When we're kids, we never spend a moment thinking about a good pre-game meal?sometimes dinner is even seen as an intrusion on playing road hockey. Even when we're starving, we might just grab a chocolate bar and a can of pop, and consider the pure-sugar calories all the energy we need.

Unfortunately, one of the downsides of getting older is that we have to start finding the best sources of energy. No longer can you abuse your body and still run around like a madman.

First, let's mention that it's best to eat at least an hour before a game. This gives your body time to digest the food. The goal is to have an empty stomach (to prevent stomach cramps), yet have eaten recently enough that your muscles are full of energy. Most sources suggest eating somewhere between one and two hours before a game, but you should just find what works best for you and stick with it.

Now, here are a few different meals that are good, and why they're good:

• Pasta
  Dr. Atkins would frown on this as having too many carbohydrates (whatever they are), but Doug Gilmour swore by a big pre-game plate of pasta during the Leafs' great 1993 playoff run. Dr. Atkins never scored on Curtis Joseph in a crucial overtime, so he has no credibility here. Seriously, pasta does have carbohydrates, but that's all right because you're about to burn them off during your hockey game. Carbohydrates are the body's best source of glucose sugar, which fuels your brain, muscles and organs. Despite that, carbs don't trigger a rise in blood sugar (like a chocolate bar or sugary pop does). It also provides Vitamin B1, iron and niacin in abundance. Make sure you buy real pasta, which is made from flour, and not the fake pasta-looking noodles. Also, if you're weight conscious, don't smother it in sauces or butter. It's usually eaten as a side-dish, but there's nothing wrong with making it your main dish.

• Chicken
  Before his record 10-point game in 1976, Darryl Sittler ate some barbecue chicken, something he had rarely done. Chicken is a low-fat, high-energy source of protein and potassium, but (for you Atkins-lovers) doesn't contain carbohydrates. Take the skin off though; it's just empty calories. With the skin, a quarter-chicken has just under 400 calories, while a similar skinless serving has just over 200, so you can cut your caloric intake by nearly 50 per cent, without sacrificing much in the way of protein. Oh, and yes, Sittler did try to re-create the magic by eating barbecue chicken before the next game several times, but it didn't work, to his lasting dismay.

• Oatmeal
  Ever since the publication of Oliver Twist, oatmeal has acquired a bad reputation as the food forced on poor orphans, limited to one bowl per meal. That reputation is a bit unfortunate, because oatmeal is the most concentrated source of soluble fibre, and best of all, it releases energy into the body slowly, so that energy stores are preserved throughout aerobic exercise, like a hockey game. Put another way, you'll be able to summon its energy for the whole game, not just one shift like with a chocolate bar and a can of pop. Oatmeal has been the favourite breakfast of Scottish highlanders for centuries, and they're famous for being able to knock a sheep out with one punch. Unfortunately, it can be a bit bland to eat, which is why it comes in a series of progressively more bizarre flavours.

Foods to avoid:

• Steak
  For decades, hockey players and boxers swore that eating steak builds muscles. You know what? It does. However, it takes a long time to digest, which means that you're guaranteed to get stomach cramps if you eat it as a pre-game meal, unless you happen to eat your pre-game meal eight hours before the game. Also, it's infamous for the tons of cholesterol it carries. In the end, if you're going to eat steak, just don't have it right before a game.

• Caffeine
  Here are the upsides of caffeine: (1) better concentration and (2) stimulation of the central nervous system, which is often taken as an energy boost (especially if you're addicted and haven't yet had your morning cup of coffee). Here are the downsides: (1) it's a diuretic, which means it removes water from the body, obviously not a good thing in a high-rate sport like hockey. It (2) also speeds up the heart rate, (3) lifts blood sugar levels and (4) can raise blood pressure because it causes some blood vessels to restrict. These last three things do not aid in a good hockey game. Perhaps worst of all, caffeine also (5) removes iron from the blood stream, leading to anemia, and (6) drains calcium from the bones. (You may hear that some bodybuilders gorge on caffeine before a competition, but that's because of its aforementioned diuretic properties, which gives the appearance of leaner and tighter muscles.)

• High-sugar items
  Chocolate bars and cans of pop have taken a real beating in this article so far, but always with merit. As mentioned, some people think eating a chocolate bar right before a game gives them a burst of energy?which it might, for one shift. A regular size chocolate bar has about 200 calories, half of which comes from fat. The nutritional value is negligible, although if it's milk chocolate, you do get 10 per cent of your recommended daily intake of calcium. That will help your skull heal faster after you pass out from fatigue and land on your head. Meanwhile, not all that extra sugar turns itself into extra energy. Instead of your body working at optimum levels and sending oxygen to your muscles, your pancreas will be busy churning out insulin to regulate your blood sugar level. As well, any glucose that you don't burn off, your liver will quickly turn into glycogen. When the liver has enough glycogen, the remaining glucose is transported to fat cells. A regular can of soda has about 150 calories, so that combined with the chocolate bar is 350 calories, and you probably won't burn off much more than that during a normal game.

• Milk
  Oh, lastly, milk is maybe the best overall source of vitamins and nutrients in the world (except, famously, iron). However, it is also very heavy in the stomach and easily causes cramps. While of course it's a healthy drink, it's best to drink on off-days, not right before a big game.