Puck and player tracking is coming to the NHL next season. A sneak preview is coming up this weekend Authentic Alexander Radulov Jersey , too.Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the long-expected news Friday during All-Star Weekend in San Jose, California, calling it a “breakthrough that is years in the making.” The league is partnering with German company Jogmo World Corp. to put microchips on player jerseys and inside game pucks. Real-time data will be gathered by antennas in all 31 NHL arenas.The NHL joins the NFL as the two major North American professional sports leagues with wearable tracking technology. The NBA and Major League Baseball use sophisticated systems that can include radar and cameras.“Being on the forefront of innovation is good for our game and most especially for our fans,” Bettman said. “With the speed and complexity of hockey, it makes for an unparalleled on-ice product, but at the same time it also presents an incredible challenge. So as a league we have made significant investment to create new technology that quite literally did not exist.”Long after the glowing puck of FoxTrax a generation ago, the NHL began its work on puck and player tracking in earnest in 2013. Tests of various systems were done at All-Star games, the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and two regular-season games earlier this month in Las Vegas.While the glowing puck isn’t coming back, this All-Star Weekend is another test. NBC Sports in the United States and Rogers Sportsnet in Canada will be showcasing tracking data with NBC featuring it as part of a digital-only broadcast of the 3-on-3 tournament Saturday night.Players have agreed to the tracking, but the NHL is not yet committing to a firm start date because officials say testing is ongoing with the potential for changes after feedback from players, teams and broadcasters. But the league is confident in the accuracy of the radio frequency-based system and its application for 1,271 regular-season games and the playoffs.“This will continue to evolve and be monitored and tested and perfected over the course of the rest of this season and parts of next season Ben Bishop Jersey ,” NHL chief revenue officer Keith Wachtel said. “But this is our opportunity to say that we are far enough along where the commissioner is comfortable with the data and our broadcasters are comfortable and the NHLPA is comfortable that we can go ahead and unleash this, which we’re obviously excited about.”The six-year effort included what NHL senior vice president of business development David Lehanski called “unforeseen” challenges, primarily with how to make the puck.“A lot of testing (was done) on the performance of the puck both with regard to its durability but also its playability,” Lehanski said. “The puck itself is really something unlike anything else … any other sport has really had to contend with.”Researchers and engineers at the Fraunhofer Institute and Jogmo believe they have reached to the point where players don’t notice the microchips on their shoulder pads and can’t tell the difference between the new “smart puck” and the frozen rubber that has been part of hockey for more than a century.“It’s an active puck, so it needs to be activated before it goes on the ice and deactivated after that,” Jogmo founder and CEO Martin Bachmayer said. “It’s kind of a different handling for the officials and for the people in the box. … That’s the kind of stuff we try to figure out in the next couple of months before the season starts: how to really make this right.” BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Rather than lament another moral victory, Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel was able to enjoy an actual one that counts in the standings.Eichel set up two goals to spark an opportunistic offense, and goalie Linus Ullmark stopped 24 shots — including all 10 in the third period — in an efficient 3-1 win over the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Islanders on Tuesday night.“You’ve got to stay patient against a team like that,” Eichel said of an Islanders’ opponent that entered the game allowing a league-low 133 goals. “We just matched their intensity.”The win followed a 3-1 loss to Winnipeg on Sunday in which Eichel refused to acknowledge how well the Sabres played in a game decided in the final four minutes.Rather than let down after allowing the Islanders to tie the game at 1 on Casey Cizikas‘ goal in the final minute of the first period, the Sabres responded.Jason Pominville scored the go-ahead goal 6:49 into the second period by crashing the net and redirecting Eichel’s backhand centering pass from the left wing.Ullmark then played a big role in preserving the one-goal lead before Johan Larsson swept in a loose puck to seal the win with 2:25 remaining.Jeff Skinner, set up off Eichel’s faceoff win http://www.officialstarsproonline.com/authentic-adidas-brett-ritchie-jersey , scored his team-leading 34th and the Sabres improved to 3-2-1 six games into a seven-game homestand.Overall, Buffalo improved to 28-21-7 and picked up its 63rd point. That’s one more than last season, when the Sabres became the NHL’s first franchise to finish 31st following the addition of expansion Vegas.Buffalo also stayed a point behind ninth-place Carolina and inched to within two of idle Pittsburgh in the race for Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff berth.Robin Lehner stopped 19 shots against his former team, and the Islanders had a three-game winning streak snapped while losing in regulation for just the second time in 13 games (9-2-2).Forward Matt Martin credited the Sabres’ forechecking style for knocking the Islanders off their game through the first two periods.“When we start playing cute, we don’t have a whole lot of success,” said Martin, who set up Cizikas’ goal after Cal Clutterbuck capitalized on Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen’s turnover deep in Buffalo’s end.“For two periods tonight we didn’t play the brand of hockey we’re used to and it cost us,” Martin added. “We were better in the third, but that’s too little, too late then.”Ullmark made a big difference with two highlight-reel saves in the final period.First, he did the splits to get his right pad down to stop Mathew Barzal in front, seven minutes into the period. Then with 7:13 left Adam Clendening Jersey Womens , Ullmark punched out his blocker to foil Cal Clutterbuck’s backhander on a breakaway attempt.“It’s very gratifying,” said Ullmark, who improved to 3-0-1 in his past four.“Whenever the opportunity comes and you have a breakaway or whatever, obviously I want to save every one,” Ullmark added. “And luckily I kept the puck out of the net.”NOTES: Skinner, who has been in contract talks to re-sign with the Sabres, had a lengthy discussion with several of his representatives outside the arena’s security gate following the game. Skinner is in the final year of his contract after Buffalo acquired him in a trade with Carolina in August. … Sabres rookie C Casey Mittelstadt left the pre-game morning skate early with a lower body injury and did not play. … Clutterbuck returned after missing two games with a lower body injury. … Lehner dropped to 13-3-1 in his past 17 starts, and a stretch in which the former Sabres starter has allowed 27 goals. …The Sabres held a pre-faceoff moment of silence in memory of the 50 people who died on the 10th anniversary of Flight 3407’s crash in suburban Clarence Center.UP NEXTIslanders: At Columbus on Thursday.Sabres: Host New York Rangers on Friday.