"One hand behind my back against both of you," Dale Simmons says.

Thinking it merely an empty boast, the men Simmons addressed raise one corner of their mouths into a sly smirk; they're up for some easy money. They ask Simmons if he wants to put some money on the game. What they don't know is that Simmons has placed similar wagers in the past at the bubble hockey table at the Playland Arcade, 350 E. College Ave. Simmons agrees to the bet and asks how much money will be placed on the game.

"Eh, just $5," the men say. And as simple as that, Simmons has already secured another free lunch.

Able to wield stiff, plastic figurines on a swivel with what seems to be unnatural dexterity, Simmons finishes the game rather quickly. His competitors appear baffled with his skill and look to Simmons for an explanation.

"Wasted childhood," he says with a laugh, as the little plastic puck slams into the back of the net for the final time.

However, it doesn't seem quite so wasted any more because Simmons, a 2002 Penn State graduate, is in a position that would make any sports fan envious. This June, Simmons will take an all expenses paid trip -- including a first-class flight, a room in a five-star hotel, and $250 per day spending money -- to the Stanley Cup Finals. Spending some time with the greatest hockey player of all time, Wayne Gretzky, should be fun, too, but Simmons will be going to the finals to prove something: That he is the greatest bubble hockey player in the country.

"The trip and everything with it will be fun, but I'm there to win," he says. "I want to be able to say I'm the best bubble hockey player in the country."

That's right, he plays bubble hockey; it's a game most people have seen but few know what to call, akin to another classic table game, foosball, and played at finer bars and arcades across the country. And, yes, surprisingly, this game does have a national championship and has since 1998, when Bud Light started the Bubble Boys National Hockey Tournament.

Bubble hockey started for Simmons as a consequence of State College bars closing at 2 a.m. and the night-is-always-young attitude so typical of college students. He says that after getting some Hi-Way Pizza, he and his friends would head next door to the arcade and play some bubble hockey.

"It was just a hobby at Penn State, I was pretty good, an average player," he says.

"Where I really learned is when I started going to the bubble boys tournaments, but the majority of my games have been played in Playland [Arcade]."

Simmons says seeing the serious players at tournaments allowed him to play at a new level.

"The first time I ever played hockey was at that table in Playland," he says. "When I went to that tournament, I saw some moves and went back to Playland and got even better. We've basically taken those games and kept getting better since. We've been able to develop our passing recently."

Each year the tournament starts modestly with Budweiser distributors sponsoring the preliminary rounds of the national tournament at local bars. Simmons says 10 to 12 teams usually compete at these events, with the winning team advancing to the next round to face the champions of other local bars.

Simmons and his teammate, goalie Rob Turyan, rolled through the preliminary tournament without facing any serious challenge, but in the first round for the Pittsburgh area championship at Callahan's Sports Bar in Bridgeport the team got its only scare thus far. Down late in the third period, Simmons and Turyan refused to fold and were able to force overtime. "I told my goalie, 'If you can stop a shot I'll win the game for you,' " Simmons says.

"He did his part and I scored with one second left ... seven overtimes later we won; it was nerve-racking."

From there it was smooth sailing as the team went 13-0 and won the Western Pennsylvania/Ohio Region and the right to represent the Pittsburgh Penguins region in the national finals. Now Simmons needs to win five more games to claim the ultimate bar/game room bragging rights.

When Simmons gets to whatever city he will be competing in -- he'd like some nice weather, so he'll be hoping for a Tampa Bay-Anaheim Stanley Cup Final -- he expects tough competition. However, he feels his success in the Pittsburgh area shows he can handle the plastic men with the best.

"One guy from New Jersey claims to be 5,000-10," Simmons says. "This is one of the toughest regions; last year we had a national semifinalist, and in the second year [of the tournament] a team from here won it all."

Simmons and Turyan have already defeated those national semifinalists in the regional championship.

If the pair can beat the competition and win the finals in June, they'll earn the right to compete for any bubble hockey player's ultimate prize: two new bubble hockey tables autographed by Wayne Gretzky and valued at $6,000.

The only thing standing in his way is one last opponent; it's, well, Wayne Gretzky.

Gretzky is more than just the celebrity guest. He's also the league's commissioner.

When asked if he would let The Great One score a goal on him, Simmons thinks for a moment and says: "If I get to play Gretzky... nah. We're going to play him like anyone else. We can't take a chance, if I lose I don't get those signed tables!"

This isn't Playland, folks, this competitive bubble hockey, and Simmons is taking no prisoners.