The NHL announced that it will stop using discs with integrated tracking technology in the foreseeable future due to complaints about its performance during the start of the 2021 season.
The change will be effective starting Tuesday night’s games.
The NHL reviewed the first supply of tracking discs it has been using and determined that they did not receive “the same precise finishing treatments during the low-season manufacturing process that were used during the Stanley Cup 2020 playoffs. “.
An NHL player told ESPN on Tuesday that the records were “terrible” and “not slippery,” adding that the players had expressed their displeasure with them.
The league said a new supply of discs will be available soon and that it will “undergo proper quality control testing” before being used in games. Meanwhile, the league said it will use official games for the 2019-20 season. You will also continue to use optical player tracking, which is the other half of the two-point tracking system along with the devices inside the disc.
This is the first full season of NHL record and player tracking, which promises to provide a significant amount of new data to improve from TV broadcasts to sports betting.
The league has tried to embed technology within the discs for years, finding the results too ineffective or costly. This incarnation of the discs was used during testing and in the postseason during 2020, with a sensor on the disc tracked by 14-16 antennas installed on the sand beams.