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NHL Teams With PPG For Specially Coated Pucks At Winter Classic

New pucks will use color to indicate whether they are in the ideal 18-23 degree rangeNHL

The NHL will introduce specially coated pucks at the ’19 Winter Classic that visually indicate if they are frozen, the ideal state to maintain the level of speed and on-ice play the NHL desires. The new initiative, which is being done in partnership with global paints maker and league-level partner PPG, will see the side of the puck that showcases the NHL shield screen printed with an ink that includes a thermochromic coating. That technology, used in a variety of industrial settings, is perhaps best known commercially for its usage on Coors Light bottles, and keeping the mountains on the cans blue when cold. NHL VP/Facilities Operations Dan Craig said that the league has found that when pucks are frozen and used in-game at the ideal temperature -- which is roughly between 18-23 degrees -- they glide and move faster along the ice, as well as reduce the chance of them bouncing. Currently, on-ice officials are instructed to replace the pucks during every TV timeout, as well as any time the puck leaves the surface, or if they deem it to no longer be frozen. “The officials have no idea if it’s exactly too warm or too cold -- it’s something where guys have gone with their feel and whether the puck is bouncing too much,” Craig said. “We want to give the officials a tool where they can just visually look and make a determination quickly.”

FREEZE FRAME: With these coated pucks, when the puck is in that temperature range, the NHL logo and text will take on a purple hue. When the puck’s temperature rises above that, it will appear white, as it does now, and thus indicating that it needs to be replaced. Pucks obtained by fans will appear white -- unless the fan places it in their own freezer. Before each game, NHL officials place pucks in rink-side freezers set at 16 degrees to freeze them. However, Craig said that even frozen to that level, it only takes about five to six minutes of real time for a puck to shift from 16 degrees to 24 degrees or more. The coated pucks will be first tested at the Winter Classic on Jan. 1, as well as the league’s other tentpole events this season. Craig said the league and the hockey operations department will then evaluate the results. If viewed as a success, it will be discussed at the leaguewide GM meetings over the summer with a look toward implementing it leaguewide next season.

PAINT TOOL: PPG has been working with the NHL on a variety of different projects around paint and applications that can improve the game such as this one, said PPG VP/Corporate Communications, Marketing, Government & Community Affairs Bryan Iams. Previously, PPG worked with the league to create a better anti-chip red paint that could be used on the painted goal posts. “One of our drivers for doing the partnership was that there are a lot of areas within arenas and even areas in the game itself where PPG and coating is already used -- we think there are a lot of potential applications for new innovation and technology,” Iams said. The specific coating was developed in conjunction with the company’s tech partners LCR Hallcrest and QCR Solutions. LCR Hallcrest National Sales Manager Scott Szafraniec said that while the coating is often used in industrial settings, it was put through rigorous testing to ensure that it could handle the abuse it would face during a regular game and still work properly. Szafraniec said the purple color is due to the fact that it was the color that performed the best during testing in terms of its timing and temperature accuracy. However, the color could be altered in the future if the league wanted.

THE PUCK STOPS HERE: Craig said that implementing this special coating effort throughout the league would only have a very minimal impact on the actual cost of creating pucks, as it is only a slight alteration to the ink applied to the puck, not the composition of it. The league often orders two batches of pucks throughout the year -- one in August and one in January -- and Craig said if approved, there is no reason why they should not be able to be on the ice for the start of the ’19-20 season. “If we can do something that can improve our game one way or another, we want to look at it,” Craig said.

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