# Hockey on TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2000, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hockey-on-tv/10737 "2000-04-20T15:03:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hockey-on-tv/10737/1 "2000-04-20T15:03:00Z")
I remember when I was a kid it was almost impossible to watch Hockey on TV. You had to guess where the puck was based on the actions of the players - it was just too small to see with the existing television technology. Nowadays, I never have any problems seeing the puck. I know that one of the station used to put a green streak around it so you could see it, but I haven’t seen that in a few years. You just see the puck. Does anyone know if they artificially enhance the puck? Y’know, like make it darker or bigger or something using TV magic. Or is it just that video/broadcast/whatever technology has just gotten good enough that you can see a teensy tiny little puck now, whereas 15 years ago it was impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hockey-on-tv/10737/2 "2000-04-20T15:59:00Z")
Pucks haven’t been enhanced since the Fox Network’s ill-fated experiment with the glow-puck (Seems a lot of the longtime fans were turned off by it. I found it a bit distracting myself.) Some guesses as to why you see the pucks better now – broadcasting and reception (your TV) have improved … lighting is better in the arenas where the game is played, and you’ve simply gotten more used to discerning the puck. I never had a problem with it, even watching it on TV back in the ‘70s. I’m not braggin’; I’m just sayin’. * * * Give me immortality, or give me death! ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hockey-on-tv/10737/3 "2000-04-20T16:09:00Z")
I’ve got a 13 inch color TV, which has a good picture, but I generally can’t see the puck at all. So I’m guessing that at a minimum a bigger TV screen helps. True story–I heard it with my own ears–after the Hartford Whaler’s had been highjacked to become the Carolina Hurricanes, the local sports station had some “this is hockey” call in shows. One listener called to ask, in all seriousness, if _the players_ found the video enhancement of the hockey puck to be a distraction. ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hockey-on-tv/10737/4 "2000-04-20T16:42:00Z")
That Fox puck was terrible. When the puck was by the near boards, the glow portion made it look like it was in the stands. Just too cartoonish for my liking… hockey is supposed to be tough and gritty, not flashy. Another problem with hockey in new markets is explaining offsides and icing… the fans think they are going to call penalties and will cheer. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2000, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hockey-on-tv/10737/5 "2000-04-21T05:18:00Z")
The “glowing puck” has gone to the same graveyard as “Peter Puck” and the “Avco Cup”. Hockey may have achieved moderate success expanding to nontraditional markets, but it only seems that is the case because people from traditional hockey-playing areas have moved around the country. At the Staples Center in L.A., the Kings, in addition to losing their playoff series, had the ignominy of having brooms and an octopus tossed on the ice.