The NHL on the opening night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs will officially "introduce a new puck, containing sensitive electronic equipment, for all games as part of the dawn of the player and puck tracking era," according to Frank Seravalli of TSN.ca. Previous versions of the new puck by a different manufacturer have exploded during use, but those "fears have been unfounded with the latest iteration." The NHL tested the new puck by "firing it out of a 'puck cannon' at speeds up to 170 mph and the puck showed no worse for wear." The new puck has "quietly been tested in nine NHL games in nine different buildings since Feb. 6." Testing will "continue in 11 more contests up until March 28." The new pucks are "significantly more expensive to produce, believed to be around $100 per puck." But they will "transmit data 60 times per second, including location, speed, acceleration and deceleration and distance traveled." The new pucks will "activate as they are dropped by the on-ice officials and are expected to be deactivated when they are out of play or off the playing surface." The new pucks will be "frozen to the same ideal temperature as traditional pucks." Even with the increased cost, the NHL said that it has "no plans to track down pucks that make their way out of play and into the hands of fans" (TSN.ca, 3/3).
