Summer rolls on. For hockey players, it is the window for golf, weddings, Stanley Cup celebrations, vacations and cookouts. Alcohol can be a common companion.<\/p>\n
But come October, when the 2025-26 NHL season begins, some players will turn off the taps for one specific reason.<\/p>\n
Charlie Coyle had yet to be drafted when Tony Amonte, his cousin, concluded his NHL career in 2007. But what the veteran of 1,174 NHL games shared years ago with Chuck Coyle, the center\u2019s father, left an impression.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou go out, you drink, you have a good time, you won\u2019t be the same for a month. That\u2019s what I always remember him saying when I was younger,\u201d the Columbus Blue Jackets forward recalled his dad\u2019s telling of Amonte\u2019s belief. \u201cMaybe that\u2019s an exaggeration. Maybe not. But I have that in my head.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amonte\u2019s formula may not be scientific. But part of the reason the 33-year-old Coyle rarely drinks during the season is that he wants to avoid, whenever possible, any disruption to a key part of his life as an athlete: sleep.<\/p>\n
How alcohol affects sleep<\/p>\n
According to Dr. Alen Juginovic, a sleep consultant and Harvard Medical School postdoctoral fellow, the general rule is that it takes one hour for alcohol dehydrogenase, an enzyme in the liver, to metabolize a five-ounce glass of wine. The process, however, does not commence immediately upon consumption. If a player drinks at night, metabolism usually takes place after he falls asleep.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you take a glass of wine or beer 30 minutes or an hour before sleep, it\u2019s probably going to get metabolized around midnight or 1 a.m., \u201c Juginovic said. \u201cThat\u2019s when the problems can actually start.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s common to think that alcohol, which is a sedative, can help people fall asleep quickly. The issue comes later during the window in which metabolism would occur. It would be within the typical 100-minute sleep cycle: Stage 1 (light sleep), Stage 2 (slightly deeper), Stage 3 (deep sleep) and rapid eye movement. Were it to take place within Stage 3, it would disrupt the cycle\u2019s most restorative segment.<\/p>\n
Juginovic explains that sleep becomes very light and fragmented during alcohol metabolism. Some people even experience micro-arousals. As a result, it\u2019s very likely, according to Juginovic, that alcohol will decrease the length of deep sleep and REM.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour brain actually goes, in a very brief moment, to an awake state. Even though you\u2019re not consciously aware you\u2019re awake,\u201d Juginovic said. \u201cThose are those micro-arousals that happen many, many times during the night. Unfortunately, then the brain doesn\u2019t get enough deep sleep, and you feel even worse during the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
This would be one thing for anyone on a normal schedule. NHL schedules are anything but normal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Consider the player who wakes up in a hotel room after postgame travel. It\u2019s not easy to fall asleep quickly after a late-night flight. The hotel bed may not be as comfortable as the one at home. There may be a morning skate scheduled for that day. Perhaps that night\u2019s game is an important one in a playoff race.<\/p>\n
The circumstances are already stacked against restful sleep. Alcohol would be just another variable. Sleep requirements vary between players. But in general, Juginovic recommends professional athletes sleep at least eight hours per night. Alcohol-caused interruptions could prevent that threshold from being met.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not going to be as concentrated,\u201d Juginovic said. \u201cYou\u2019re not going to be as focused. Your energy levels are going to be down. You\u2019re not going to feel your typical self. When you don\u2019t feel your typical self \u2014 the energy, concentration, all that stuff \u2014 you most likely aren\u2019t going to be performing at the top level in training, let alone during competition in a game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chances of a missed read, a blown assignment or a shot off net, in other words, rise upon alcohol-affected sleep. In the NHL, where job security is unstable for players on the margins, self-inflicted performance dips are green lights for management to consider alternatives.<\/p>\n
Seeking an edge<\/p>\n
The first two years Mark Kastelic was eligible to be drafted, not one NHL team was interested. It was only in 2019, after he recorded a team-leading 77 points and 122 penalty minutes for the WHL\u2019s Calgary Hitmen, that the Ottawa Senators took Kastelic in the fifth round.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kastelic, now 26, has since become a fourth-line Boston Bruins forward. He\u2019s done so by chasing marginal gains in saunas, ice baths and hyperbaric chambers. They\u2019ve helped the 6-foot-4, 227-pounder optimize his time in the gym. Physicality is Kastelic\u2019s calling card.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love training,\u201d Kastelic said. \u201cI love getting better and seeing the results and improvements. That\u2019s something that\u2019s satisfying to me in the offseason, just seeing the progress from Day 1 to the end of the summer \u2014 how I feel, how strong I feel, how explosive.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the season, Kastelic goes to bed between 10 and 10:30 p.m. on non-game nights and wakes up at 8 a.m. He sets his bedroom\u2019s temperature at 66 degrees. He uses a fan for white noise.<\/p>\n
Falling asleep and staying put is no problem. It\u2019s not as easy for Kastelic after games. So, given how Kastelic chases every advantage, he is not one to drink during the season aside from occasional social situations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always trying to figure out how not to leave any stone unturned and figure out ways I can maximize recovery from little gadgets or different tools \u2014 different things that are available out there \u2014 to feel my best,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Personal technology allows players to learn more about their progress. The Toronto Maple Leafs\u2019 Vinni Lettieri swears by his Oura ring. It measures, among other things, how many hours the forward sleeps.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By Lettieri\u2019s clock, he sleeps for approximately nine hours per night. But the ring can inform him how many of those were quality hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have one drink, it might screw up your HRV levels,\u201d Lettieri said. \u201cIt\u2019s crazy what it does to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lettieri, 30, has 155 games of NHL experience. He has played 324 in the AHL. For a player fighting for every varsity appearance, anything that would compromise NHL shifts is not under consideration.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not even a thought,\u201d Lettieri said of regular in-season drinking. \u201cI just want to try to recover as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier the better<\/p>\n