Following The Glowing Puck Fox Uses Technology To Lure Hockey Fans

A new world of hockey on television will be unveiled with Fox’s coverage of the NHL All-Star Game Saturday night when the puck is enclosed in a colorful glow and long passes and shots on goal are followed by a stream of color.

“FoxTrax” was on display for 7 minutes Thursday at the FleetCenter, where 150 of the curious gathered as eight Providence Bruins conducted a light scrimmage that served as a demonstration.

Providence goalie Scott Bailey, a former Spokane Chief, and center Tod Hartje, who participated in the skate, said they noticed no difference in the special puck required to create TV’s virtual reality. “Pretty cool,” said Bailey, who added he had peeked at the huge screen hanging over mid-ice that carried FoxTrax. Those watching the All-Star Game at the FleetCenter can do the same, alternating between the large screen and reality on ice.

The invention is designed to counter the assumption, unproven, that most persons ignore hockey because the puck is too small and travels too fast. Fox Sports president David Hill Thursday joined in that critique, calling it “the most common complaint about televised hockey.”

There will be 11 cameras covering the All-Star Game, but only the one overhead at center ice will be able to make use of FoxTrax. Does that mean the overhead camera will be used more than usual Saturday night? “Probably,” said venerable hockey director Sandy Grossman, who began TV production of the sport on CBS in the early ‘70s.

Any colors can be applied, Grossman noted, although for the All-Star Game, a blue glow will surround the puck most of the time, and on occasion, there will be a less noticeable white halo, a concession to hockey traditionalists, some of whom were unimpressed Thursday.

Long passes and especially shots on goal from around the blue line were most eye-catching as streams of red trailed the puck. FoxTrax has the capacity to offer multiple colors on shots, with shades calibrated to the changing speed of the puck. The blue cover made the puck more visible in a crowd of skaters, and also guided the eye when the puck was in the corner.

Fox also unveiled a small box in the corner of the screen that recorded the speed of the puck on booming shots. It is tied into FoxTrax. A hockey veteran present dismissed it. “They’ll find that most slap shots travel between 85 and 95. No big deal,” he said.

But NHL senior vice president Steve Solomon predicted that the puck speedometer will increase the volume of hockey statistics. He did not elaborate.

When Fox begins next weekend the first of three consecutive Saturdays of six regional telecasts, one of them will use FoxTrax. It will be used again for one of the six regional games each Sunday, beginning March 31.