Calgary, AB -- Marsh Flexible Goal Pegs have played a starring role in the National Hockey League, eliminating serious injuries to players who collided with nets anchored by steel posts. Now the inventor of the system, Fred Marsh of Kamloops, B.C., has received a prestigious Manning Innovation Award.

Marsh, a former arena ice-maker and life-long hockey fan, developed his patented goal post pegs after watching talented players sustain career-threatening injuries. It took him several years of determined letter writing and telephone calling to convince NHL officials to adopt his innovation.

"I'm 65, but I'm the oldest rookie that got into the NHL," Marsh jokes. "I made it when I was 56."

Marsh Flexible Goal Pegs are now used by all NHL teams, the Western Hockey League, many collegiate and junior leagues, and are endorsed by the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Marsh has won one of this year's $5,000 Manning Innovation Awards. The annual awards program has recognized leading Canadian innovators since 1982, presenting them with $155,000 in prize money each year.

Another benefit of the Marsh pegs has been less stoppage in play due to the net being knocked awry. The unique rubber-and-plastic pegs will bend and return to their original position, allowing the net to stay in place when jostled. But if the net is hit hard, it will pop off the pegs.

"This simple but effective device has saved many an injury that was always associated with driving hard to the net," says Mike Gartner, former forward with the Washington Capitals.

The pegs, marketed by Marsh Pegs And Nets Ltd., a family business run by Marsh and his wife, Sheila, have been used in the 1998 Winter Olympics and been sold in Scotland, England, Japan and Finland.

The Manning Innovation Awards Foundation will announce all of this year's recipients, including the $100,000 Manning Principal Award, throughout this month prior to the annual awards dinner on November 6 in Montreal.