Peter Puck is a

hockey puck A hockey puck is either an open or closed disk used in a variety of sports and games. There are designs made for use on an ice surface, such as in ice hockey, and others for the different variants of floor hockey which includes the wheeled skat ...

-shaped

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

character. The puck, whose animated adventures appeared on both '' NBC's Hockey Game of the Week'' and

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

's ''

Hockey Night in Canada ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') is a long-running program of broadcast ice hockey play-by-play coverage in Canada. With roots in pioneering hockey coverage on private radio stations as early as 1923, ...

'' during the 1970s, explained

ice hockey rules Ice hockey rules define the parameters of the sport of ice hockey. The sport is governed by several organizations including the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the National Hockey League (NHL), Hockey Canada, USA Hockey and others. ...

equipment Equipment most commonly refers to a set of tool A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by ...

and the sport's

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

to the home viewing audience. The voice of Peter Puck was provided by

Ronnie Schell Ronald Ralph Schell (born December 23, 1931) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He appeared on the May 28, 1959, episode of the TV quiz show '' You Bet Your Life'', hosted by Groucho Marx. Schell demonstrated a comic barrage of beatni ...

. The animation was produced by

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

studios. Nine episodes, each approximately three minutes long, were broadcast between periods of

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

hockey games.

Origins

The brainchild of NBC executive and

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

season ticket holder Donald Carswell, who conceived the idea and scripted first drafts of the initial episodes, Peter Puck was developed for the television network in partnership with Hanna-Barbera. Designed to help introduce and popularize ice hockey among non-fans (especially children), Peter Puck became an instant and enduring hit with existing hockey fans. When the network stopped carrying NHL games in 1975, NBC sold Peter's rights back to Hanna-Barbera, which later sold them to

Brian McFarlane Brian McFarlane is a Canadian television sportscaster and author. He is best known as a broadcaster on Hockey Night In Canada and as an author of hockey books. He is also the honorary president of the Society for International Hockey Researc ...

, a member of the network's NHL broadcast team (and the son of Leslie McFarlane, also known as first of many to assume the pen name " Franklin W. Dixon" and pen the ''

Hardy Boys The Hardy Boys, brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, are fictional characters who appear in a series of mystery novels for young readers. The series revolves around teenage amateur sleuths, solving cases that often stumped their adult counterparts. ...

'' books). McFarlane subsequently wrote three children's books using the character: ''Peter Puck: Love That Hockey Game'' (1975), ''Peter Puck and the Stolen Stanley Cup'' (1980), and ''Peter Puck's Greatest Moments in Hockey'' (1980).

Comeback

Peter Puck made a comeback during the

2007 NHL Playoffs The 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League began on April 11, 2007. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-seven series for conference quarterfinals, semifinals and championships, and then ...

, as retailers began selling a line of

retro Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from the past, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. It has been argued that there is a nostalgia cycle in popular culture. Definition The term ...

apparel with the Peter Puck logo. That same year, Peace Arch Entertainment released the entire series to

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

. Since December 2007, the original Peter Puck has been shown during the first intermission of

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

games broadcast on

Leafs TV Leafs Nation Network (formerly Leafs TV) was a Canadian English language Category B regional specialty channel owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. Leafs Nation Network broadcasts programming related to the Toronto Maple Leafs Nation ...

. The clips are seen in their original form, with outdated rules and references omitted. For the 2009–10 NHL season, Peter Puck returned to the CBC. In August 2023, it was announced a new animated series is in production. The series will feature Peter Puck's sister Penny Puck.

References

Peter Puck Comeback?

External links

Hockey Hall of Fame: Peter PuckFang's Bites: Videos of the Week - Peter Puck
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puck, Peter Hanna-Barbera characters National Hockey League on television NBC Sports CBC Sports Culture of Canada