NHL Adding Ipads on Benches for Playoffs

NHL coaches will have more technology on the bench than ever before as the Stanley Cup playoffs begin.

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Three iPad Pros will be available for coaches on every bench and officials will also have them to review coach’s challenges. All 16 playoff arenas have been outfitted with the iPads and also Macs for video coaches as part of a collaboration with Apple.

This season, coaches have been able to use video monitors on the bench to help them decide when to challenge offside and goaltender interference situations. With the iPads, which were tested late in the regular season, they’ll have real-time video capabilities to show players their own shifts minutes after they happen as they discuss adjustments.

The monitors had already become a game changer for coaches, giving them more information on challenges and for player feedback. The technology will be even more valuable in the playoffs when goals are scarcer and the offside and goaltender interference challenges can decide a game - or a series.

The St. Louis Blues lost Game 2 to the Chicago Blackhawks last year when a coach’s challenge wiped out a go-ahead goal by Vladimir Tarasenko, and even though they won the series they felt the attrition of needing seven games to advance.