By: Camryn Meece | Follow me on Twitter / X @MeeceCamryn
Art Ross is best known for his time with the Boston Bruins and the National Hockey League (NHL) scoring trophy that carries his name. However, his contributions to hockey extend beyond his time as a coach and general manager. Ross also looked for ways to improve the game itself, including two pieces of equipment players still use today: the hockey puck and the goal net.
The standard hockey puck looks like a simple piece of equipment: you see it and think, ‘yeah, that’s a puck,’ then it gets tossed around the ice and thrown into nets. But a lot of design went into it, and its shape can make a difference on the ice.
Before Art Ross’s redesign, pucks had sharp corners that could cut players’ faces, wrists, and legs, or damage their clothing. They could also land on their edges and roll across the ice, making it harder for players to control its movement. Ross wanted to address both problems.
Interestingly, Ross began working on the puck before the Boston Bruins even joined the NHL in 1924. According to hockey historian Eric Zweig, the league began using Ross’s puck design during the 1918-19 season. In 1940, he patented a puck with beveled edges to reduce the risk of cuts and make it less likely to roll on its side. It was a relatively small change, but it addressed two issues players faced with the equipment they used every game.
The Tyer Rubber Company in Andover, Massachusetts, manufactured the redesigned puck. The NHL adopted the Ross-Tyer puck as its official game puck before the 1940-41 season. The pucks carried Ross’s patent number, and his design has changed very little since.
Today, improvements in rubber and production methods have helped make pucks more consistent, but the basic design has remained largely the same. Modern NHL pucks are still three inches in diameter, one inch thick, and weigh between 5.5 and 6 ounces. Their beveled edges remain part of the design, helping keep the puck from rolling onto its side.
Ross also worked on another piece of hockey equipment: the goal net. The net’s challenge was that a puck could cross the goal line and bounce back onto the ice immediately. Situations like that make it harder for officials to determine whether a goal was scored; the challenge was even greater during fast plays, especially with a roaring crowd waiting for the call.
Older nets had a square back, but Ross designed one with a distinctive B-shaped frame. The curved shape helped catch pucks as they entered the net instead of bouncing back onto the ice. This made it easier for officials to determine whether a goal had been scored.
The NHL adopted Ross’s net for the 1927-28 season, making it the league standard. It remained in use for nearly six decades, but the design eventually became a safety concern.
On December 27, 1980, Hartford Whalers defenseman Mark Howe slid into a pointed metal projection at the base of the net during a game against the New York Islanders. He suffered a serious puncture wound that required hospitalization. The injury highlighted the danger posed by the net’s protruding frame, and the NHL eventually changed the design to remove it. By the 1984-85 season, a modified net replaced Ross’s original.
Ross’s career shows how deeply dedicated he was to the sport. From management to coaching, donations, and innovation, he was involved in nearly every aspect of the game.
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