When the Moon Comes (Paul Harbridge)

Ah. That great Canadian experience of waiting until the ice is frozen and thick enough to skate on it. This book caught that feeling.  The illustrations in this book are beautiful. You can FEEL the cold! This book turns hockey into poetry. Now that's a good author! LOL

In a land so inescapably and inhospitably cold, hockey is the chance of life, and an affirmation that despite the deathly chill of winter we are alive.
-Stephen Leacock

Goodreads says:

In this atmospheric story, a group of kids play hockey on a frozen lake by moonlight. At once nostalgic and timely, this is a gorgeous book that will speak to readers young and old.

The beaver flood has finally frozen--perfect ice, without a bump or a ripple. For the kids in town, it's Christmas in November. They wait, impatiently, for the right moment. 

Finally, it arrives: the full moon. 

They huff and puff through logging trails, farms, back roads and tamarack swamps, the powdery snow soaking pant legs and boots, till they see it--their perfect ice, waiting. 

And the game is on.