FoxTrax FoxTrax ( colloquially also called the glow puck , smart puck , laser puck , Fox Puck , or super puck ) was a specialized ice hockey puck with internal electronics that allowed its position to be tracked designed for NHL telecasts on the FOX . Primarily , it was used to visually highlight the puck on - screen and display a trail when the puck was moving rapidly . In 1994 , Fox won a contract to broadcast NHL games in the United States . A common complaint among American fans was that the puck was difficult to follow on the ice . Thus , FoxTrax was created to remedy this problem . The FoxTrax puck was first used during the 1996 NHL All - Star Game . It was last used during Game 1 of the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals . Fox was scheduled to televise Games 5 and 7 , but the series ended in 4 games . Had there been Games 5 , and 7 , then Mike Emrick ( play - by - play ) , John Davidson ( color commentator ) , and Pierre McGuire ( reporter ) would ' ve called it . In August 1998 , the NHL broadcast rights went to ABC , and FoxTrax was not brought back for the final season except for the game on April 4 , 1999 between Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars . Construction and operation . To create the FoxTrax puck , a standard NHL puck was cut in half , and a tiny circuit board with a battery was placed inside . The circuit board contained a shock sensor and infrared emitters that were located on the flat surfaces and perimeter of the puck . The enhanced puck was engineered to have the same weight , balance , and rebound as the original puck . The two halves were then bonded with a proprietary [ epoxy compound and the puck could be used for gameplay . The FoxTrax was developed with assistance from News Corp ' s Etak navigation subsidiary . While the batteries were designed to last for 30 minutes , and some were successfully used in tests for more than 60 minutes , a typical puck lasted only about 10 minutes on the ice . For that reason 30 FoxTrax pucks were provided for each game . The puck was activated when it was dropped by the ref or struck by a hockey stick . During a Fox NHL broadcast , the puck emitted infrared pulses which were detected by both the 20 pulse detectors and the 10 modified IR cameras that were located in the rafters . The shuttering of the IR cameras was synchronized to the pulses . Each IR camera had an associated 486 - 66 PC to process the video locally and transmit the coordinates of candidate targets to the " Puck Truck " ( a 55 ' production trailer ) . The truck contained computers that superimposed computer graphics on the puck coordinates , which could be seen by viewers at home . The visual result was a bluish glow around the puck . Unfortunately , blue does not show up very well against the white of the rink . Passes were indicated with the bluish glow plus a comet tail indicating its path . When the puck moved faster than 70 miles per hour , a red comet tail was added . Despite rumors that FOX employees would sometimes go into the stands to retrieve a puck that left the playing area , the pucks were not re - usable . Like any other puck that left the ice , the FoxTrax pucks became souvenirs . Public response . There was a divided response to the implementation of the FoxTrax puck . Newcomers enjoyed the feature , since they could follow the game more easily . In fact , a Fox Sports survey found that 7 out of 10 respondents liked the new puck . However , there was a strong backlash among hockey purists . They argued that the video graphics were a distraction and turned hockey into a video game . Others said that it really shouldn ' t be that hard to see a black puck on white ice . Despite the puck having passed rigorous tests by the NHL to qualify as an official puck , matching the non - enhanced puck in every material way , some players claimed the enhanced puck had more rebound , and were frustrated that the pricey pucks were not available for practice . The concept was later parodied in a Molson Canadian beer advertisement where an American marketer is attempting to sell the idea to a boardroom full of Canadian executives . As he is forcibly ejected from the room , a blue comet trail follows him ( i . e . " they passed " ) . Canadian news satire program " This Hour Has 22 Minutes " parodied the concept , promoting a glow that recognized when Americans would appear on screen . Canadian Folk / Comedy trio The Arrogant Worms satirized the glow puck in their song Proud to be Canadian with the line " we don ' t need no microchip inside our hockey pucks . " Sportswriter Greg Wyshynski named it the second - worst idea in North American sports history , trailing only the infamous Ten Cent Beer Night promotion that baseball ' s Cleveland Indians threw in 1974 , in his book " Glow Pucks and Ten - Cent Beer " .