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A question about the TV coverage

Enzso

Registered User
Jun 20, 2021
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I'm a TV sports director in Australia. I have almost no knowledge of the NHL or how ice hockey is televised, but I have a question after watching some of the Vegas playoff game yesterday. When the puck is in dispute against the boards on the broadcast side of the rink (the side the centre line cameras are on), and you can't see what's happening because the boards hide the puck and the players from the waist down, is that generally regarded as acceptable to TV viewers or is it a constant PITA? I was surprised to see it happen so often and no attempt being made to better show the action. I would have thought with the technology available today it would be regarded as unacceptable that there's a contest happening for the puck but you can't see what's going on on TV.
 
That was a horrible game from the way it was televised.
There were way too many close ups and way too much use of the robo cam.
Hockey is televised in more different ways than any other sport I watch.
There was at least one game in the Isles Penguins series where the whole game was from center ice and the other camera angles were for replay.
The games on Sportsnet are televised much differently than NBC.
NBC focuses on play and Sportsnet focuses on players
The best hockey in the playoffs was the Bruins Isles series and I think the way it was televised allowed it to be.
I could have never enjoyed those games as much if it had been televised like game 3 of the Knights and Habs
 
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Thanks for the responses guys - yeah too much camera angle changing is a universal thing I think. Do they still use jitacam at all?


Also reading about FoxTrax in the 90s which sounds like an attempt to show the position of a hidden puck. I'm guessing it wasn't well received.
 
Thanks for the responses guys - yeah too much camera angle changing is a universal thing I think. Do they still use jitacam at all?


Also reading about FoxTrax in the 90s which sounds like an attempt to show the position of a hidden puck. I'm guessing it wasn't well received.


Hockey is a sport that needs awareness of most players in a half zone, so that kind of zoom would detract from a good understanding of the play, and viewers would be lost when a pass goes cross-ice
 
You don't really literally watch the puck. You can tell where it is by the way the players are acting. And nothing really vital is likely to happen along the boards that couldn't be shown in a replay later. Nothing is more annoying than when they try to "improve" on this and shift around to different camera angles too often in the course of play.
 
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There was a system Fox implemented in the mid-late 90's called FoxTrax, which used computer graphics from specialized pucks to create a trail on the puck. The idea was that it would be easier for non-hockey fans/new fans to keep track of the puck. It is rather infamous in hockey circles as being a gimmick, however it did somewhat solve the issue the OP brought up. For example, look at 3:43 of this video. It doesn't look great, but you can actually see where the puck is. This technology is a quarter century old; if done nowadays something like this may actually be a positive addition to the broadcast without seeming gimmicky or out of place.

 
This technology is a quarter century old; if done nowadays something like this may actually be a positive addition to the broadcast without seeming gimmicky or out of place.

How good were the 90s!? I'm loving the robots destroying each other on the score graphic. That puck tracking is pretty revolutionary for the time - rendering real time on screen tracking with colour changes depending on whether its a pass or a shot.

I guess it's not so much the location of the puck I'm referring to, it's more when two players are competing over it against the boards and it might be a 3 or 4 second contest before the puck comes out. From what I'm reading here it sounds like that's just an accepted part of the game and not an issue.
 
It just takes time. You watch enough games and you know where the puck generally is at all times. What's really fun is knowing where the puck is going to be.
 
It just takes time. You watch enough games and you know where the puck generally is at all times. What's really fun is knowing where the puck is going to be.

Agreed, but I think the OP is looking at a mean of getting new fans onboard as easily as possible. An idea I can definitely support.

I dislike people who try to gatekeep newcomers out of their hobby.
 
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Speaking of this I need to work late the next three days… technically I’ll be leaving in the first period and coming back a few hours later

How can I either:

DVR/Pause game for when I get back?

or

Watch full replay?


I’ve cut the cord but more than willing to try peacock or espn+ or whatever I need to do this…

Of course I don’t want the know the result

Any ideas?
 
Thanks for the responses guys - yeah too much camera angle changing is a universal thing I think. Do they still use jitacam at all?


Also reading about FoxTrax in the 90s which sounds like an attempt to show the position of a hidden puck. I'm guessing it wasn't well received.


It was very poorly received by most hockey die-hards, but think a FoxTrax type of thing would be a nice option for new fans nowadays. It should be easy to just turn off and on like so many other viewing features.

I also don't see why they couldn't have multiple camera viewing options too, including more active camera switching. I kind of like your idea of switching cameras when the puck is on the near boards. Yes, we know where the puck sort of is, but we really can't see a lot of what is going on. It just comes out of the scrum sometimes and we don't know whose stick pushed it out. We're just used to not seeing it.
 
Speaking of this I need to work late the next three days… technically I’ll be leaving in the first period and coming back a few hours later

How can I either:

DVR/Pause game for when I get back?

or

Watch full replay?


I’ve cut the cord but more than willing to try peacock or espn+ or whatever I need to do this…

Of course I don’t want the know the result

Any ideas?

There's a bunch of streams out there that are rewindable. For me I can just pause it when I need to go out and come back and finish the game around midnight. Try Bilasport, Markkystreams, etc... This stream is up now.
 

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