The technological history of hockey is littered with elaborate ideas that did not pan out, like the Fox network’s glowing puck, the heated skate blade and Cooperalls.

But since last November, a simple innovation that costs next to nothing has become popular among N.H.L. professionals and weekend warriors alike: a skate-sharpening method called the flat-bottom V.

“It’s been great for me,” said Jack Johnson, a defenseman for the Los Angeles Kings and a candidate for the United States Olympic team. “It’s sharper, but at the same time, you can get just as much glide as with the old sharpening, so you get the best of both worlds.”

BlackStone Sports, the Ontario manufacturer of skate maintenance equipment that developed the flat-bottom V method, says players on about 20 of the N.H.L.’s 30 teams have switched from the traditional sharpening method in use for decades. The list of notables includes Zach Parise of the Devils, Joe Thornton and Rob Blake of the San Jose Sharks, Jason Arnott of the Nashville Predators, Milan Michalek of the Ottawa Senators and Doug Weight of the Islanders.