I've seen those used in tabletop hockey games, or something like them, as the "players". The game is known in Germany as "Do To Ho" and is essentially a hockey version of subbuteo tabletop football. You use sticks to flick the players, which are directed against a much smaller bb puck used as the puck. The field surface is smooth MDF, to simulate ice, of course. I found this
YouTube video showing highlights of a club match. I've no doubt that anybody with any amount of simple mechanical skill could knock up their own home version of this game.
This is a page from the
Fangdaslicht website. It's in German (though there is one game description in English, just scroll down), but you get a good look at the game and bb-based figures.