Tracking players with RFID tags

[Toxic0n]

I was just reading this article about NFL installing RFID sensors and having their playesr wear RFID tags to track their movement during matches.

Zebra said the technology, known as "Next Gen Stats," will track player acceleration rates, top speed, length of runs, and even how much separation a ball carrier got from a defender.

Could we ever see something like this in the NHL?

Can you imagine the benefits, not just for our entertainment, but what if the coach had access to this information in real time i.e. "this player's acceleration is getting worse every shift, clearly he is tired and needs shorter shifts" or "this player did not even get up to 70% of his max speed on the backcheck, need to tell him to try harder" or "opponent's goalie is moving right-to-left slower than usual, aim for that corner"?

I think it's a cool technology and would love to see it in hockey.

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[SarcazemKadri]

...but does it measure intangibles? ya didn't think so.

 

[Multimoodia]

Plus it would keep theft of players down. Don't know how many times now I've seen someone try to sneak out of Madison Square Garden with Mats Zuccarello under their arm.

 

[DanZ]

Would provide a lot of cool stats. I'm all for it as long as there's no interference for the players.

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

That's really cool. I think you could do a lot with that technology.

The NFL is always on the cutting edge of these things. Best run professional sports league in the world.

 

[Toxic0n]

...but does it measure intangibles? ya didn't think so.

Excellent username to post content correlation

Sarcasm aside, maybe it could, depends on what you mean by "intangibles"? They could measure how close a forward keeps to his target on a backcheck, whether a defenceman gets beat more often on a certain side or by a specific player, etc

 

[InfinityIggy]

So long as it doesn't affect play, I think it'd be awesome. What I'd fear is having to stop the play every 5 minutes so a player can replace his chip after he gets crushed into the boards.

 

[Price is Wright]

...but does it measure intangibles? ya didn't think so.

RFID chips implemented in knuckles.

 

[Pioneer]

I was just reading this article about NFL installing RFID sensors and having their playesr wear RFID tags to track their movement during matches.



Could we ever see something like this in the NHL?

Can you imagine the benefits, not just for our entertainment, but what if the coach had access to this information in real time i.e. "this player's acceleration is getting worse every shift, clearly he is tired and needs shorter shifts" or "this player did not even get up to 70% of his max speed on the backcheck, need to tell him to try harder" or "opponent's goalie is moving right-to-left slower than usual, aim for that corner"?

I think it's a cool technology and would love to see it in hockey.

TBH I'd rather not see this. It will just help mediocre coaches keep up in the NHL and create more parity. Do we really want teams to focus solely on satistics and not watching the game? I don't want to expect 3rd line players to play flawless, perfect hockey, instead of enjoying the game and playing with passion.
The more data we use to anylize the game, the greater expectations will be for every player to play perfect, flawless hockey and not make dumb decision. I want to see teams play with passion to achieve something and have fun playing the game. If I want to see perfect strategies I'd watch soccer.
Edit: To clarify passion, I mean when the Canucks went on their 1994 playoff run. Those players didn't have to think about how critically they were being evaluated every game in terms of Corsi and positioning. I'm just saying I don't want to see robots on the ice... maybe just 1 robot at a time.

 

[PsYcNeT]

TBH I'd rather not see this. It will just help mediocre coaches keep up in the NHL and create more parity. Do we really want teams to focus solely on satistics and not watching the game? I don't want to expect 3rd line players to play flawless, perfect hockey, instead of enjoying the game and playing with passion.
The more data we use to anylize the game, the greater expectations will be for every player to play perfect, flawless hockey and not make dumb decision. I want to see teams play with passion to achieve something and have fun playing the game. If I want to see perfect strategies I'd watch soccer.

Hilarious post.

"Tools that help coaches? Outrageous!"

 

[InfinityIggy]

TBH I'd rather not see this. It will just help mediocre coaches keep up in the NHL and create more parity. Do we really want teams to focus solely on satistics and not watching the game? I don't want to expect 3rd line players to play flawless, perfect hockey, instead of enjoying the game and playing with passion.
The more data we use to anylize the game, the greater expectations will be for every player to play perfect, flawless hockey and not make dumb decision. I want to see teams play with passion to achieve something and have fun playing the game. If I want to see perfect strategies I'd watch soccer.

We should get rid of video replay as well, actually we should just do away with the whole tv thing! We don't want the players feeling like they have to play 'perfect' in front of the camera. I just want to see passion.

 

[Pioneer]

Hilarious post.

"Tools that help coaches? Outrageous!"

didn't use the word outrageous but thats funny

 

[Meeqs]

plus it would keep theft of players down. Don't know how many times now i've seen someone try to sneak out of madison square garden with mats zuccarello under their arm.

lmao!

 

[cybresabre]

Sure it'd be neat to have player speeds and checking force or something, but I'd prefer to see if they could do something like that with the puck. I think it would be so cool if they could measure how fast a puck is shot! It's hard for me to track the tiny puck sometimes, so maybe they could think of a way to highlight it on my screen? I'm also very pro-robot graphics.

 

[Multimoodia]

Sure it'd be neat to have player speeds and checking force or something, but I'd prefer to see if they could do something like that with the puck. I think it would be so cool if they could measure how fast a puck is shot! It's hard for me to track the tiny puck sometimes, so maybe they could think of a way to highlight it on my screen? I'm also very pro-robot graphics.

You know what they need? Something that lights the puck up at all times on television and then when the puck is moving really fast (like a slap-shot or a David Backes pass to someone 3 feet away) they could have the glow around it turn red...maybe even give it a comet-like tail.

I think it'd catch on.

 

[Pioneer]

You know what they need? Something that lights the puck up at all times on television and then when the puck is moving really fast (like a slap-shot or a David Backes pass to someone 3 feet away) they could have the glow around it turn red...maybe even give it a comet-like tail.

I think it'd catch on.

make the hockey sticks out of plastic, fill it with glow stick fluid and turn off all the lights in the arena. Give the goalies glowing pads too

 

[Multimoodia]

make the hockey sticks out of plastic, fill it with glow stick fluid and turn off all the lights in the arena. Give the goalies glowing pads too

They could cross-promotion it with a new TRON movie from Disney. It'd be epic.

 

[Pioneer]

They could cross-promotion it with a new TRON movie from Disney. It'd be epic.

This isn't possibly a bad idea, NHL marketers need to take notes!

 

[member 145483]

The NFL is always on the cutting edge of these things. Best run professional sports league in the world.

They're only about 5-10 years behind the marathon and iron man organizers.

RFID's are not new to sports.

They are just new to the big 4.

 

[Hivemind]

How about we let the league get a hang of SportVU, first?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/stubborn-nhl-takes-tech-step-forward/article18595761/

The NFL is always on the cutting edge of these things. Best run professional sports league in the world.

The NBA has been doing similar stuff with cameras for years. RFID chips have been used in soccer by some leagues for a while as well. This isn't really cutting edge anymore.

 

[talkinaway]

I've always been surprised that RFIDs haven't been used more in sports. I'm guessing they're cheap enough to embed in pucks and balls. It seems like it would help with questions like "did the puck cross the line?" or "did the ball go to the left for a foul or to the right for a home run?", but I don't know the limitations - imagine the outrage if a puck didn't cross the net according to the RFID while the cameras clearly show it crossing.

There's nothing wrong with tools that can help a coach assess what his players are doing on the ice. A rising tide will lift all boats in terms of quality of competition - maybe some adapt better than others, but it's not going to turn a crap coach into a superstar, or vice versa.

If you need proof of that - we have the internet now, which was basically unheard of (or at least in a little egg waiting to be hatched) 30 years ago. Is it a great tool that can help people learn? Absolutely - and I really think that, overall, we're the better for it. But if you need proof that technology won't automatically make every single person brilliant, I have two words for you:

Comments section.

 

[Pioneer]

I've always been surprised that RFIDs haven't been used more in sports. I'm guessing they're cheap enough to embed in pucks and balls. It seems like it would help with questions like "did the puck cross the line?" or "did the ball go to the left for a foul or to the right for a home run?", but I don't know the limitations - imagine the outrage if a puck didn't cross the net according to the RFID while the cameras clearly show it crossing.

There's nothing wrong with tools that can help a coach assess what his players are doing on the ice. A rising tide will lift all boats in terms of quality of competition - maybe some adapt better than others, but it's not going to turn a crap coach into a superstar, or vice versa.

If you need proof of that - we have the internet now, which was basically unheard of (or at least in a little egg waiting to be hatched) 30 years ago. Is it a great tool that can help people learn? Absolutely - and I really think that, overall, we're the better for it. But if you need proof that technology won't automatically make every single person brilliant, I have two words for you:

Comments section.

good point

With the RFID chips there is no excuse for poor positioning for any player and it takes away from the impact the coach will have. IMO it increases the impact of depth players more and makes it take less understanding to coach. Coaches will become motiviational speakers as technology continues, and statistics rule the game. Bet thats why we don't see things like this implemented.

 

[The Sweetness]

They're only about 5-10 years behind the marathon and iron man organizers.

RFID's are not new to sports.

They are just new to the big 4.

True.

But endurance sports have used them because the entire sport is based on output expended over time performing the same activity over and over again.

The NFL and the other big 4 sports are so much more complex as have so many variables to track given the nature of team sports.

It's really useless comparing the two given how simple one is (endurance sports) and how complex dynamic team sports are.

I'm a bit more surprised the NFL is behind soccer in using the chips though it may be a bit more useful in soccer than football.

 

[OiledUp]

good point

With the RFID chips there is no excuse for poor positioning for any player and it takes away from the impact the coach will have. IMO it increases the impact of depth players more and makes it take less understanding to coach. Coaches will become motiviational speakers as technology continues, and statistics rule the game. Bet thats why we don't see things like this implemented.

Yeah, I don't see it, they already have video reviews to find and correct poor positioning, why would RFID chips suddenly make coaches obsolete? It's not like the chip will force guys into position.
Soccer has gotten more offensive and scoring is up the last 5-10 years, and they've used RFID chips for a while, it's ofc not linked but it obviously didn't make it too easy coaching defense either.

For a guy named Pioneer you're surprisingly conservative

 

[icKx]

Can you imagine the benefits, not just for our entertainment, but what if the coach had access to this information in real time i.e. "this player's acceleration is getting worse every shift, clearly he is tired and needs shorter shifts" or "this player did not even get up to 70% of his max speed on the backcheck, need to tell him to try harder" or "opponent's goalie is moving right-to-left slower than usual, aim for that corner"?

I think it's a cool technology and would love to see it in hockey.

I'm trying to imagine a single benefit.

Seems to have no value as a coaching tool either. Ok so player A moved more quickly than player B. Well, maybe player B was in a better position and so didn't have to hustle.