were still pleased with the win — someone walked away with a nice prize, sure, but it also shed a little more light on the sport of bubble hockey.
“Think of Skee-ball and arcade games like this, which I think is, you know, the best arcade game,” said Keeler, founder of Just Disin'. “I grew up playing hockey and almost every rink I played at had a SuperChex machine, so it was just an iconic part of the game, where you'd hang out with your friends after hockey, have a little chat and play.”
This was a tournament that was very Buffalo in every sense of the word, with local beer, hockey equipment sponsorship and charitable donations.
“We've got a year to get it back before we can look back on this and say this is the first one,” Keeler added.
Proceeds from the tournament were donated to local non-profit organization Spirited Athletes Bold at Heart.
The gold medalist that day was 20-year-old Joe Louis from Detroit.
