Much has been written about “the Code” in hockey. That tribal, primal, element that is the secret sauce of keeping order in the hockey universe. At its simplest level, it’s “beat up our guy, and we’ll beat up yours” or “Hurt our guy, even accidentally, and you better be ready to answer the bell”.

But there’s another code too. Less talked about, but equally important. If you break it, there is also a price to be paid.

That other code? When it’s your beer night, don’t forget the beer. It’s a very simple code, but holy hockey are there some convoluted rules that we make up to define the order of who is bringing beer on what nights. Opening night is generally the captain, then the algorithms kick in – alphabetic by name, by position, by stick curve pattern, by who scored last game, etc. etc.

Like the other code, this one has some unwritten, but instinctively understood elements. If it’s your beer night, and you have to bail on the game late, you better find a way. Yessir, find a way to notify a team mate, and make sure they have the goods to take on your behalf. Maybe swap nights with the next in line.

And if you get to the rink before you realize you’ve forgotten it? Mon Dieu, god speed. I kid you not, I have seen wives and children show up to deliver when beer league Bob forgot his sacred duty. Good family is important and that is at its clearest when you have forgotten the beer. If the game before or after is running a surplus, sometimes a little donation to their year-end fund will result in them sharing their loaves and fishes on that particular night.

Punishment can vary. It may be a simple as having to bring it on consecutive nights. It may be to double the shipment. It may be expulsion from the league, or a trade to the team with the most jerks. Sometimes the pressure is so great, that the one with the faulty memory has to turn tail, head out to the nearest source and get the goods before being allowed on the ice, sometimes risking playing if said source is a decent distance away.

Written rules are good. Unwritten rules are sometimes where the fun is though.