Midnight Hockey: All About Beer, the Boys, and the Real Canadian Game

by Bill Gaston

From Giller-nominated author Bill Gaston, proof not only that hockey players can read, but that some of them can even write.

Midnight Hockey tells the story of Gaston’s final season, as he contemplates hanging up his skates, and looks back on the sport that has meant so much to him.

Sometimes lewd and hilarious, sometimes (though not as often) reflective, Midnight Hockey is a portrait of Canada’s fastest-growing athletic beer-league and oldtimers’ hockey. Gaston spills the beans about the rules of the game (written and unwritten), weird beer, team names, and road-trip sex, illustrated with stories of Gaston’s life in the game, from the outdoor rinks of Winnipeg, through junior hockey, varsity, the professional leagues of Europe, to the late-night games and road-trip shenanigans of beer-league.

For all those thousands of guys who drive to the rink late on a snowy night, who know the euphoria of a beer after the game, who think of how good they used to be, who grow nostalgic over a whiff from an unwashed hockey bag – and for anyone who has had to live with such a person – Midnight Hockey is laugh-out-loud funny, true-to-life, and ultimately thoughtful.

Genres: Sports, Hockey, Nonfiction, Canada

314 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Jim Dwyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beer is what Gaston says is one of the "seductions that make the return to the rink an annual rite."

His book, written in a refreshing steady stream of consciousness, is not only a collection of his hockey memories, like playing in France, China, and Japan, but also a venue for venting his thoughts on hockey.

Gaston offers colorful takes on everything from nicknames (Gaston answers to "Thrasher" and "Gasser") to teams' names (one of his favorites is Friends of Jesus). Gasser does so in the context of what may be his last season of oldtimers hockey. The defenseman pops in some goals and pops some tops with his pals, and the reader is left with a fantastic hockey hangover.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10. It’s funny how your sense of humour changes with time. Books like this make you realize that. I first read this about ten years ago and thought it was one of the funniest books I’d ever read. Fast forward to today and it still makes me laugh, but definitely not as hard. Still, this is a good book about a great sport and a fun read for anyone who loves hockey, or knows someone who is really into playing hockey, even if they are way past their prime (if they ever had one). An entertaining book all around. P.S. I miss hockey.

[George Mercer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I flip-flopped around with what rating to give this book. Gaston never won "The Cup" so I couldn't give it a 5, plus I might have played against him for one game a few years back so he would have been the enemy. Plus, plus, I'm a writer myself and jealousy is an affliction among us word-smithers. And I'm going to write a better hockey book someday. Just watch me. If only I could write as well as Bill Gaston ... and remember as much.

[Brentman99 · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a guy who has played pickup hockey on occasion, but never really got into Oldtimes, I found this a fun read. In my mind I can picture some of the characters I ran into over the years and the stories never grow old.

Overall, I thought this was an entertaining read. Given the very short sections/vignettes, it was a great bathroom book.

My edition was only 314 pages, instead of the 336 listed here.

[SA · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was glorious. Compared to Gaston's fiction I far preferred this acerbic, often TMI, account of oldtimers' hockey and his own life as a Canadian hockey player. I was trying to quell my (often appalled) laughter to little avail on the bus reading this. It's ridiculous and profane and more disgusting than I usually read, but it's funny as all hell and a quite faithful account of hockey, and hockey past youth. I loved this book.

[Fishsanwitt]

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