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.
But come October, when the 2025-26 NHL season begins, some players will turn off the taps for one specific reason.
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’s father, left an impression.
“You go out, you drink, you have a good time, you won’t be the same for a month. That’s what I always remember him saying when I was younger,” the Columbus Blue Jackets forward recalled his dad’s telling of Amonte’s belief. “Maybe that’s an exaggeration. Maybe not. But I have that in my head.”
Amonte’s 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.
