Purpose: The purposes of the current study were to investigate whether there were any differences in the perceptual ability between professional and non-professional ice-hockey players and whether professional players are better at distinguishing, paying attention to and concentrating on what is important during intense physical activity. Method: Twenty male ice-hockey players (10 from both the Swedish first and third divisions) participated in the study. Wingate test were used for physiological measurements while three psychological tests were presented in front of the participants. Stroop, Flanker and Fast counting tests were used to measure perceptual and coping abilities during intense physical activity and the differences between the two groups. Results: Fast counting and Flanker word 2 tests showed a significant difference between the two groups, whereby the professional groups was faster and more accurate than the non-professional group in answering. On the Flanker test the non-professionals had more unsuccessful attempts than the professionals. Conclusion: The current study indicates that perceptual ability can be important for performance at a higher level. If a player has superior perceptual ability, they may have a better chance to succeed at a superior level.