As North American hockey players moved their games from the ponds and flooded back yards of Canada and the northern States into the ice arenas, a transition from being able to practice whenever they wanted to "let's use the expensive ice time for games instead of practice" took place.

A belief that players will learn their skills in a game as well as a practice situation has been challenged ever since.

During the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, a study was conducted to observe some of the best men and women hockey players in the world.

The observers watched and recorded these premier players' puck on stick possession times compared to their actual time on the ice to answer the question of whether those times could be fairly considered as a practice for stick handling skills.

USA Hockey Magazine's Harry Thompson wrote a feature article on the study.

The results offer information on the following: Players studied, Time on Ice, Number of Shifts Played, Number of puck on stick touches, Number of passes received, Number of passes made, Number and type of shots attempted, and Total puck on stick possession times by period and game.

Key:	IT	PA	PR	PPT	T
	Ice Time	Pass Attempts	Passes Received	Possession Time	Puck Touches

Overall results:

Gender

Player

Team

Date	Teams
Feb. 24	Canada vs. USA (Gold Medal)	Daily Conclusion
Feb. 23	Belarus vs. Russia (Bronze Medal)	Daily Conclusion
Feb. 22	Belarus vs. Canada USA vs. Russia	Not available
Feb. 21	Finland vs. Sweden (W) (Bronze Medal) USA vs. Canada (W) (Gold Medal)	Not available
Feb. 20	Belarus vs. Sweden Czech Republic vs. Russia USA vs. Germany Belarus vs. Sweden	Not available
Feb. 19	Canada vs. Finland (W) Kazakhstan vs. China (W) Germany vs. Russia (W) USA vs. Sweden (W)	Daily Conclusion
Feb. 18	Belarus vs. Russia Russia vs. Finland Czech Republic vs. Canada Germany vs. Sweden	Daily Conclusion
Feb. 17	Russia vs. China (W) Sweden vs. Czech Republic Canada vs. Germany Germany vs. Kazkhstan (W)	Daily Conclusion
Feb. 16	USA vs. Finland (W) Germany vs. China (W) Finland vs. Belarus Canada vs. Sweden (W) USA vs. Russia	Daily Conclusion
Feb. 15	Russia vs. Belarus Kazakhstan vs. Russia (W) Canada vs. Sweden Czech Republic vs. Germany	Daily Conclusion
Feb. 14	Finland vs. Germany (W) China vs. USA (W) Switzerland vs. Austria Latvia vs. Ukraine Slovakia vs. France	Daily Conclusion
Feb. 13	Sweden vs. Kazakhstan (W) Russia vs. Canada (W) France vs. Ukraine Switzerland vs. Belarus	Daily Conclusion
Feb. 12	USA vs. Germany (W) Finland vs. China (W) Slovakia vs. Austria Germany vs. Latvia	Daily Conclusion
Feb. 11	Canada vs. Kazakhstan (W) Sweden vs. Russia (W) Ukraine vs. Switzerland Belarus vs. France	Daily Conclusion
Feb. 10	Latvia vs. Slovakia Austria vs. Germany	Daily Conclusion
Feb. 9	Belarus vs. Ukraine Austria vs. Latvia Switzerland vs. France Slovakia vs. Germany	Daily Conclusion