As your hockey game approaches, you start to get anxious. It doesn’t matter whether you are at home, school, or work. You don’t know what’s going to happen and what you’re going to do, but you do know that you are going to have fun.

You eat your meals during the day wondering how and if it is going to affect your performance. You do stretches before going to the rink, and you wonder if you’re stretching long enough or if you’ve prepared yourself enough, both mentally and physically.

You put your gear on in the locker room. There’s this distinct smell of hockey players, but you don’t care. As your teammates come in, you are struggling to lace your skates just right. As you recover from the exhaustion of lacing your skates and putting on your last piece of equipment, you socialize with your teammates.

When you get onto the ice, the first thing you do is let the scorer know you’re here. You want him or her to know your name and your number. You don’t care too much about the outcome; you just want it recorded that this day in history, you’re playing hockey.

You skate around your half of the rink while the other team skates around theirs. Your teammates take turns firing slapshots at your goalie. Though you manage to get a few shots into the net, each time the goalie blocks your shot, it slightly bothers you to see him or her casually push your puck away.

The whistle blows and you get into position. You wonder what the other team is thinking. You wonder if your Center will win the face-off. You are wondering what you’re going to do with the puck if it comes to you.

The puck drops and the background noise is filled with sticks banging on the ice and skates cutting into the ice. When your team gets the puck, you forget everything and your only goal in life is to get the puck into the other team’s net. When your team loses the puck, your goal in life shifts; your new ultimate goal is to stop that puck from getting into you net. You sacrifice your whole body and endurance to do it.

When your body becomes exhausted, you skate toward your bench. You use your last breath and yell for your replacement to take your place. As you change up, your body is looking for rest while your mind is seeking pure action. Instinct keeps shouting, “Water!”

Your heart pulses as the opposing team approaches your net. If and when they score, your heart sinks to a new low. The negative side of your mind goes, “Great, there goes the game.” At the same time, the positive side of your mind goes, “No need to worry, that’s just one (two, three, four, …) goals. We’ll get it back.”

As your team controls the puck and nears the opposing side’s net, you get anxious. If you’re on the ice, you’re with the action. If you’re still on the bench, you’re still with the action. You scream and yell, hoping that a goal is made. When your team fails to score, you go “Noooooooo!” But when your team succeeds, you’re leaping with joy as if it’s the happiest day of your life. And if you’re the one that scored, you’ll find yourself raising your stick, skating in a half-mad way, making strange facial expressions, and shouting (or is it singing) your own dance of joy. This becomes one of the most memorable days of your life.

The final buzzer sounds. Your entire team congregates around the bench. Then your team makes its way to the goalie. It didn’t matter if you won or lost, you’re congratulating each other for a job well done. Next, you're skating in a straight line across the ice with the other team. Both sides are congratulating each other for a game truly well played.

You return to your locker room with your teammates. You all talk about all the different situations you have encountered during the game. It’s strange, but for some reason, you remember each moment of the game. You remember every minute detail of what happened.

As you pack your bag, you notice that it got a lot heavier. The game is over, and everyone is gone. None of these things matter. Your mind is still in the game. You’re not thinking about troubles at home. You’re not thinking about work and its demands. You’re not thinking about school or the exams. All you can think about is the game.

This, is hockey.

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