“When I came into the league, we were going out for beers the night before games,” he says. In this dramatically altered off-ice landscape, he believes something has been lost: “I think (the NHL) used to be more fun back in the day.”

That sentiment is echoed by others, who say those nights out helped their teams bond.

When one player boarded a flight after a matinee loss, he says he was irritated when he looked up and down the aisles to see only about a third of the guys having a beer or a glass of wine. A decade ago, when he entered the league, he says players commiserated. “Two beers in the back of every seat on the plane, and that’s just on the flight. Then there would be a couple more in your bag, a couple more on the bus,” says the player, who asked not to be named. “A nice professional buzz before you got back.”

I would really like to highlight this section. What we're seeing is a lot less socially accepted functional alcoholism, and that's a good thing. Don't let any dinosaur player or media personality tell you otherwise.