Oculomotor Behavior in Youth Ice Hockey Skaters and Goaltenders During Sport-Specific Tasks

Ice hockey requires rapid visual processing and continuous oculomotor adjustments that may vary according to player role and task demands. This study aimed to characterize the oculomotor behavior of ice hockey skaters and goaltenders during sport-specific tasks performed under real on-ice conditions and to assess variations across repeated trials or consecutive shots. Twenty-seven players (16 skaters and 11 goaltenders) underwent a comprehensive optometric examination before testing with a wearable Neon Eye Tracker (Pupil Labs, 200 Hz). Skaters completed two repetitions of a circuit comprising zigzag puck handling, dibbling, and shooting, whereas goaltenders faced nine consecutive shots on goal. Blink, fixation, and saccadic parameters were analyzed using non-parametric statistical tests. In skaters, mean fixation counts decreased descriptively from 23.56–24.00 during cone navigation to 8.19–8.25 during dribbling, and 3.50–3.67 during shooting. Saccade counts showed a similar pattern, decreasing from 23.69–24.00 to 8.12–8.31 and 3.75–4.00, respectively. Mean saccadic amplitude ranged from 14.23–14.89° during cone navigation to 8.12–8.67° during shooting. These differences between task phases were not statistically tested, and no statistically significant differences were detected between repetitions (all p > 0.05). In goaltenders, fixation counts ranged from 2.75 to 5.09 per shot, with no statistically significant differences across shots in fixation count (p = 0.691), fixation duration (p = 0.210), saccade count (p = 0.881), saccade duration (p = 0.232), saccadic amplitude (p = 0.433), or mean saccadic velocity (p = 0.760). Blink frequency remained low throughout the shots, ranging from 0.27 ± 0.47 in Shot 9 to 2.18 ± 2.32 in Shot 4 (p = 0.171). Blink parameters could not be analyzed inferentially because of insufficient observations. These findings provide a preliminary characterization of oculomotor behavior during sport-specific ice hockey tasks and demonstrate the feasibility of wearable eye tracking under ecologically relevant on-ice conditions. However, the descriptive differences between task phases should not be interpreted as statistically confirmed effects, and the absence of systematic gaze-target classification limits conclusions about visual attention to specific task-relevant stimuli.