In the world of "what will they think of next?" comes this: Artificial Intelligence coverage of the NHL. 

New technology, developed in Kitchener, claims it can boost viewers' understanding of where a puck is - and where it's going - before it actually happens. (Sort of like Wayne Gretzky in machine form.)

Developers of the PLUCC system (Puck Localization Using Contextual Cues) predict it will help not only players who study the game but also broadcasters and viewers who try to keep track of where that little black disc is at any given moment. 

“Finding the puck in broadcast video is one of the toughest problems in sports vision, so seeing our system accurately predict its location using contextual cues was incredibly rewarding. It was like we'd given computers real game sense.” 

For now, it's in the early stages. Whether you'll ever see it on Hockey Night In Canada remains an open question. But what's next? An A.I. program that predicts who will win so they don't even have to play at all? Somebody's probably working on that, too. 

Waterloo researchers use AI to boost accuracy in hockey analysis