After 23 years of living in Canada, I decided that it was time for me to watch my first hockey game.

Something started brewing in the air three or four days ago, and I had this feeling that I had to watch today’s Olympic Final between Canada and the U.S. If I didn’t, it would be bordering on unpatriotic.

I did my best to get home on time to catch the 3:00 pm start time. Prior: I barely researched this. All I knew about hockey prior to 3 p.m. today was that hockey has a lot in common with boxing.

I had some packing to do in my room and I thought, “How convenient. I’ll watch while I pack.”

Big mistake.

The number one thing I learned today is that every single goal was scored while I briefly looked away from the screen.

The first goal scored by Jonathan Toews happened when I briefly looked away from the screen.

The second goal scored by Perry happened when for one split second I looked away from the screen.

So the first thing I figured out pretty quickly was that in hockey, every second counts.

I also noticed that in hockey, it is quite common for one player to violently ram another player up against the glass. After this happens, the other player just keeps playing like nothing happened.

I think this is a great lesson to take into life. Let’s say tomorrow, someone violently knocks you over? Instead of wailing and moaning, why not get up, dust yourself off and keep walking, just like they do in hockey?

I think there would be fewer lawsuits and needless complaining in the world if we all followed this simple hockey principle.

Anyway, around 5 p.m. everything changed.

I mean, everything that I thought I knew about my Jamaican family changed.

As it turns out, the same day of this hockey game, my family was having this goodbye dinner for me and the first relative to arrive was my sister. When she walked in, someone must have had the TV on another channel. The minute she walked in with her husband and our friend Sam, the first thing she said was, “Put the TV back on the hockey, or I’m leaving.”

That’s when I knew something was up.

My Jamaican sister threatening her own mother to put the TV back on the hockey game, or she was leaving?

The second hint that something was up came from my sister and Sam. They started saying things like, “What’s going on with Crosby? He’s not doing anything.”

This led me to the conclusion that perhaps my Jamaican relatives have been watching hockey secretly for years.

But I later found out that it was my sister’s third hockey game.

Then we noticed that sister #2 was a little late. Somebody said, “I bet you they’re over there watching the hockey game and don’t want to get up.”

Finally, during a commercial break, my sister and her husband showed up wearing her Team Canada Olympic sweater.

We all gathered around the TV and from my vantage point at the back of the room, it looked exactly like the time we all gathered around the TV to watch Obama’s inauguration.

Well, as you may know, Sidney Crosby finally did get into the game in a big way, scoring the final deciding point for the gold medal.

I was proud of Canada and kind of proud of my family at the same time, but I really didn’t need to be. Why? I have a feeling every family in Canada was at home or in a bar or on the street somewhere watching that game.

So, I really enjoyed my first hockey game. The next thing I need to learn about hockey now is why they gave those nice young men broccoli plants. Even more important: What on earth is a hat trick?

Relive the moment here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr9j-MRTxz8

This article was originally published on February 28, 2010.