Way-back Playback: FoxTrax glowing puck debuts at NHL All-Star Game

One of the most controversial broadcast innovations of the 20th century began as an All-Star Game experiment.

The infamous FoxTrax glowing puck was introduced by FOX Sports at the NHL's annual midseason exhibition on Jan. 20, 1996.

The network won the right to broadcast NHL games in the United States two years earlier, and a common complaint from new viewers of the game was that they had difficulty locating the puck at high speeds.

That led to the advent of the FoxTrax technology, which highlighted the rubber disc using internal and external electronics, giving the puck a colorful comet trail upon being passed and shot.

The NHL experiment lasted for nearly two and a half seasons and was featured for the final time during Game 1 of the 1998 Stanley Cup Final. It was dismissed by purists and parodied frequently in pop culture.

However, the glowing puck wasn't a complete failure. FOX began using the technology on Major League Baseball broadcasts in 2010, and a similar innovation of the same name has been used on the network's NASCAR coverage since 2001.