I was curious about all the information now available to me as a hockey fan, which pops up on the screen in real time. For example, a 95 mph shot on net is not uncommon.

Down another rabbit hole I go.

I remember when the National Hockey League was trying to expand beyond the ‘original 6’ teams. The puck would turn glowing red for long shots on the net.

This design graduated to a puck with a computer built right into the puck. There were 20 small holes scattered evenly around the top, bottom and circular side puck. These pulsed about every 2 seconds, connecting to 16 receivers around the arena.

The unofficial costs of each puck are in the range of $450.

It had a battery life of 20 minutes, each weighing 6 ounces.

These pucks are very hard. Eventually, an errant slapshot killed a fan in the stands behind the goal. Reality won over the traditionalists, and netting was erected at each end to protect the customers.

The league uses about 40 pucks for an average game. Why so many, you ask? After every stoppage, a new puck is used for the subsequent face-off.

One reason is that the puck needs to be cold to slide better along the ice. The temperatures of the pucks are tracked.

When does the connection to beer come into play? Well, a major brand advertised that you knew it was cold enough to drink when the mountains turned blue. All this is thanks to temperature-sensitive printing ink.

Each game puck has the same technology. The NHL logo turns purple when it is cold enough to be used in the game. However, not all pucks are created equal. The practice and warm-up pucks don’t have this feature.

Back to the lights built into the pucks, they pulsate 60 times each second. Sensors in the roofs of the arenas triangulate where the puck is on the ice.

As an aside, the players also wear technology that is picked up so information such as name plates on screen can wander around with the appropriate player, track his time on the ice and more.

Lastly, the referees must smack the puck firmly to activate the battery.  The current estimated cost for each puck is $40.

Please give this a bit of a think. Looks can be deceiving, and things and people can be more complicated than we see at first glance. Have you met people and had a strong immediate positive or negative reaction, only to find a more moderate or opposite opinion later?

Corrupting John Lennon’s catchy phrase ‘Give Peace a Chance,” try to “Give People a Chance.”

Photo by AI Request: Create a close-up image of a hockey referee dropping a puck with a fictitious logo.

A shout-out to the folks at YouTube channel, ‘RINKS,’ for the technology hidden in the pucks.

I am curious about your thoughts. Please email me with your bit of a think.

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And my thanks to St. Albert’s 50+ Activity Centre for making this Blog possible.

Volunteer Blogger

glenn.walmsley@icloud.com