Watch hockey from a new Point of View.

Have you ever wondered what it must feel like to be a NHL goalie?  …Well now you can experience hockey from the goalie’s point of view, without having to stop 100 MPH slap-shots.  I’d like to introduce to you the GOALIE CAM:

In this clip from December 15, 2004, Marc-Andre Fleury, goaltender for the Pittsburgh Penguins, tested out the newly created goalie cam.  Though this is not the first goalie cam to be used, it is however the first time that a camera is actually built into the goalie’s mask instead of being mounted on the outside of the helmet.  Safety problems caused the latter to be reinvented.  The new and improved NHL goalie cam was developed by Jeff Silverman, owner of Inertia Unlimited in Jacksonville, Vt.  He used the Sony XC-555 mini camera which was mounted behind a pencil-sized hole drilled below the chin of the goalie mask.  Here is a close-up of Fleury’s custom made helmet:

 

                                                 

As you can see, the camera takes up minimal space in order to be more comfortable and safe for the goalie.  Jeff Silverman stated that live footage would be captured ”with an RS-232 interface on the Sony camera, they [broadcasters] can directly control the video gain, sharpness, and iris level of the fixed-image camera from a laptop with a USB connector by using a small Global Microwave Systems 2 GHz RF transmitter mounted atop the goal.”  This would allow a network such as NBC to easily switch from the traditional camera view point in the upper level of the arena to the goalie’s point of view on the ice.

Fleury has worn the goalie cam more than anyone else in the league, but its popularity with the public will increase the number of NHL goalies who will use it.  Here is better quality clip from NBC’s goalie cam on Philadelphia Flyers’ goalie, Robert Esche:

http://mfile.akamai.com/16532/wmv/nh…am_nbc_700.asx

The NHL is doing all that it can with the available technology to make the game more attractive to viewers.  Since the lockout of the 2004-2005 season, the league is trying to reinvent the coverage of hockey to regain and expand its fan base.  The goalie cam is a great first step because viewers are placed right in the middle of all of the action with the goalie’s point of view.  In my opinion, I think this is a great investment for the NHL because it will attract more fans.  A lot of viewers complain that hockey is not interesting to watch on TV; however the goalie cam takes you inside the glass and on the ice.  I cannot think of any sports that gives you a first person perspective of the game at the professional level. 

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