Do We Remember The FoxPuck (Glowing 90's Puck)? What Are Your Thoughts on It?

[CJZizzari]

I remember as a kid thinking this was cool but as I got older it just seemed increasingly more strange... The NHL was spooked off by this for 2 decades but are trying Augmented Reality Technology again this year. What are your thoughts on it? Memories of The Glow Puck? and Ideas for How It Can Be Used Well?

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[Big Phil]

It was an embarrassment then and it still would be if they tried it today. Sure as Canadians we tend to roll our eyes at Americans and their hockey knowledge but there are so many Americans who love hockey just like us in certain parts of the country who didn't need a glowing puck anymore than a kid from Saskatoon in order to watch a game. It was a gimmick, nothing more.

 

[CJZizzari]

It was an embarrassment then and it still would be if they tried it today. Sure as Canadians we tend to roll our eyes at Americans and their hockey knowledge but there are so many Americans who love hockey just like us in certain parts of the country who didn't need a glowing puck anymore than a kid from Saskatoon in order to watch a game. It was a gimmick, nothing more.

I agree it was a tad insulting to the American market but I'd argue it should be abled to switch on and off. So puck FX for people that need it.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Very much a case of nostalgia being driven by childhood memories. This was another apocalyptic moment for adult fans, along the lines of naming a team after a Disney movie or rolling out bat**** crazy third jerseys.

Funny thing is, the FoxTrax technology actually was worthwhile, tracking shot speed and whatnot. But apparently they didn’t want to keep it if they couldn’t turn it into a sideshow for the TV broadcast.

 

[The Panther]

An embarrassment.

 

[Normand Lacombe]

The glowing puck and the Fox Bots were silly marketing gimmicks. I'm sure Bettman loved them though.

 

[The Macho King]

With HD and larger screens tracking the puck is easy for a novice, so it's not necessary even for that. I didnt think it was awful or anything, and if it helped bring in fans then all good.

 

[DannyGallivan]

What are your thoughts on it? Memories of The Glow Puck? and Ideas for How It Can Be Used Well?

 

[DannyGallivan]

So puck FX for people that need it.

Nobody needs it. A couple of generations of hockey fans never needed it before, and a couple of generations haven't needed it since.

 

[GMR]

Bettman said in an interview a few years back that he misses the glow puck. Think about that.

 

[Tarantula]

Hated it, I found it distracting from the play around but not at the puck. I get that same feeling when I watch netfix with closed captioned on and the volume on (elder relative). In both cases I found it distracting and made following along more difficult, the opposite you would have thought.

 

[Sentinel]

I remember the Molson (?) ad on TV, about a corporate meeting, where one man makes a proposition: "How about we introduce a glowing puck? With a colored streak behind it? Blue streak -- pass, red streak -- shoot." The next scene he is thrown out of the meeting, with a red streak behind him.

 

[JackSlater]

I recall thinking that it was odd, noting that there was seemingly no end to the jokes made about it, and then it was gone. A very 90s experiment.

 

[JianYang]

I didn't mind it, but it was always bizarre to see it through the boards during a scrum.

My favourite part was being able to see the shot speed in real time, which for some reason never really got talked about. Maybe it was just me who liked that.

 

[GlitchMarner]

#Red Puck Era.

 

[billybudd]

I wouldn't have minded it, but the players said the physical properties of the puck weren't the same. If it effects competition in a negative way, that's a problem, but from a spectator perspective, it was nowhere near as detrimental to the viewing experience as, say, Susan Sarandon calling a game on NBC.

 

[sr edler]

FoxTrax came along when I was 16–17 or something and had lost some interest for the game. I kinda associate that puck with Eric Lindros for some reason because he was really big then and had a big FoxTraxy shot.

I can't remember seeing it in an actual game though, just in an All-Star game context.

I think it's funny in retrospect though, mostly because it annoyed some people.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I didn't mind it, but it was always bizarre to see it through the boards during a scrum.

That was actually a semi useful aspect of it.

I remember watching the ECHL all star game in 1997 or so, and they had a version of the Fox Trax which didn't glow, but would show up as a white dot behind the boards or under the goalie's glove. It was kind of interesting but really not necessary.

 

[Thedogo]

Stupid not needed.

 

[Thedogo]

It was an embarrassment then and it still would be if they tried it today. Sure as Canadians we tend to roll our eyes at Americans and their hockey knowledge but there are so many Americans who love hockey just like us in certain parts of the country who didn't need a glowing puck anymore than a kid from Saskatoon in order to watch a game. It was a gimmick, nothing more.

I was going to say I'm an American from Chicago and I never needed it.

 

[rfournier103]

I’ll give them the “Fox Box” in the corner of the screen that tells you the score and other important details. That was a great innovation. Nobody else in the US was doing that.

The glowing puck was an abomination.

 

[DoyleG]

This sums up how I feel about it.

 

[Retire91]

Gonna be in the small minority here, I liked it lol

 

[HisIceness]

I think I remember watching it either during the 1997 or 1998 playoffs and thought it was cool, the robots however I thought were goofy. I saw more of it on Sportscenter than anything else and Dan Patrick would always joke about it. The last year of the NHL on Fox they took it away and that was disappointing, 9-10 year old me wasn't yet into Hockey and that was the best way to get a big NBA nut like myself at that time to watch Hockey on TV.

I know it got ridiculed back then and even today, but I'm sure for a lot of kids like myself who were watching Michael Jordan, Deion Sanders, and Ken Griffey Jr but had no Hockey heroes since the sport wasn't accessible and/or easy to follow on TV, the glow puck was the coolest thing about the NHL, and it's one of those things that just screams 1990's.

I'm not sure I want it to return however. The nostagila of it and other items of Hockey and other sports past back then doesn't always translate well to todays market. Sure kids would probably love it but I don't think it would win over many new fans, the point is Hockey in general is a tough sport to watch on TV. Anyone who wants to get into the game needs to go see it in person to truly appreciate it IMO.

 

[Jets4Life]

Hated it. It was really distracting, and I actually had trouble following the game. I'm really glad it's gone, but the red comet streak when a player shot was horrible.