Why nutrition is NHL players' new secret weapon

Philipp Grubauer didn't feel bad, exactly. He didn't feel good, either.

The goaltender was merely coasting along during his inaugural season with the Colorado Avalanche in 2018-19, preparing for games as he always had and ignoring -- at first -- his body's increasing lethargy.

At the time Grubauer was like most of his NHL peers, wielding a meticulous and well-thought-out pregame routine that didn't include questioning how -- or, more importantly, why -- he was eating certain things. Convenience trumped everything.

And then, Grubauer hit a wall.

"I didn't really pay attention to food my first years in the league. It wasn't a big thing," Grubauer told ESPN last month. "But the more I thought…