- Next-Gen Puck & Player Tracking: In 2025 every NHL arena is outfitted with advanced tracking systems, including sensor-filled pucks and optical cameras capturing 29 skeletal points per player and 3 points on each stick in real time espn.com. The NHL’s EDGE Puck and Player Tracking transmits data at 100Hz – hundreds of data points every second – enabling real-time stats on speed, positioning, and puck trajectory aws.amazon.com. This is a leap from early experiments like the 1990s “glowing puck,” evolving into a precise system now powering TV graphics, coaching decisions, and even new metrics like “Ice Tilt” for momentum nhl.com aws.amazon.com.
- High-Tech Officiating & Replay: All 32 arenas use a Hawk-Eye video replay system (installed in 2015) with synchronized multi-angle HD cameras to make reviews faster and more accurate nhl.com. In 2025 the league is expanding automated officiating: testing technology to definitively judge goals, offsides, and high-sticks with a combination of puck sensors, jersey tags, and optical tracking espn.com espn.com. Commissioner Gary Bettman says the NHL “will test and retest” until they’re “certain that it works” before automating critical calls like whether a puck fully crossed the goal line espn.com espn.com. For now, human referees get high-tech help: wearable cameras, wireless comms, and Hawk-Eye’s ball-tracking algorithms (famous in tennis) adapted to hockey to assist the Situation Room in close calls espn.com espn.com.
- Data-Driven Coaching & Analytics: Coaches in 2025 lean on tablets and live data like never before. The NHL’s official Coaching Insights app for iPad (launched 2017) streams real-time stats and video to benches news.sap.com nhl.com. Teams can instantly see shift lengths, player ice time, shot locations, face-off percentages and more – all updated on the fly. “We have three or four iPads on the bench, and the newer generation of players [are] reaching for those things,” notes Buffalo Sabres coach Don Granato, who “as a coach, loves it” nhl.com. Beyond the bench, teams employ AI-powered video breakdown tools and big data platforms to dissect performance. In 2025 the NHL and SAP even rolled out a Front Office App for GMs, centralizing roster, salary cap and player metrics to inform trades and signings news.sap.com news.sap.com. Compared to a decade ago – when coaching decisions relied more on gut feel and basic stats – today every intermission involves parsing detailed analytics, from expected goals to player GPS workload, to gain a competitive edge.
- Immersive Fan Experiences (AR, VR and Apps): Fans now get closer to the action through technology. Augmented reality (AR) apps let spectators point a 5G phone at the rink and see live overlays of player stats and puck speeds hovering over the ice immersiv.io immersiv.io. In one Verizon 5G trial, arena fans could tap on a player in an AR view to see their speed, heat map, and even a “puck fire trail” showing shot speed immersiv.io immersiv.io. At home, virtual reality offers “virtual rinkside” seats – the 2025 Stanley Cup Final was streamed in 180° VR, letting Quest headset users watch from the boards with friends as avatars uploadvr.com uploadvr.com. The NHL has also embraced mixed-reality broadcasts: from the “Big City Greens Classic” (a live NHL game simulcast in cartoon form) to a Roblox metaverse hockey experience that drew over a million young fans nhl.com nhl.com. These innovations, unthinkable in the early 2010s, are now mainstream as the league chases younger audiences with interactive, gamified viewing.
- Smarter Arenas & Infrastructure: NHL venues in 2025 are high-tech entertainment hubs. Many arenas have upgraded to energy-efficient LED lighting for better visibility and dramatic effects – part of a league-wide sustainability push to replace old metal halide lights and cut energy use signify.com signify.com. Massive 4K center-hung scoreboards and ribbon screens sync with light and sound systems to create immersive shows (Vegas’s dazzling pregame ice projections set the standard). Smart ice management systems now monitor ice temperature and quality; building operations centers use IoT sensors to adjust the chillers and dehumidifiers in real time, ensuring a fast, glass-smooth ice surface even as arena temperatures and crowds fluctuate. Fans also enjoy the conveniences of tech-enabled arenas: mobile ticketing and cashierless concession stands have been rolled out in many venues. For example, the Florida Panthers’ arena introduced an AI-powered, camera-laden store where fans grab food and go, skipping lines entirely verizon.com verizon.com. High-density Wi-Fi and 5G cover every seat, powering everything from AR apps to in-seat ordering. The NHL’s newest arenas (Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena, for instance) double as tech showcases, boasting green innovations like electric ice resurfacers and advanced air filtration alongside the fan-facing tech.
- Broadcast & Streaming Innovations: Hockey broadcasts have been revolutionized by new tech in 2025. Networks now deploy more cameras than ever – including on-ice wearable cameras and in-net cams – to capture creative angles. Ultra-high-definition 4K/8K cameras and robotic rigs provide crisp slow-motion and 360° replays, and some arenas have experimented with Intel True View/volumetric replay systems to let fans see a goal from any angle, as already seen in other sports. The NHL’s partnership with tech giants has yielded real-time augmented graphics on broadcasts: you’ll see live speed gauges for slap shots, trail graphics following the puck, and pop-up “NHL Edge” insights like skating speed or distance skated. One AWS-powered graphic even predicts face-off outcomes by analyzing player tendencies, and it’s displayed instantly during stoppages nhl.com nhl.com. In 2024, the league introduced a stat called “Ice Tilt” to show which team has territorial momentum, calculated from tracking data and visualized for viewers aws.amazon.com aws.amazon.com. AI is also creeping into commentary and production: automated highlight clipping is done with WSC Sports’ AI, and personalized streams are available where viewers can customize camera angles or commentary (e.g. a “kids feed” with fun graphics, or a sports betting feed with on-screen odds) nhl.com nhl.com. Compared to a generation ago – when a simple overhead scoreboard and one or two TV angles were the norm – today’s broadcasts are hyper-interactive and information-rich, marrying hockey’s speed with data for a more engaging story of the game.
- Wearables & Player Health Tech: NHL teams have quietly adopted wearable technology to keep players safer and healthier. At least half the teams use GPS and accelerometer vests in practices (from companies like Catapult) to log each player’s skating speed, distance, acceleration, and even asymmetries in stride dailyfaceoff.com. Sports scientists crunch this data to tailor training loads, prevent fatigue, and flag injury risks – a big change from even 5 years ago when such detailed practice data wasn’t widely captured. In games, every player’s jersey has a tracking tag transmitting live data, and the Hawk-Eye optical system now even captures collision impacts and fall dynamics via skeletal tracking espn.com dailyfaceoff.com. The NHL has also trialed instrumented “smart” mouthguards that measure head impacts (a technology already used in rugby) to study concussion forces, and developed a real-time video review system for medical staff: if a player takes a hard hit, team doctors can immediately cue up multi-angle replay on tablets to assess for concussion symptoms nhl.com. Wearable heart-rate monitors have appeared occasionally – fans got to see live BPM heart rates of All-Star players during skill competitions – and some players use continuous glucose monitors and other biotech for performance management (though not broadcast). Importantly, the NHLPA has negotiated privacy protections for player data: participation in wearables is voluntary, and players can request their data or even have it deleted to prevent misuse in contract decisions dailyfaceoff.com dailyfaceoff.com. The overall trend is that by 2025, technology is as much a part of player wellness and injury prevention as new training techniques, with the league investing in keeping its athletes healthy through data.
Player and Puck Tracking: Real-Time Data Becomes Reality
Not long ago, hockey’s real-time stats were limited to what a human could scribble down. In 2025, every movement of the puck and players is digitally tracked and recorded. The NHL’s EDGE Puck and Player Tracking system uses a combination of sensor and camera technologies to capture the game in unprecedented detail. Each game puck is embedded with a microchip, and players wear radio-frequency tags tucked into their shoulder pads – these emit signals that antennas around the arena pick up 100 times per second aws.amazon.com. Meanwhile, an array of 14–20 high-speed cameras (originally infrared, now increasingly optical 4K) mounted in the rafters constantly triangulate player positions nhl.com. The result is a firehose of data: about 12 million data points per game, tracking everything from puck speed to players’ exact coordinates aws.amazon.com.
What does this enable? For one, broadcasters can enrich telecasts with instant analytics. Viewers now see graphics showing that a player skated 20 mph on a breakaway or that a goalie faced a shot that peaked at 98 mph. During the 2023–24 season, the NHL debuted on-screen face-off win probability visuals – a product of machine learning crunching live tracking data and historical tendencies nhl.com. When two centers line up for a draw, fans might see a graphic indicating, say, “Bergeron 62% chance to win vs. Crosby”, based on the situation and past outcomes, giving context before the puck drops. These kinds of insights were impossible before automated tracking.
The league has come a long way from earlier attempts. (Fans of the 90s might remember the FoxTrax “glowing puck” experiment – a primitive puck-tracking tech that superimposed a blue glow on TV, often lampooned by purists.) Today’s system is far more advanced and fully league-wide. After years of pilot programs and refinements, NHL Edge tracking became operational in all 32 arenas by the 2021-22 season nhl.com. Initially, it relied on infrared cameras picking up the IR emitters in pucks and jerseys. By 2025, the NHL has augmented this with the Sony Hawk-Eye optical tracking system, similar to the tech that powers tennis’s automated line calls espn.com espn.com. Hawk-Eye’s cameras track the players visually and even map their skeletons in 3D – capturing 29 body points per player (plus the stick) to trace complex movements espn.com. “What that enables us to do is have an incredibly high-fidelity, low-latency view of the athletes’ movements in real time,” says Rufus Hack, CEO of Hawk-Eye Innovations espn.com. In essence, the NHL has turned each arena into a giant motion-capture studio, but one that operates live during games.
For teams and coaches, this flood of data opens new horizons. They can quantify things like player fatigue (by measuring skating speed drop-off or shorter stride lengths late in a game) and positioning trends. Analysts talk about “heat maps” of where on the ice each player tends to be, or how a team’s formation shifts over a period. The league even introduced a metric called “Ice Tilt” in late 2023, which uses the positional data to determine territorial advantage aws.amazon.com aws.amazon.com. If one team is pinning the other in the defensive zone for minutes at a time, the Ice Tilt graphic will show the ice literally slanting toward the defending team’s end – a clever visual to represent momentum.
All this tracking innovation represents a major upgrade from previous years. Even five years ago, hockey fans didn’t have access to real-time skating speeds or distance traveled. Now, it’s expected. The NHL has an entire portal (NHL.com/EDGE) where fans and media can access live tracking stats nhl.com. The data is also packaged to authorized partners – including teams, broadcasters, and even betting companies – through a central feed managed by SMT (SportsMEDIA Technology), the NHL’s tech partner athletica.com athletica.com. According to NHL executive David Lehanski, the goal is to “bring fans closer to our great game and showcase the NHL as a worldwide technology leader”, leveraging these innovations nhl.com. After years of development, 2025 is the year this vision truly hits the ice: every player’s every move is quantified, and the puck itself is a data device. Hockey has effectively entered the era of the “connected game.”
Refereeing and Officiating: When AI Helps Make the Call
Even as the game gets faster, the NHL’s officials are leaning on technology to keep pace and get calls right. In 2025, referees and the League’s off-ice officiating crews have more tech tools at their disposal than ever before – though the NHL is treading carefully when it comes to automating judgment calls.
Video review has been a staple for years now, but it’s gotten even smarter. Every arena is equipped with the Hawk-Eye SMART replay system, a network of synchronized cameras feeding into a replay hub nhl.com. This system, in place since the mid-2010s, allows the NHL’s Situation Room in Toronto to instantly pull up multi-angle footage of close plays. It’s what powers coach’s challenges for offside or goaltender interference, giving officials angles that even TV viewers didn’t see. The key improvement is speed and accuracy – Hawk-Eye’s tech can stitch together angles and even zoom or freeze with clarity, helping officials make the right call in high-stakes moments nhl.com espn.com. As one NHL executive noted, the system provides “the speed and accuracy the NHL requires” for reviews nhl.com. That means quicker decisions and fewer lengthy delays, which is a win for game flow.
Beyond conventional replay, the NHL is expanding into automated officiating in select areas. The league has closely watched technologies like tennis’s Hawk-Eye line-calling and soccer’s goal-line sensors, and is adapting those for hockey’s needs espn.com sportsbusinessjournal.com. A top priority is definitively determining when the puck fully crosses the goal line for a goal. Currently, referees use overhead cameras and their judgment, but near-instant confirmation could come from a combination of the puck’s sensor and camera vision. “We’re closer – we keep getting closer,” says David Lehanski, the NHL’s EVP of innovation, about an automated system for these calls espn.com. High-sticking penalties are another area: the league envisions tech that knows exactly what hit a player – was it an opponent’s stick (penalty) or a teammate’s or even the puck? – by tracking the objects and impacts in real time espn.com espn.com. That could eliminate the occasional mistaken double-minor when a player is cut by an errant puck rather than a stick.
Lehanski emphasizes that the solution “will be a combination of active tracking in the puck, in the players… optical cameras and maybe some other type of technology that all need to get stitched together” espn.com. In other words, the NHL isn’t betting on one magic device to call offsides or goals – it’s testing a hybrid approach: puck sensors for precise location, player trackers to know positioning, and Hawk-Eye’s camera vision as a check. By 2025, this system is still in testing phases, not yet official, because as Commissioner Bettman flatly stated, the NHL will implement it “when we’re certain that it works” espn.com. Fans have seen hints, though. In some arenas, you’ll notice additional cameras focusing on the blue lines – a nod toward automating offside reviews. And the puck’s internal sensor theoretically could tell when it’s over the goal line (within the margin of error), but the league wants redundancy with camera verification espn.com.
In the meantime, some tech aids have already become part of the fabric of officiating. Referee helmet cameras give broadcasters (and the Situation Room) a first-person view of controversial plays. These were showcased during past All-Star games and occasionally on national broadcasts, and now are sometimes used during replay reviews to understand what the ref might have seen. Officials also use wireless headsets to confer with Toronto or each other, rather than skating to a phone by the timekeeper’s box as they did in the past. The result: more efficient communication on reviews and challenges.
There’s also a subtle use of tech in penalty calling: the Hawk-Eye optical tracking that records players’ skeletons can log infractions – for example, it can recognize a high stick swing or a puck played with a high stick by tracking stick coordinates. While referees still make the call, this data is being collected and could inform supplemental discipline or rule change discussions by showing patterns.
In comparison to a decade ago, the officiating toolbox has grown immensely. Back then, goal reviews relied on a single overhead camera and whatever TV showed. Offside challenges didn’t even exist until 2015, and when they started, linesmen looked at an iPad at the penalty box. Now, the NHL command center has every angle in sync via Hawk-Eye, and they often signal the call to the on-ice officials within a minute nhl.com. The human element remains – and the league insists it will remain the final say – but that human now has a digital assistant whispering in his ear (or buzzing on his wrist). As Sony Sports CEO Rufus Hack succinctly put it, officiating tech is a trade-off of “speed versus accuracy versus entertainment” sportsbusinessjournal.com sportsbusinessjournal.com. The NHL in 2025 is carefully feeling out that balance: striving for accuracy with tech’s help, but not at the cost of the game’s flow or the referees’ role. Fans can likely expect, in the near future, that objective decisions (like puck in/out of play or offside line crossings) will be handled by instantaneous tech, while subjective calls (a light hook vs. a dive, for instance) stay with the refs. The goal is simple: get more calls right without disrupting the rhythm of this fast game sportsbusinessjournal.com sportsbusinessjournal.com.
Coaching and Analytics: From Clipboards to iPads and AI
Behind the bench and in back offices, the NHL’s adoption of technology is perhaps most visibly transformative. In 2025, every NHL coaching staff has real-time data feeds and video at their fingertips, a stark contrast to just 10 or 15 years ago when coaches relied on between-period video from VHS or DVDs and basic stat sheets.
One of the most game-changing introductions was the SAP-NHL Coaching Insights App for iPad. Debuting league-wide around the 2018 season, this system put live stats and shifts data directly on tablets that coaches can consult during games news.sap.com nhl.com. Now, it’s routine to see assistant coaches grabbing an iPad on the bench to review a play or check if a matchup advantage can be exploited. The app provides a wealth of information: which players have been on the ice the longest (to manage fatigue), face-off percentages by zone (to decide who takes a critical draw), shot charts, and more nhl.com. During the 2022 Tech Showcase, the NHL demonstrated how the app shows “ice time, possession time, shot location and face-off percentage with user-friendly displays”, all updated live nhl.com. Sabres coach Don Granato explained how younger players now almost expect this info instantly, and he praised the league’s push: “we’ve had lots of talks… about new technology coming in the form of video and analytics. As a coach, I love it” nhl.com. This represents a cultural shift: the old-school skepticism of too much tech has given way to a race for any competitive edge.
Teams also employ advanced analytics departments off the ice. Every NHL club by 2025 has analysts (often with data science backgrounds) crunching numbers and video behind the scenes. They use tools ranging from hand-tagging video software to cutting-edge AI. For instance, some clubs work with startups that develop machine learning models to predict opponent tendencies or to evaluate players. There are also league-wide resources: the NHL’s partnership with AWS has yielded analytics like “NHL Edge IQ” which includes the Ice Tilt metric and other insights from the tracking data aws.amazon.com aws.amazon.com. These insights get relayed to teams in digestible forms. It’s telling that the league’s Senior Director of Coaching and GM Applications, Brant Berglund, described new stats as helping coaches “go under the hood” and pinpoint key momentum shifts and their causes aws.amazon.com aws.amazon.com.
Another arena where technology meets coaching is video analysis. Long gone are the days of fast-forwarding through game tapes. Systems from companies like WSC Sports, Sportlogiq, and others can automatically index game footage: want to see all zone entries by a particular opposing player? A coach can query that in seconds now. Some teams use AI to filter clips – e.g., show all instances of a certain forecheck formation by the other team, or find all power-play setups that led to cross-ice passes. The NHL’s deal with WSC Sports, mentioned in the 2022 Tech Showcase, aims to give instant access to replays and highlights in-arena and for teams nhl.com. This means a coach could conceivably review a play from the first period during the second-period intermission by pulling it up on a tablet, rather than waiting for the video coach to cobble it together.
For players, especially younger ones who grew up with technology, this integration feels natural. Many are now accustomed to coming to the bench and immediately looking at a replay of the shift they just skated – something you’ll often see via those bench iPads. It allows on-the-fly adjustments: a defenseman can see how he got beat on a goal and discuss corrections with the coach right then and there, instead of after the game. Teams also use tablets in the locker room between periods to illustrate strategic tweaks with video clips or even telestration on a touchscreen.
In the front office, analytics guide roster decisions more than ever. In March 2025, SAP and the NHL unveiled a Front Office App for iPad tailored for GMs and capologists news.sap.com news.sap.com. It compiles data on contracts, salary cap projections, draft picks, and player performance into one interface. A GM can see, for example, how a potential trade target’s contract and injury history compare, and even view some performance metrics, all in one place. This kind of centralized info helps management model the implications of moves (trades, signings) with data rather than just intuition. “Bringing the same level of informed decision-making to club front offices” was the goal, as the NHL and SAP noted news.sap.com news.sap.com. It’s an acknowledgment that modern roster management is as much a data challenge as a scouting challenge.
Importantly, much of this data-driven approach simply wasn’t available a generation ago. As recently as the early 2010s, many coaches still relied on single-person “eye test” evaluations and whatever data they manually tracked (hits, shots, etc.). Now, every team has gigabytes of data per game and the tools to parse it. Some old-school coaches initially resisted – for instance, not all were fans of having iPads on the bench when that was first allowed – but success stories have changed minds. The Washington Capitals famously used analytic insights to tweak their tactics before their 2018 Stanley Cup run, and many other teams have since hired analysts to augment coaching decisions.
The bottom line is that in 2025, NHL coaching is a high-tech enterprise. Coaches prepare with detailed heat maps and probabilistic models of opponents. They utilize wearable data from practices to ensure players aren’t overworked (e.g. adjusting off-day schedules based on cumulative workload metrics). And they trust real-time tech during games to make quicker, better-informed calls – whether it’s which line to put out after a TV timeout or when to challenge a goal for goalie interference. The bench has effectively merged with the computer lab, and the NHL’s embrace of this is keeping pace with leagues like the NBA and NFL, where analytics have already become ingrained. As one NHL coach quipped after getting used to the new tools: “You feel almost naked without that info now.” The days of paper clipboards are fading, replaced by tablets streaming a live feed of the game’s underlying numbers.
Fan Engagement Technologies: Augmented, Virtual, and Beyond
The experience of being an NHL fan in 2025 is markedly more interactive and immersive, thanks to a suite of new technologies aimed at engagement. Whether you’re in the arena or halfway around the world, the league has introduced ways for you to feel closer to the game than ever before.
One of the most futuristic developments is the use of Augmented Reality (AR) for fans, especially in-arena. Imagine attending a live game and holding up your phone – or wearing AR glasses – and seeing player info hovering above them on the ice. This is no longer sci-fi; it’s being rolled out. In a showcase at New Jersey’s Prudential Center, the NHL and Verizon demoed an AR app where fans could point their 5G phones at the ice to get real-time stats overlaid immersiv.io immersiv.io. Click on a player through the app, and you might see his skating speed, number of shots, or even a live heat map of where he’s been on the ice. During a 2022 demo of this ARise app by Immersiv.io, fans saw features like a “puck fire trail” (a visual streak showing the puck’s path and speed) and face-off win probabilities graphics floating over face-off circles immersiv.io immersiv.io. It even displayed small AR markers where shots or hits occurred, all updated instantly. With Verizon’s 5G network in arenas and mobile edge computing, these AR overlays had very low latency – one trial boasted stats with no noticeable lag as the game progressed immersiv.io.
For those at home, Virtual Reality (VR) has opened a whole new window into the rink. In spring 2025, for the first time, the NHL streamed the entire Stanley Cup Final in VR – specifically in 180-degree immersive video – free for Quest headset users uploadvr.com uploadvr.com. Fans could strap on a headset and find themselves virtually sitting rinkside, as if they had glass seats. The VR stream provided multiple vantage points (one behind each net, for example) and spatial audio that captured the roar of the crowd and slice of skates. You even get the standard broadcast feed in a virtual screen if you want play-by-play, but the main attraction is the feeling of “being there.” One reporter who tested a VR broadcast noted, “It felt as close to being there as you can get without actually being there…you get your own seat amongst the crowd” dailyfaceoff.com dailyfaceoff.com. Fans can also form private watch parties in VR, their avatars sitting next to each other in a virtual arena. This kind of experience was piloted with a few regular-season games in 2024, and positive feedback led to the full Finals offering uploadvr.com. It’s an area likely to expand, especially as devices like Meta’s Quest and others become more common. While VR hockey is still niche (it can induce motion sickness for some, given hockey’s speed), it’s undeniably cool for tech-savvy fans.
Another angle the NHL has explored is alternative broadcasts and mixed reality content to attract younger fans. A standout example was the NHL Big City Greens Classic in March 2023, where a live NHL game was simulcast as an animated version on Disney Channel, featuring characters from the cartoon “Big City Greens.” Using the real-time tracking data, the players were rendered as cartoon avatars on a farm-like rink in sync with the actual game nhl.com nhl.com. Kids could watch the likes of Ovechkin or Crosby in animated form doing exactly what they were doing on the real ice, but with fun graphics and characters. This was Sports Emmy-nominated and showed the potential of using tech to repackage hockey for different audiences. Similarly, the league did a collaboration with Roblox (a popular online game platform) called NHL Blast – an interactive hockey-themed virtual world that drew over a million users in its first month nhl.com. These efforts are about meeting fans where they are, using the data and tech at hand. Sony’s Beyond Sports, now an official partner, has been instrumental in creating these animated and extended reality experiences from NHL data nhl.com nhl.com.
Even the NHL mobile app and team apps have upped their game. Fans at home get tailored highlights, live stat alerts from the tracking system (like “goal – 45 MPH wrist shot by McDavid from 32 ft”), and even augmented reality collectibles. Some teams introduced AR activations like scanning your ticket to unlock a 3D mascot or a video message from a player. Social media filters have also been popular – for instance, during All-Star, fans could use AR on their phones to put themselves on an All-Star trading card and share it.
In arenas, apart from AR, there’s a focus on making the experience smoother and more engaging. 5G-powered arenas allow experiments like instant multi-angle replays on your phone. At a 2022 showcase, Verizon demonstrated an app letting fans watch multiple camera feeds of the game in real time on their device, effectively giving every fan a personal instant replay Jumbotron in their hand nhl.com. That means if you missed a goal because you were grabbing a snack, you could pull up the replay from two or three angles on your phone immediately. The league also showcased in-arena streaming of highlights: an ongoing feed of clips from the game you’re watching, delivered straight to your phone or a tablet on your armrest nhl.com.
Fan engagement isn’t just high-tech bells and whistles; it’s also about convenience. As mentioned earlier, things like cashless, cashierless concessions make attending games less of a hassle – these use computer vision AI so you don’t stand in line forever verizon.com verizon.com. Other improvements include mobile interactive games during intermissions (trivia or predictive games you can play against others in the arena for prizes), and enhanced scoreboard content. Modern LED scoreboards can integrate live data – some arenas show the fastest shot of the game, or a live update of a player’s total distance skated, right up on the big screen to keep fans informed.
By 2025, the NHL’s fan engagement tech has essentially caught up to the expectations of a digital-native audience. The league learned from tech-forward events (like the tech showcases and All-Star fan fairs) that today’s fans, especially younger ones, want to be participants in the experience, not just passive observers. So whether it’s by scanning a QR code on your seat to vote for the three stars, or using AR to virtually try on the goalie’s mask from your seat, or hopping into a VR world with fellow fans, the NHL is providing options.
Compared to previous years, this is a quantum leap. A fan in 2015 might have had a team app that provided scoring alerts and maybe a digital ticket – pretty basic. Now, in 2025, fans have multi-platform, immersive engagement. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated some of this – with empty arenas in 2020, the league experimented with things like virtual cheering and second-screen experiences, paving the way for the robust offerings we see now. The important thing is the NHL is no longer just a game on the ice; it’s an interactive digital experience that surrounds the game, aiming to deepen loyalty and excitement for the sport.
Arena and Infrastructure Tech: The High-Tech Hockey Venue
Walk into an NHL arena in 2025, and you’ll notice that it feels different from the barns of old. The stadiums themselves have gotten smarter, greener, and more wired, creating a better environment for players and fans alike.
First, let’s talk ice quality – the very foundation of the game. Maintaining a perfect ice surface is both art and science, and technology now plays a big role. Modern arenas use advanced ice plant control systems that leverage sensors in the rink floor to monitor temperature at various depths of the ice, along with humidity sensors in the air. These feed into automated controls for the refrigeration system and dehumidifiers. If there’s an extra 1,000 people in the building (adding body heat and moisture), the system can compensate by slightly lowering coolant temperature or increasing dehumidification to prevent fog or soft ice. Some arenas reportedly test laser-leveling devices to measure ice thickness and ensure a consistent 1-inch (or so) ice sheet across the entire surface. “Smart ice” might also include non-toxic additives in the water for a harder freeze and better glide. In short, it’s a far cry from the old method of a guy drilling a hole to stick a thermometer in the ice. The goal is consistent, fast ice – technology helps achieve that even as arena climates vary city to city and day to day.
Lighting is another area of huge improvement. Many arenas have completed the transition to LED lighting systems for the rink. The NHL partnered with Signify (Philips Lighting) back in 2021 to push for LED conversions in all facilities, touting big energy savings and better light quality signify.com signify.com. Unlike the old halogen or metal-halide lamps that took minutes to warm up and weren’t very flexible, LED lights can be turned on/off in an instant and even change colors or pulse with the music. Arenas now do dramatic blackout intros, then strobing light goal celebrations, which would have been impossible with the old lights. From a player and broadcast perspective, LEDs also offer brighter, more uniform illumination with less flicker, making it easier to track the puck and yielding better slow-motion replays. Montreal’s Bell Centre was one of the early adopters, installing LED game lights that not only improved the look on TV but cut energy use significantly nhl.com. By 2025, virtually all NHL rinks have followed suit, which collectively is reducing the league’s carbon footprint.
Hand in hand with lighting are the colossal scoreboard displays. Every new or renovated arena seems to one-up the last with a bigger, sharper center ice scoreboard. High-resolution LED screens now wrap around all four (or sometimes eight) sides of these gargantuan cubes or cylindrical displays. For example, Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena has a massive dual-screen scoreboard that’s crystal-clear 4K, ensuring folks in the upper deck can see replays as clearly as on a HDTV at home. These boards are not just for video replays and score – they integrate with the tracking data and entertainment systems. You might see live statistics during a timeout (“Shots this period: 10-8”), betting odds in venues where sports betting is allowed, or engaging graphics prompt crowd chants. Some arenas have extended this to LED ribbon boards along the upper bowl and even LED signage on the boards (in some cases virtually inserted for broadcasts). And with improvements in AI and chroma keying, 2020s broadcasts began to regularly feature digitally superimposed ads on the glass or boards that are tailored to TV audiences, a technology that by 2025 is refined enough to be almost unnoticeable to viewers (while those in the arena see the standard static ads).
Sound has seen upgrades too. Arenas have installed state-of-the-art digital sound systems that provide clearer announcements and music. The trend is towards a more immersive audio experience: more speakers placed around the arena for a surround-sound feel, and audio engineers who can program sound cues (like a directional roar following the puck on a big save). Some teams have signature goal horns and songs, and they use advanced acoustics to make those moments hit even harder – you’ll feel the bass thump of the cannon in Columbus or the crystal clarity of the Vegas Golden Knights’ pre-game narrative.
A significant infrastructure development in recent years is the deployment of 5G networks and improved Wi-Fi in arenas. The NHL renewed a partnership with Verizon in 2023 to outfit arenas with 5G Ultra Wideband, recognizing that fans expect connectivity for sharing their experience and using those AR apps insidetowers.com insidetowers.com. This also plays into operations: robust networks allow more flexible TV production (wireless camera feeds, etc.) and could one day support things like real-time helmet cams streaming to broadcast via 5G (this has been trialed).
Fan amenities have gone high-tech as well. We touched on cashierless checkout – Florida’s arena was a pioneer, using a system with cameras and machine learning to let fans grab food and leave without stopping at a register verizon.com verizon.com. Other arenas have adopted mobile ordering where you use an app to order food to your seat or for express pickup. Entry into arenas is faster now with digital ticket scanning and even early trials of biometric entry (like facial recognition or fingerprint scanning for identity, though those are opt-in and still being tested in some markets). The goal is to minimize time away from the action and eliminate choke points where crowds would gather.
There’s also an environmental tech angle. Seattle’s arena (Climate Pledge) is carbon-neutral and heavily tech-driven for sustainability: it has one of the greenest ice plants using collected rainwater for ice, and it’s powered by renewable energy with smart building systems adjusting lighting/HVAC dynamically. While that’s an extreme example, many arenas have similar innovations like intelligent energy management systems that, for example, circulate air only where needed or dim concourse lighting during game play to save power.
From a player’s perspective, infrastructure tech matters too. Many arenas now have upgraded training and medical facilities with technology like anti-gravity treadmills for rehab, neurocognitive testing stations, and even cryotherapy chambers – all on site. The locker rooms often feature digital displays (even each player’s stall might have a small screen for reviewing shifts or updates from the coach).
When comparing to the past, the 2025 arena is like a spaceship next to the arena of the 1990s. Take something as simple as the Zamboni: while the classic Zamboni machine is still a staple, today many arenas use electric or hybrid ice resurfacers that are emissions-free and quieter, guided by laser for efficient ice resurfacing lines. In the 90s, you’d smell the diesel fumes of the Zamboni; now you’re more likely to notice the whirr of an electric motor.
All these infrastructure improvements serve two main purposes: enhancing the fan experience (so people want to come to games despite amazing home TV options) and improving operational efficiency/safety (saving energy, keeping ice and players in top shape). The NHL has an entire initiative (NHL Green) focused on sustainable tech upgrades, which dovetails with these trends signify.com signify.com. It’s safe to say that by 2025, the arenas themselves have become showcases of technology, complementing the high-tech nature of the game being played inside.
Broadcast and Streaming: Watching Hockey in 2025
The way we watch hockey has transformed dramatically thanks to technology, making the broadcast almost as dynamic as the game itself. By 2025, NHL broadcasts are leveraging everything from AI-driven graphics to new camera tech to enrich the viewer experience on TV and streaming platforms.
One of the first things longtime fans will note is the explosion of camera angles. An NHL game used to be covered by maybe 6–8 cameras (center ice, a couple end zone cams, handhelds, etc.). Now, major broadcasts might use 12–15 or more. There are super slow-motion cameras at high points in the arena to capture that 1,000 fps replay of a puck pinging off the post and the goalie’s swiping glove a millisecond behind. There are “Rail cams” or “Jib cams” that glide just above the glass along the boards, giving a dynamic rink-level pan of the action. Some broadcasts have experimented with drone cameras for outdoor games, and while indoor drones aren’t mainstream (safety reasons), you do see occasional use of small robotic cameras mounted on wires above the ice for unique overhead shots (similar to what football uses, but hockey’s faster pace makes this tricky).
A big talking point in recent years has been the development of 3D or 360-degree replay systems. The NFL and NBA have used tech like Intel True View – a ring of dozens of ultra-HD cameras that let broadcasters freeze play and rotate the perspective virtually, showing the play from any angle (even on-field/in-arena perspectives). In the NHL, a few high-tech arenas have installed similar multi-camera arrays. For instance, during some 2024 playoff broadcasts, we saw replays where the view would orbit around a goalmouth scramble, effectively bullet-timing the moment the puck crossed the line. This is still a high-end feature and not at every arena, but its use is growing. The NHL’s fast pace makes full freezable 3D tricky (puck is small, movement is rapid), but as processing improves, these systems can handle it with only minor latency.
Artificial Intelligence and machine learning are working behind the scenes in broadcasts. The league’s tracking data (discussed earlier) is processed by AI algorithms to find interesting stats or anomalies to highlight. For example, an AI system might alert production that “Player X has been on the ice for 2 minutes, 30 seconds” during a long shift, prompting the commentator to mention fatigue. Or it might recognize a pattern like “Team Y has not registered a shot in the last 5 minutes” and queue that as a graphic. On some regional sports networks, you’ll see automated insights pop up – like a note that a goalie is especially strong glove side vs. blocker side, based on shot tracking data.
One area of AI that’s viewer-facing is automated highlights and summaries. With so many games and so much content, the NHL uses AI (like the system from WSC Sports) to automatically generate highlight packages for each game almost in real time. Moments after a period ends, you can watch a compilation of scoring chances from that period compiled by AI that recognizes events (goals, big saves, hits) from the video and stitches them together. This also extends to personalized highlights: an app might deliver you “All goals from your favorite team this week” in a single reel, without a human editor needing to cut it.
What about commentary? While human broadcasters aren’t going anywhere, AI has begun to assist or supplement. For instance, the NHL Network might use an AI voice to read out a recap of a game on a highlights show when a live commentator isn’t available for every single segment. In some experimental cases (not in mainstream NHL yet, but in minor leagues or overseas broadcasts), AI-generated commentary has been trialed – using text-to-speech voices to call play-by-play from live data. The quality is nascent and can sound robotic, so it’s not a replacement for Doc Emrick or other beloved announcers. But AI might help with things like real-time translation – envision a future where an AI could provide immediate commentary in multiple languages, beyond what human crews can do.
Streaming platforms have grown and with them, new features. ESPN+ (the NHL’s streaming partner in the U.S. as of the early 2020s) and others allow fans to choose their camera or broadcast. On some games, you can select a “home radio audio” overlay or a “sky cam view” if you want. The NHL’s own app has experimented with letting viewers toggle various data overlays on the screen during streams – for example, turning on a mode where you always see puck speed and player speed indicators (much like a video game). These are targeted at hardcore fans who want that video-game-esque information, while the casual viewer can stick to a clean feed.
Interactivity is another theme. There have been playoff streams where viewers could vote in real time on which player the iso-cam should follow next period, or answer trivia for prizes during breaks. Some broadcasts integrate social media, displaying live fan tweets or polls on controversial calls (“Was that goalie interference? Yes/No”).
A notable 2025 innovation on the broadcast front is the use of Hawk-Eye’s optical tracking for instant officiating visuals. For instance, if a close offside challenge occurs, the broadcast can now show a digitally generated line and the position of the player’s skate relative to the blue line (similar to how soccer shows offside lines). This graphic is made possible by the precise camera tracking and it helps explain calls to fans at home clearly – instead of just trusting the ref, you see a kind of semi-automated visual verdict on screen.
One more fun addition: some broadcasts now occasionally offer mic’d up players and VR/AR commentary segments. We’ve seen players wear microphones during games (usually All-Star or special events, but also some regular season games), letting fans hear chirps and on-ice sounds live. The league has to bleep profanity, but it’s an exciting layer of immersion. During the 2023 All-Star game, players even did live interviews with the TV panel mid-play (since all-star is lighthearted) – something that technology made possible with advanced wireless mics and earpieces.
When comparing to older broadcasts, the difference is stark. Go back 15 years, you’d have a standard HD broadcast with basic scoreboard graphics and maybe a telestrator drawing. Now fans are treated to a polished package: a scorebug that might show power play time and a “shot counter” that ticks live, CGI effects like virtual advertisements or augmented reality player cards that slide up on screen when talking about someone, and multi-platform integration (you might cast a 360° replay from your phone to your TV, etc.). The NHL even has shows on platforms like YouTube and Twitch where they use virtual sets and avatars to discuss games, reaching fans on new media.
All of these efforts are geared toward one thing: making the viewing experience as engaging as being there (or at least offering things you don’t get live). Fans at home now see more than a fan in the arena can – detailed replays, superimposed info, and analytical context. And with technology, the league is ensuring that broadcasters can capture the full speed and skill of hockey. As the Hawk-Eye CEO Rufus Hack noted, the aim is a “low-latency view of athletes’ movements in real time” espn.com, which aligns perfectly with broadcast needs. The NHL’s Sony partnership in 2025 explicitly focuses on using imaging and data visualization to enhance the at-home experience nhl.com espn.com. As Theresa Alesso of Sony said, it’s about “get[ting] those angles to the game into someone’s living room” to recreate arena excitement espn.com. In many ways, for fans watching in 2025, hockey on TV has become a high-tech spectacle of its own, complementing the on-ice action with rich layers of data and interactivity.
Wearable Tech, Health Monitoring and Injury Prevention: Protecting the Players
Hockey is a fast, physical sport, and technology is increasingly helping players train smarter, avoid injury, and recover better. By 2025, the NHL and its teams have integrated a range of wearable and health-related technologies to support player safety and performance.
One significant category is wearable performance trackers. During practices (and sometimes in pre-game warm-ups), many players wear GPS tracking vests – small devices often tucked into a slot in their shoulder pads or worn as a band around the torso. These devices, provided by firms like Catapult Sports, capture granular data on player movements: speed, acceleration, total distance skated, jump intensity (for off-ice workouts), you name it dailyfaceoff.com. Coaches and trainers use this info for “sports science” – figuring out if a player is overextending and at risk of a soft tissue injury, or if a rehabbed player is back to full intensity. Frank Seravalli reported that for nearly a decade teams have been quietly amassing this data, monitoring things like “heart rate, distance traveled, skating symmetry, and many other data points to more effectively answer sports science questions such as proper load management to mitigate injury risk” dailyfaceoff.com dailyfaceoff.com. In fact, by 2024 more than half of NHL teams were believed to use Catapult or similar wearable systems dailyfaceoff.com. This marks a cultural change – a decade ago, many players might have bristled at wearing a tracker. Now it’s commonplace, although players maintain rights over the data (the NHLPA ensured they can request or delete their own data, as noted earlier dailyfaceoff.com dailyfaceoff.com).
In games, the focus shifts to safety tech. The aforementioned tracking tags in jerseys aren’t just for data; they also contribute to safety analysis. With Hawk-Eye’s skeletal tracking, the league can analyze collisions and falls – essentially creating a digital record of every big hit’s force and angle. This can help in understanding injuries, especially concussions. Speaking of which, the NHL has been actively involved in concussion research tech. One promising tool is the instrumented mouthguard – a mouthguard fitted with accelerometers and gyroscopes to measure the force of blows to the head. The NFL and World Rugby have used these in pilot programs. The NHL, in collaboration with some universities and companies (like Prevent Biometrics), has conducted trials where a few players wear smart mouthguards during games or scrimmages. The goal is to collect data on head impacts: how hard, from what direction, rotational vs linear acceleration, etc. While not yet league-wide, this technology could influence how concussions are assessed in the future (for example, an alert could be sent to team medical staff if a player sustains an impact above a certain G-force threshold, even if the player tries to shrug it off).
Another wearable making subtle inroads is the heart-rate monitor. We’ve seen glimpses of this during All-Star Skills competitions – for instance, a player’s heart rate was shown live on the broadcast as they attempted the accuracy shooting challenge. That was done by having players wear a Whoop strap (or similar) and consenting to share the data publicly. In regular games, teams do monitor heart rates and other vitals, but that data stays with the medical/training staff. It’s used to ensure players aren’t in distress and to gauge conditioning. Some teams also track players’ sleep and recovery through wearable rings or wrist devices, especially on long road trips, to tailor rest days or meals (this is usually voluntary and kept private, as it’s sensitive data).
Injury prevention also comes through analytics and AI off the ice. Teams are investing in predictive models – for instance, feeding in a player’s workload (from those GPS trackers), biomechanical data, and schedule stressors to predict injury risk. If the model spits out a warning that a certain player has an elevated risk of a groin injury this week (maybe due to cumulative fatigue and past injury history), a team might proactively give him a maintenance day off practice.
Technology has even changed equipment: new materials and designs mean lighter, stronger gear, though that’s more sports engineering than digital tech. However, some helmets now come with impact sensors. The NHL has an ongoing concussion evaluation protocol where if a player’s helmet sensor registers a significant impact, it can flag the central spotter to call for that player to be evaluated. This works in concert with observers watching video for any head-hit symptoms.
Teams are also exploring virtual reality for training. There’s a product called Sense Arena – an official VR training tool endorsed by the NHL – which allows players (especially goalies) to “see” virtual shots in a VR headset and practice reaction times and decision-making off the ice hockey.sensearena.com. A goalie can face dozens of simulated slapshots in a small room, which helps with tracking the puck and reading plays. Some NHL goalies have publicly praised VR training for keeping their minds sharp. By 2025, it’s not universal, but several goalies and skaters use VR drills as part of their routine.
Rehabilitation from injuries has also gotten tech boosts. Teams employ motion capture and biomechanical analysis to ensure a player coming back from, say, ACL surgery is skating with the same mechanics as before. High-speed cameras might record a skater’s stride on a treadmill while software analyzes joint angles. This was rare in the past but now pretty common at least at the evaluation stage. For strength and conditioning, players have personalized apps tracking their workouts, nutrition, and recovery metrics. Everything is logged and analyzed.
One can’t talk about player health in 2025 without mentioning data rights and ethics, which briefly surfaced in 2024. The Daily Faceoff report by Seravalli highlighted that players grew concerned about how all this data might be used beyond health – like in contract negotiations or roster decisions (e.g., could a team avoid re-signing a guy because his wearable data shows his speed declining?) dailyfaceoff.com dailyfaceoff.com. The NHLPA stepped in to remind players they can own and delete their wearable data dailyfaceoff.com dailyfaceoff.com. This is a new kind of issue that simply didn’t exist years ago. It underscores how ingrained tech has become – that even labor agreements cover it.
In summary, the modern NHL player is as much a cyborg as an athlete (in a tongue-in-cheek sense). They are tracked, analyzed, and catered to using an array of devices and software, all aimed at maximizing performance and minimizing injury. The old adage was “the NHL season is a war of attrition,” but with today’s technology, teams are fighting that war with data. They’ll know if a player is fatigued before he does, can detect a concussion that a player might try to hide, and can tailor a workout to exactly what that player’s body needs that day. It’s a quieter revolution compared to say, flashy AR for fans, but for the competitive integrity of the sport, it might be the most important one. As these tools continue to develop, expect players to enjoy longer careers and fewer serious injuries – which is a win-win for everyone.
The Tech Evolution: 2025 vs. Years Past
It’s clear that the NHL of 2025 is not your father’s (or even older sibling’s) NHL. In the span of a decade, the league has transformed on nearly every front through technology. To put it in perspective, consider a few then-and-now contrasts:
- Puck Tracking: In 2015, puck tracking was a novelty revisited during the All-Star Game skills event, but not in real games. By 2025, every official game puck is tracked in real time, yielding detailed shot speeds and trajectories on broadcasts nhl.com. The league even had to solve practical issues (early versions of the “smart puck” in 2019 didn’t slide right and had to be pulled nhl.com, but those kinks are long gone).
- Player Data: A decade ago, “advanced stats” like Corsi or Fenwick (shot attempt metrics) were the cutting edge and were tracked by hand by bloggers. Now, teams and fans have access to data like zone time, skating speed, possession heat maps automatically nhl.com aws.amazon.com. What was once only for über-nerds is now on TV broadcasts, with even casual fans understanding terms like “expected goals” which are derived from tracking and AI analysis.
- Officiating: Previously, controversial goals or offsides might rely on grainy replay and often remain inconclusive. In 2025, the combination of Hawk-Eye cameras and puck/player sensors means the league is on the cusp of eliminating doubt on these calls espn.com espn.com. We’re not quite at the point of a robot ref dropping penalties from the sky (and probably never will fully go there), but technology is now a co-pilot to the officials, rather than a distant aid.
- Fan Experience: Perhaps the most visible changes. In-arena, fans from the 2000s would be astonished by the slickness of things – no more paper tickets, instantaneous replays on your phone, and gamified experiences during intermission. At home, the broadcasting enhancements mean you actually learn more about the game as you watch, thanks to on-screen insights and better analysis. The advent of VR and AR means fans have options to engage that didn’t exist even in 2018. The NHL’s willingness to try things like the Big City Greens animated game nhl.comshows an openness to innovation that perhaps hockey was once shy about.
- Coaching/Preparation: The style of play in 2025 is subtly influenced by tech. Coaches manage ice time more efficiently with real-time data (players used to occasionally get “lost on the bench” and overplay or underplay – now bench coaches monitor shifts like hawks). Teams devise game plans with the aid of predictive analytics – for example, knowing an opposing goalie’s weakness on high glove side via data, they’ll encourage more shots there. These analytical adjustments weren’t possible to the same degree in the past.
- Player Health: Ten years ago, an injury-prone player might be labeled as such with little understanding of why. Now, there’s deeper insight – perhaps their skating mechanics put extra stress on a knee, which trainers can work on adjusting using motion capture feedback. Concussion protocol has also improved dramatically: spotters, video, and tech like mouthguard sensors mean fewer concussed players slip through and stay in a game, reducing long-term harm.
It’s also worth highlighting the pandemic’s influence in 2020-21, which forced the NHL (and all sports) to innovate quickly – from virtual crowd noise to remote production of broadcasts – many of those adaptations laid groundwork for the permanent tech we see now (like cloud-based production for broadcasts, which the NHL and Vizrt showed can allow producing multiple game feeds from a central hub nhl.com nhl.com).
Looking ahead, the NHL’s tech journey seems poised to continue. The 2025 Sony partnership suggests even more integration of XR (Extended Reality) content, perhaps more AR in fan apps or even holographic representations of games nhl.com nhl.com. Hawk-Eye’s further involvement hints that the elusive goal of in-game officiating aids (automated goal detection, offsides) will eventually become a reality espn.com espn.com. The league is also likely to explore more with sports betting data integration – for instance, real-time odds and stats for bettors displayed in a dedicated feed (some of which was demoed by Beyond Sports with a betting-oriented broadcast showing live odds alongside play nhl.com).
In summary, the NHL of 2025 is a league where technology touches every facet: the puck, the player, the coach, the ref, the fan, and the arena itself. It’s all part of a deliberate strategy to modernize hockey without losing its soul. As NHL EVP David Lehanski put it, the aim is to use tech to “engage passionate NHL fans around the globe” and to “showcase the NHL as a worldwide technology leader” nhl.com. The league that was once considered a bit traditionalist has fully embraced the high-tech playbook.
And importantly, the changes haven’t ruined the game – they’ve enhanced it. Hockey is still hockey: fast, thrilling, and dynamic. The technology is largely augmenting the experience, not replacing it. Players still decide games with their skill (not algorithms), referees still have the final say (not computers), and fans still roar for their team (even if some of those roars might be captured by a smart microphone and visualized on a noise meter on the scoreboard!). The difference now is we understand and appreciate the game on a deeper level through these innovations.
As of 2025, the NHL stands as a prime example of a sport respecting its roots while boldly skating into the future through technology – truly a “tech revolution” on ice that’s making hockey better for everyone involved.
Sources:
- NHL Public Relations. “Sony and the National Hockey League (NHL) announce multiyear global technology partnership… will work together to evolve the NHL experience for fans, coaches, officials, players and broadcasters.” NHL.com – News Release, June 4, 2025 nhl.com nhl.com.
- Associated Press. “NHL expanding use of Hawk-Eye measuring and tracking technology… could pave the way to knowing exactly when a puck fully crossed the goal line.” ESPN.com, June 4, 2025 espn.com espn.com.
- Marrapese, Nancy. “NHL Technology Showcase gives glimpse of future of hockey experience.” NHL.com, April 22, 2022 – featuring remarks by NHL’s David Lehanski and demos of 5G, coaching apps, and tracking tech nhl.com nhl.com.
- Gray, Jeremy. “Sony and the NHL Partner to capture fast-paced hockey action with Sony cameras.” PetaPixel, June 4, 2025 – details on Hawk-Eye optical tracking (29 skeletal points) and Sony’s contributions to NHL broadcast and replay tech petapixel.com petapixel.com.
- Heaney, David. “Quest Owners Can Watch The NHL Stanley Cup Final Rinkside in 180° For Free.” UploadVR, June 3, 2025 – announcement of Stanley Cup Final in VR on Xtadium, the first time NHL streamed live to VR uploadvr.com uploadvr.com.
- Ellis, Steven. “What it’s like watching an NHL game in virtual reality.” Daily Faceoff, March 2025 – first-hand account of a live VR NHL broadcast, describing camera setups and the immersive feel dailyfaceoff.com dailyfaceoff.com.
- Venino, Danielle. “SAP and the NHL Unveil Front Office App to Transform Hockey Operations.” SAP News Center, March 20, 2025 – details on the SAP-NHL Front Office App for iPad and mention of Coaching Insights App and Venue Metrics news.sap.com news.sap.com.
- Seravalli, Frank. “NHLPA reminds players of their right to control – or destroy – wearable tech data.” Daily Faceoff, Apr 30, 2024 – discusses teams’ use of Catapult wearable trackers in practice, the data collected (heart rate, distance, etc.), and players’ data rights dailyfaceoff.com dailyfaceoff.com.
- Morreale, Mike G. “NHL, technology partners showcase next generation of fan experience.” NHL.com, April 22, 2022 – covers Verizon 5G multi-angle app, WSC Sports instant replays, Beyond Sports animated broadcasts, and full deployment of NHL Edge tracking with 14–16 IR cameras per arena nhl.com nhl.com.
- Immersiv.io Case Study. “Verizon and NHL ARISE Stadium Showcase.” (2021–2022) – describes an AR trial at Prudential Center where fans saw real-time stats over the ice via 5G, including player speed, heatmaps, shot trails, and face-off probabilities immersiv.io immersiv.io.
- AWS Media Blog. “AWS and NHL unveil new NHL EDGE IQ Ice Tilt metric.” Dec 29, 2023 – explains how the tracking data (100Hz, 3,600 data points per second) is used to compute a new momentum metric “Ice Tilt” and provides tech details aws.amazon.com aws.amazon.com.
- Sports Business Journal (Joe Lemire). “How, why and whether to automate more officiating in sports.” Sept 15, 2025 – context on sports leagues (NBA, NHL, etc.) using automated officiating tech and quote from Sony’s Rufus Hack on balancing speed/accuracy/entertainment in calls sportsbusinessjournal.com sportsbusinessjournal.com.
- Press, Associated. “Hawk-Eye tech integral to NHL replay and new tracking; cameras capture 29 points on each player for real-time skeletal tracking.” ESPN.com via AP News espn.com.
- Verizon Business. “Florida Panthers deliver an all-star fan experience with 5G Edge – including cashierless checkout.” (Verizon case study, 2023) – describes implementation of a checkout-free concession store at FLA Live Arena using 5G, computer vision cameras, and mobile app entry verizon.com verizon.com.
- Signify (Philips Lighting). “NHL partnership to increase sustainable lighting in hockey facilities.” March 24, 2021 – notes NHL’s initiative to transition arenas and community rinks to LED lighting for energy savings (NHL Green) signify.com signify.com.