NHL's tracking technology will change advanced statistics

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Soon enough, TV coverage of the NHL will be changed by technology that will go much further than broadcasts.

"This is not the glowing puck," NHL COO John Collins said. "That is not the intended use of this technology."

Sportvision, the company that brought the "FoxTrax" glowing puck of 90s hockey broadcasts, has much more up its sleeve these days.

They've created a puck with infrared emitters and use "active tracking," a set of 10 infrared cameras fixed to the catwalk at the top of an arena, to keep tabs on it. Thirty times a second, data is collected from the puck and "player tags" that are slipped into the backs of players' jerseys.

"The ability to put a chip in a puck and not alter the science of the puck and the reaction of the puck was a big step and took quite a while," said Hank Adams, CEO of Sportvision. "We'll review the data and the experiences of the players after this and we'll figure out a plan together going forward."

Sportvision is a company that is mainly used to aid television broadcasts. It's the same company that's responsible for tracking pitches in baseball games and superimposing the yellow first-down line for football games.

"At a base level, what this would do is give an accurate, digital record consistent across the league, of what happens on the ice," Collins said. "Right now we have a real-time scoring system, which has served us well and is the basis for everything we do in the stats area right now."

With that, though, there's human involvement and a certain subjectivity as to what constitutes a hit, giveaway, turnover or even shot on goal. This new technology could aid that, including video review to show if a puck has crossed the goalline even if it's underneath a goalie.

"It's not ever gonna replace the formal decisions," Adams said. "There may be times where we'll see it and it hits off a goalie's skate and crosses the line and for whatever reason the camera angles didn't catch it."

That may be getting a bit too ahead of things, though. Right now, the NHL and Sportvision only have the equipment being used for Sunday's All-Star Game and Saturday's skills competition.

Imagine the possibilities, though. The NHL has.

This technology is capable of adding an extra level of analytics that is more concrete more precise than what's out there now. Instead of measuring possession by proxy via shot attempts – as is the case with advanced statistics like Corsi and Fenwick – the new puck can measure the actual time a team is in a team's offensive or defensive zone.

"Yes, from that standpoint, we certainly can," Adams said. "When we get into who's in possession of the puck, that has to be a human involved in it because we don't have electronics on the sticks. There's only so much you can really use this stuff to replace. A human being is going to have to get involved at a certain point and make these judgment calls."

Stats will change, too. Soon, the NHL will revamp its website with statistics that lend more to the advanced metrics that have been quantified by some on the Internet.

"You'll see in February we've got a number of partners we're beginning to roll out, people like SAP, like Microsoft, who have a real B2B story on how their technology really helped hockey sort of take it to the next level," Collins said. "You'll see on NHL.com over the next couple of months it will be a complete restage of all that data. It will be much deeper, much richer, much more usable from a fan standpoint."

What exactly do the players think about this? These new stats and the availability of them thanks to the tags they'll wear and the emitters in the puck, could shed light on things they never have before.

"This is the first step, but these are the discussions we're having with the players right now," NHLPA special assistant Mathieu Schneider said. "Will coaches coach by statistics on the bench with an iPad? It's next to impossible – maybe we'll get to it, I don't know – to measure hockey IQ, hockey intelligence. We all know that Wayne Gretzky and Brett Hull were not the fastest skaters on their team. They weren't the strongest guys, but two of the best players to ever play the game. There still needs to be that sense from the guys that it's not going to be overused or used improperly."

There's undoubtedly huge potential here, but the NHL and Sportvision don't yet have a real arrangement after the hockey world leaves Columbus for All-Star festivities.

Reach Dave Isaac at disaac@courierpostonline.com. Follow him on Twitter @davegisaac.