In a series of studies we shed some light on the perceptual qualities that define the exceptional tactical player. We recorded the gaze behaviors of Team Canada ice hockey players as they defended against opponents on ice. We compared players with exceptional abilities (E, elites) with teammates and other players (NE, near-elites) known for making tactical errors during games. The E and NE players did not differ in their ability to move gaze rapidly about the ice, but the E players possessed a number of gaze control characteristics that separated them from the NE. During the first 70% of the play, the E’s fixation/tracking (F/T) gaze were of shorter in duration than the NE, averaging half the time to ‘read’ the play and process the information available. During the final part of the play, the E players isolated a single moving target (usually the puck or body of the opponent) earlier than the NE (mean onset 30% of relative time) and thereafter used an ultra-long duration F/T that they maintained on the target to the conclusion of the play. The NE players were unable to isolate a single target until the final 10% of play. The E’s tactical ability was therefore characterized by a quick then quiet cascade of gaze behaviors, consisting first of the rapid processing of the movements of the opponents using ultra short F/T’s, ending with a long duration quiet eye that perceptually isolated a single moving target. The E player’s rapid perceptual abilities appeared to allow them to progressively pick up time in the first part of the play, thereby giving them better positioning and control of the action. Success in defensive tactics was therefore dependent on a cascade of perceptual events that began with the rapid detection of cues early in the play and ended with the perceptual control over a relatively stable target at the conclusion of the play using a long duration quiet eye.