
NHL Deploys Analytics-Powered Graphics for Puck/Player Tracking in Live Broadcast League introduced shot and save analytics during 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Monday, October 25, 2021 - 2:58 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
A new NHL season is off and running, and, with two new national broadcast rightsholders in the U.S., the league is entering a new era in broadcasting. One of the most notable advances this season is already being deployed for the live broadcast: a more aggressive and comprehensive use of analytics data through real-time graphics.
Both ESPN and Turner Sports have expressed a desire to improve use of the maturing NHL EDGE puck- and player-tracking system. Instant graphics showing shot speeds, shift times, and IDs of players on the ice use tracking data to easily automate (or simplify) integration of those key storytelling elements into the display. The league, through its partnership with AWS and graphics developer SMT, is investing more resources and effort into refining those services and delivering actionable data, graphics templates, and overlays for use in the live broadcast. The key concept there: live.
A rationale for that was to figure out how we could truly enhance the presentation of the live game, says Dave Lehanski, EVP, business development and innovation, NHL. Hockey's a fast game. It moves really fast, but it also plays really fast: there are very few stoppages. One of our challenges is to tell stories about what's happening on the ice with the players, the coaches, the decisions being made, the skill and the speed of players when there's just not a lot of time to do it. We realized not too long ago, if we were to do anything, we need to be able to do it as an overlay or an integration into the live game.
MORE: NHL SVP, Technology Grant Nodine on an Amazing Ecosystem' of Data, Video
Two stats that the NHL and AWS have emphasized are shot analytics and save analytics. Both stats, which debuted during the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, are intended to tell a better story of individual and team performances and where either (or both) might be finding success.
The NHL debuted shot analytics and save analytics during the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This graphic showed the shot analytics of the Montreal Canadiens during Game 2 of the Stanley Cup FInal. Although Montreal generated many scoring opportunities at even strength, they lost this game to the eventual champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
Shot analytics enable the graphics to reveal how shot opportunities are created and converted into goals from different locations on the ice. Elements are designed by the league to showcase how teams and players perform in various positions on the ice in everything from even-strength scenarios to power plays and short-handed situations.
[What we] start to get fans to understand, says Lehanski, is [what] places on the ice that goals are scored from and what sets certain players apart from others with regard to the ability to score either more often in those areas or from more areas on the ice. That's a graphical overlay that our broadcasters are going to start to integrate quickly.
Save analytics, meanwhile, basically flip the script on the same data set: how does a goalie perform based on shots fired from various positions in the offensive zone. Save analytics calculate and display goaltenders' save percentages from various zones on the rink and can drill down to unique and illuminating situations, such as if a key defensive player is missing during a power play or an odd-man rush is headed the goalie's way.
We use the same zoning chart so there's consistency with regard to how we break the offensive zone of the ice into different zones, notes Lehanski. The same analytics will calculate and visualize goaltender save percentages and the volume of shots they stop from each of those zones. Then we layer in some of the context of the score of the game. How does this look in a one-goal game for certain goalies? How does this look in the last two minutes of a one-goal game? You can apply some of the contextual relevance and start to tell these stories using graphics and visualizations in real time that we were never able to do before.
NHL's Dave Lehanski: Hockey's a really fast game. We realized not too long ago, if we were to do anything, we need to be able to do it as an overlay or an integration into the live game.
The NHL EDGE puck- and player-tracking system was developed closely in tandem with SMT. Most recently, the league has installed four 4K cameras in each of its 31 arenas. Two are positioned directly under the centerhung videoboards to provide a complete look at the offensive zone for sustained possessions in the zone, power plays, shootouts, etc. The other two are high up in the ends of each building, offering a view of the entire ice surface - a view preferred by coaches and other team-performance personnel.
Although the tracking system can essentially plot out its own charts and data sets, Lehanski says, the cameras are an essential part of the complete workflow.
That's really when the magic happens, he explains, when you have the data in the video together. It's overlays with highlights combined together. Whether you're searching for the data or searching for the video, you're going to get both and think of the application. Then, all the AI and ML applications for that video and that data start developing predictive analytics and all the wonderful, magical stuff that comes with them.
The league is also working to continue to grow its pool of available data, refining elements to tell the story of faceoff matchups, distance traveled by players during a shot/game, and much more - all while growing data to be used in a more pr
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/09/2026
Media organisations interested in the Media Innovation Europe 3.0 Business Innovation Synergizer (BIS) can now consult a new FAQ document providing additional a...
04/09/2026
Eluvio will demonstrate updates to its Content Fabric platform at IBC2026 (Hall 8, Stand 8.MS5, and Future Tech Zone, Hall 14, Stand 14.A58, September 11-14). C...
04/09/2026
LiveU has joined the IBC Accelerator's Smart Stories consortium, a multi-vendor initiative developing an open standard for Story Context interoperability in...
04/09/2026
Telos Alliance will demonstrate new audio observability capabilities at IBC2026 (Stand 8.D37, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), covering monitoring of audio heal...
04/09/2026
World Team Tennis (WTT) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports, the sports division of Versant. USA Sports will air all six of WTT's live mat...
04/09/2026
Gravity Media has appointed Alex Pannell as Chief Business Officer. Pannell joins from Appear, where he served as Chief Commercial Officer. He will be based in ...
04/09/2026
Dalet has announced new agentic workflow capabilities for Dalia, its AI platform for media organizations, ahead of IBC2026. The updates extend Dalia from an AI ...
04/09/2026
L-Acoustics has achieved EN 54 certification across a portfolio of loudspeakers,...
04/09/2026
EVS and Matrox Video have announced a technology partnership integrating Matrox ...
04/09/2026
NEP Group will exhibit at IBC2026 (Hall 7, Stand 7.B55, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), demonstrating software-defined production capabilities across NEP Platf...
04/09/2026
The Television Academy has awarded an Engineering Emmy to Dr. Roman Foltyn, Chief Engineer of FoMaSystems, and Curt O. Schaller for the development of the ARRI ...
04/09/2026
InSync Technology will exhibit at IBC2026 (Stand 1.A55, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), demonstrating its FrameFormer and NOVA conversion platforms for frame r...
04/09/2026
The Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) has signed a multi-year agreemen...
04/09/2026
Accedo and MediaKind have announced a white-label, end-to-end streaming solution for operators, combining Accedo's native application framework and cloud-ba...
04/09/2026
TAG Video Systems has announced TAG Blue, a cloud platform for shared monitoring visibility across video delivery chains, with AI-powered root-cause analysis. T...
04/09/2026
TwelveLabs has launched a video compliance platform for media organizations, inc...
04/09/2026
The Television Academy and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences ha...
04/09/2026
Powerful new soft synth announced
Traveler is the first software instrument to be released by KeySolutions Sounds, and it's an ambitious one! Said to co...
04/09/2026
Free virtual instrument range expanded
The latest expansion of e-instruments' free Fragments series introduces a packed-down version of the company'...
04/09/2026
Company recognised for second time
Two years after winning an Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy Award for dxRevive Pro, Accentize have been recognised ...
04/09/2026
Bilbao - 3rd September 2026 -AgileTV, a leading provider of end-to-end TV and vi...
04/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/09/2026
ACEMAGIC First to Introduce Ryzen AI Max PRO 495 AI Mini Workstation at IFA 202...
04/09/2026
Krotos Brings Video to Sound Footsteps Directly into Premiere Pro and DaVinci Re...
04/09/2026
RED DIGITAL CINEMA Comes Out Swinging at IBC 2026 with Next-Generation Live Broa...
04/09/2026
Orty v2.0-web - the cold-outreach assistant moves to the web
Brie Clayton September 4, 2026
0 Comments
Orty today announced v2.0-web of its AI cold-ou...
04/09/2026
Lightware is expanding its LARA (Lightware Advanced Room Automation) platform with the GUDE Power Distribution Units (PDU) driver module. GUDE devices can now b...
04/09/2026
Lightware shares the second release in its ESG communications series. Following the first piece, which focused on the companys environmental performance, this r...
04/09/2026
Big Blue Marble supported a leading European public service broadcaster in delivering the Soccer World Cup 2026 streams, supplying more than 10 Tbps of bandwidt...
04/09/2026
Outstanding achievement in engineering, science and technology
Hitomi Broadcast has been recognised with an Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy from the Ac...
04/09/2026
California, Hollywood at a Crossroads
Andy Marken September 3, 2026
0 Comments
I'm doing everything alone. Crossing roads alone. Seeing the Eiffe...
04/09/2026
Berklee Announces Winners of 2026 SongwritersdB Songwriting Contest Students Luca Alexandru, Annika Wild, and Johanna James received the top prizes for origin...
04/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/09/2026
RT ANNOUNCE NEW DRAMA THE MURDER OF MR. MOONLIGHT
BASED ON THE DISAPPEARANCE...
03/09/2026
Yospace will be at IBC from 11th - 14th September (booth 5.C78). For more inform...
03/09/2026
NEP Group has announced leadership changes at Creative Technology Group. Founder and CEO Graham Andrews will step away from day-to-day leadership at the end of ...
03/09/2026
The NFL and TikTok have announced a multi-year partnership renewal expanding the league's presence on the platform. NFL posts on TikTok increased more than ...
03/09/2026
Grass Valley has appointed Ronny Van Geel as Vice President, Cameras. Van Geel began his career in 1999 at Philips DVS and moved into product management in 2005...
03/09/2026
Telestream has announced Vantage Super Resolution, an AI-powered upscaling capability for the Vantage media workflow platform, developed in collaboration with N...
03/09/2026
Solid State Logic (SSL) will debut the TCA Tour at IBC2026 (Hall 8, Stand 8.B45), a portable production system built from System T components in a desktop frame...
03/09/2026
DPA Microphones has announced the 6388 CORE Headset Microphone, making its debut at IBC2026 (Hall 8, Stand D60). The supercardioid headset features a physicall...
03/09/2026
Qvest will present a multi-vendor Dynamic Media Facility (DMF) showcase at IBC2026 (Booth 10.C24), demonstrating how the EBU's DMF architecture can be imple...
03/09/2026
Imagine Communications will showcase the Magellan PanelFlex control surface and other control portfolio updates at IBC2026 (Stand 1.B73, RAI Amsterdam, Septembe...
03/09/2026
Bridge Technologies will announce at IBC2026 (Booth 1.A71) that its VB440 production probe is now available as a software-based solution, deployable on commerci...