The NHL later this season will debut a puck and player tracking system that "promises to unleash a tsunami of data about player speed and execution -- and change the way that coaches, broadcasters and fans interact with the game," according to Laine Higgins of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The system was developed by SMT, the same company behind the NFL's yellow first-down lines, and it "consists of two components" -- infrared and radio frequency sensors "embedded in pucks and sewn into the collars of skaters' sweaters," as well as "processing devices mounted in the rafters and on the upper tier of the arena." Those devices will "record the x,y, z coordinates of each sensor on the ice hundreds of times per second." SMT AI software then "collates the millions of coordinate data points and spits out statistics, like a player's top speed or total time of possession, accessible on a computer system called Oasis." SMT has "created unique installation plans for each of the NHL's ice arenas." The new tech "will not likely be ready for gameday use" until the postseason. The league plans to "install the tracking technology in waves," though it already is in place in St. Louis' Enterprise Center, which is hosting the '20 All-Star Game, and Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said that NBC "hopes to make use" of the new data for its playoffs broadcasts (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/11).
