The Glow Puck Rises From The Grave To Try And Kill Hockey Again

There have been some truly awful inventions in our time. Like the flatulence deodorizer, the jet-powered surfboard, and the snooper camera. But perhaps the worst sports invention of late, or maybe of all time, was the NHL's glow puck. I'm not even a hockey fan and I thought it bastardized the game to an obscene level. And here's the bad news, a version of it could be coming back.

Noooooooooooooooo!

Yes, and here are the details from Awful Announcing. (Courtesy of USA Today).

The NHL and cable TV partner Versus are talking about introducing "puck-tracking" technology as early as the 2008-09 season, executives from the network and the league told USA TODAY.

Tracking would make it easier for TV viewers to follow the fast-moving puck. But the idea brought back memories of Fox's "glowing puck" experiment from 1996-98. It got mixed reviews, with some players and coaches complaining the internal electronics of the "FoxTrax" puck made it play differently. When ABC picked up the NHL's broadcast rights in 1998, the idea was junked.

Marty Ehrlich, executive producer at Versus, has been pushing for a new puck-tracking system with NHL executives. If Versus gets the OK, it would test puck tracking on its studio show before trying it during a game, he says. There would not be any computer chips embedded in pucks, at least at first.

There are two great things about that last paragraph. One is that they'd test the puck out on the Versus studio show, because we all know studio shows are exactly like a real hockey game. And two is that they won't embed any computer chips in the pucks EVER......at least at first. Well, that's reassuring.

I mean, is Versus trying to kill off hockey or something? I don't get this at all. Marty Ehrlich even points out that hockey purists hate this.

While puck tracking is on his "wish list," he admits it's still a "sore subject" with hockey purists. "There's people who looked at it as a great success at Fox. A lot looked at it as a dismal failure."

I'm pretty sure the people who thought it was a success no longer have a job, which is a good thing.

By the way, who does Marty think is watching NHL games on Versus? Apparently not hockey purists.

Anyway, here's the only clip on YouTube featuring the glow puck. I keep expecting a Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger to hop out and take down Owen Nolan.

 


Is Versus Looking Into a Return of The Glow Puck? [Awful Announcing]