
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 ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Multifaceted Growth Executive Brings 20+ Years of Experience Leading Organizations Across Tech and M&E
Imagine Communications today announced the appointment ...
23/06/2026
Australians in Film and Screen Australia's talent development initiative UNT...
23/06/2026
Visual Productions Unveils RdmRelay2 Four-channel Relay Control at InfoComm 2026
Brie Clayton June 22, 2026
0 Comments
New Relay Solution Combines DMX, ...
23/06/2026
SMPTE Makes Its Standards Freely Accessible, Opening Standards Library to the Gl...
23/06/2026
Newly identified molecule strengthens the eye's response to damage in retinal disease Scripps Research discovery finds that restoring the naturally occurrin...
22/06/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
22/06/2026
Cosm has announced the appointment of David Ho as Chief Legal Officer, a newly created executive role reporting to President and CEO Jeb Terry. Ho will oversee ...
22/06/2026
Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have announced the developm...
22/06/2026
Daktronics has completed an audio control system upgrade at Petco Park in San Di...
22/06/2026
Accelerate Media has named John Willi as President and announced the launch of the Accelerate Sports Network (ASN), a prep sports media and streaming platform c...
22/06/2026
All Women's Sports Network (AWSN) and 3XBA (3 3 Basketball Association) have announced live television coverage of the annual 3XBA tournament on Friday, Jun...
22/06/2026
OWL AI has announced the appointment of Jay Prasad as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Prasad succeeds Josh Gwyther, who has served...
22/06/2026
CP Communications delivered RF video and audio support for TNT's Inside the NBA at the 2026 NBA Finals, providing main show coverage in San Antonio and ea...
22/06/2026
Polymarket has announced a partnership with GRID, an official esports data platf...
22/06/2026
As sports venues continue to evolve into more video-centric, fan-engagement-driv...
22/06/2026
As the regional sports production scene shifts toward streaming, this Texan helps lead the engineering behind Victory+'s growing live platform...
22/06/2026
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
the memories of your elders [are] a scaffolding for you to build your identity on - and t...
22/06/2026
New hyper-resolution analyser EQ revealed
CEDAR Audio's all-new Icons plug-in series has just gained its newest member, Blade. Described by the compan...
22/06/2026
Turn any live input into a cinematic soundscape
Designed for use in the studio and on stage, Sampleson's latest creation is capable of taking any audio ...
22/06/2026
Adds guitar strings to Eurorack rigs
ADDAC System are renowned for their weird and wonderful synth designs, and their line-up includes plenty of gear that...
22/06/2026
FIFA World Cup 2026 fever grows, as more than one third of Australians tune in ...
22/06/2026
In our latest blog, Tim Pearson explores NAGRA Venturi, the new streaming security solution for the AI era from NAGRAVISION. Designed to aggregate and analyze ...
22/06/2026
Expanded integrations give advertisers access to distinct contextual signals acr...
22/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/06/2026
Xilica today announced the release of Dynamic Voice Lift, a new feature in Xilica Designer v4.12 that brings adaptive speech reinforcement to large meeting spac...
22/06/2026
Telecom operators have seen remarkable returns from using generative AI to automate network management, customer care and back-office operations. Most of that i...
22/06/2026
Monday 22 June 2026
Official trailer released for Katie Price: Nothing to Hide,...
22/06/2026
The next era of AI will not be defined by compute alone. Its growth will be dete...
22/06/2026
Mission, Vision and Veritas - new Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) supercom...
22/06/2026
At the ISC conference running in Hamburg this week, NVIDIA is introducing new so...
22/06/2026
For the past two years, the U.S. National Science Foundation's National Arti...
22/06/2026
JUPITER, Europe's first exascale supercomputer at Germany's Forschungszentrum J lich, runs on NVIDIA Grace Hopper Superchips and NVIDIA Quantum-X800 Inf...
21/06/2026
To call the 2026 FIFA World Cup a big undertaking would be a big understatement....
21/06/2026
New series now live on Udemy
Regular SOS contributor and Cubase workshop columnist John Walden has just released a new Cubase video course that is now avail...
21/06/2026
Hot tubs sit at about 38 to 40 degrees Celsius, warm enough that most people can only soak for about 15 minutes. NVIDIA's newest AI servers can run their co...
21/06/2026
Sunday 21 June 2026
Sky announces immersive documentary series The Wargame
The Wargame first looks
ZIP (2MB)
Sky today confirms the commission of The Wargam...
20/06/2026
New add-on creates doubles & vocal stacks
IK Multimedia's latest ReSing add-on kits the innovative software out with the ability to automatically genera...
20/06/2026
What exactly is Apogee Control V3?
Control V3 is a new mixer application that controls Apogee interfaces. The new hit feature is that V3 finally allows for...
19/06/2026
Split compound eases operational challenges at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club...
19/06/2026
North Carolina, Oklahoma meet in the best-of-three Finals as ESPN leans into spe...