Engineering:Marsh pegs

Marsh Pegs are a goal anchoring system for ice hockey designed by Fred Marsh. They have been used by the NHL since 1991..

Various sizes of Marsh pegs

History

Fred Marsh (1934-2016) was a Canadian who worked at hockey arenas in western Canada, as a Zamboni driver and doing ice maintenance.

Marsh invented the pegs in the 1980s, aiming to design a product that was flexible enough to absorb shock when a player hit the net, but strong enough to keep the net in place. They were first used in Moose Jaw and Saskatoon, in Saskatchewan, Canada , before spreading throughout the WHL.

In 1991, the NHL made the Marsh Pegs the standard, and they have been used in the Winter Olympics since the 1998 Winter Olympics held in Nagano, Japan , and have also been used in World Cup games.

Recognition

In 2000, Marsh won the Ernest C. Manning Innovation Award for his invention, and was mentioned on Hockey Night in Canada by Don Cherry after his passing in 2016

Controversy

Steven Stamkos broke his right leg after colliding with a net in a 2013 match between the Tampa Bay and the Boston Bruins. Some players claimed that the net came off the moorings too easily, but Marsh insisted that "the net reacted the way it should", and the overhead replay showed that the goalpost had been dislodged prior to Stamkos' leg colliding with the net.