Diagnosing what happened during a player’s shift on the ice will be nearly instantaneous for each NHL playoff participant this season thanks to a new system involving three Apple iPad Pros in team benches.
The video system involving three NHL iPads and Mac computers will be available for both the home and away teams for every Stanley Cup playoff game this season before the system is available for all 31 NHL teams for the 2017-18 season.
According to the Associated Press, the iPad Pros will be installed on both benches in triplicate either on the glass or on the sides of the benches. The devices will get videos fed to them from team employees who will take live video feeds and cut the clips as the coaches need them.
Coaches and players aren’t the only ones who will have access to the new video system, however. Officials will also have access to designated iPads for use in reviewing coaches’ challenges.
The thinking behind the implementation of the system is that it should enable teams to make adjustments more quickly. That should elevate the level of play on the ice. There’s no better time for the NHL to introduce something with the potential to improve the on-ice product than the Stanley Cup playoffs.
David Lehanski, NHL senior VP of business development, global partnerships and sponsorship sales, echoed that sentiment about the timing of the program’s launch.
"“It’s equal parts of us believing this truly will help the coaches and the officials and we’re going to make decisions faster and more accurately and all those things and it gives us an opportunity to get a lot of feedback in from everyone who’s going to be involved from a playoff standpoint and then make some refinements and enhancements leading into next season for a full league-wide deployment,” Lehanski said."
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If the system works as the NHL hopes, the on-ice product should improve and stoppage time due to coaches’ challenges along with coaches deciding whether or not to challenge should decrease beginning in 2017-18 across the league.