How the NHL implemented its new goal simulation animations

In a recent overtime game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid flew into the zone on a breakaway, shot the puck off the post, retrieved it and passed it to Leon Draisaitl, who scored the winning goal.

Fans could watch a video clip of this goal, but the NHL's official website offers another way to process the play: a “goal simulation” animation.

McDavid is a small dark circle with the number 97, defended by orange circles with the corresponding Flyers jersey numbers. The puck is a black spot. You can follow Draisaitl's path from his own zone to the winning goal – and Travis Sanheim's inability to catch him – including what happened outside the frame of the television cameras.

Finally, in the cheekiest part of the simulation, a series of rapidly multiplying Oilers “points” appear on the ice as Edmonton players hop over the boards to celebrate the victory and pummel Draisaitl.

“People kind of discovered it organically,” said Russ Levine, the NHL’s group vice president of statistics & information. “They discover unique things or little viral moments, and it's worth it. We hoped fans would discover that.”

The “goal simulations” are created using the NHL’s puck and player tracking technology, which collects data and tracks the movements of each player on the ice and the puck itself.

“We think it allows you to see a game in a different way. You can see the spacing, player positioning, gaps or lack thereof in a way that is very clear and different than on a broadcast because it is two-dimensional and directly overhead.” Levine said. “We believe there is a really unique and quick way to review a piece and see it in a different light.”

HOCKEY IS A SPORT constant movement. Levine said presenting the scoring plays allows fans to see how each part of that offensive opportunity unfolds.

“I think we're always looking for things to help fans better understand what's happening on the ice,” he said. “Puck and player tracking is a way to take this very chaotic game – with live substitutions, players entering and leaving the ice, and the best players playing a third of the game – and find new ways to “To quantify performance or evaluate what happens” in a play.

But the target simulations also have an old-school charm. Seeing plays evolve into digitized shots and passes also brings back memories of early hockey video games.

“The nostalgia for this era of video games never seems to end,” Levine said. “And I think you're right: it's easy and it looks a bit like those early games.”

The NHL began developing puck and player tracking technology in 2013, using various variations of infrared and optical tracking systems. In 2019, the NHL and NHLPA announced that players would wear sensors in their uniforms that, combined with a chip in the puck, would capture real-time data ranging from speed to distance to mapping locations on the ice . There is also an optical tracking component that validates this data “within a few milliseconds,” according to the league, which has renamed its tracking technology NHL Edge.

Over the years, the league has learned to deal with some challenges to ensuring the accuracy of NHL Edge. Sometimes arenas move things around to obscure cameras' sightlines, which is part of the league's checklist for system calibration on game night. Sometimes a chip goes missing or is thrown out of a player's equipment, so the league works with equipment managers to ensure they address the matter.

“There are some technical challenges, maintenance issues, and then there are just some real-world events in games where things need to be corrected quickly to make sure we're capturing everything accurately,” Levine explained.

Once collected, this data could be used, among other things, through the SAP NHL Coaching Insights app, which was available to coaches and players on the bench via tablets during games. Levine said that's where goal simulations first appeared in 2022 to give teams the opportunity to track and analyze game development. The NHL says its coaches have responded positively to what is known on the app as “Virtual Replay,” which features full games.

“They value the tactical focus the view provides, as well as the ability to see an accurate representation of the width and depth on the playing surface that can be distorted with the traditional red-line camera,” said Brant Berglund, senior director of Coaching and GM applications for the NHL. “They have also used it in video rooms and on the bench for various game meetings and coaching purposes.”

However, the league believed NHL Edge data could also be used to entertain and educate fans. It began working with a company called Beyond Sports to develop real-time digital recreations of NHL games in virtual reality and on platforms like Roblox.

In 2023, things took a big leap forward when the NHL and Disney teamed up to create the Big City Greens Classic, which combined NHL Edge location mapping with real-time volumetric animations of players and teams modeled after the Emmy Award characters. Winning show “Big City Greens”. As the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers played a game at Madison Square Garden, animated players mimicked their movements under the watchful eye of a chicken in a referee's jersey.

Last season, incremental improvements were made in the Big City Greens Classic 2, when the Boston Bruins played the Pittsburgh Penguins:

THE NHL ADVANTAGE Target simulation animations are decidedly less technical than the Big City Greens Classic, and that's intentional: while there's inherent entertainment value in watching small circles race across the ice, the target is more educational and analytical.

“It's the same underlying data: multiple position points per second that can be translated, whether in a virtual broadcast with Disney characters or O's in a ring plot,” Levine said. “There are lots of different uses for it that we can imagine in the future.”

The league has decided to add “goal simulations” this season as part of a larger overhaul of NHL.com’s game presentations. After the NHL sold its shares of MLB Advanced Media to Disney in 2021, the league finally began operating its official website in-house. The league wanted to incorporate more content into its box scores, including from its tracking data. Levine said it makes most sense to start with an everyday event like a goal.

“The thought was, 'What can we add that will immediately benefit the fan experience?' “These six-plus goals per game are the most important data we have,” he said. “The idea is to just give people a clear view of what’s happening on a goal.”

The NHLPA approved player tracking years ago. Although goal simulations occasionally spotlight players who have a negative impact on a game, Levine said he has not heard of and does not expect any resistance from players.

“I don't think there's any risk of a player's performance problem being exposed in moving points that wouldn't be exposed on television,” he said.

The next evolution of target simulations is to allow fans to share the clips on social media.

“We are working on that. I think the reaction we've seen on social media from people reacting to it on the website shows that there's interest in it,” Levine said. “It’s a completely different way of looking at a goal. Some of these goals may have viral aspects. We’re excited to see what fans will make of it if we can make it fully shareable.”