Man discovers he loves hockey, hockey discovers it loves man

When was the last time you felt genuine excitement over discovering something you're passionate about? Like, actually stumbling upon something that makes you want to share your happiness with others?

Most recently for me, it was when I found this random girl on Instagram who consistently shares the best food finds in New York City, and every recommendation has been spot-on. The one downside is that she's weirdly obsessed with these creepy dolls that she poses and makes up stories about their relationships, but nothing is perfect and I'll put up with it as long as she keeps it coming with the restaurant recs.

But even my Instagram find pales (fine, it pales a lot) in comparison to the joy that Tony X. felt when he first discovered the game of hockey. And because we are lucky to live in the age of real time, he proceeded to bless us with his play-by-play reaction on Twitter:

Yo deadass this the first time I've ever watched hockey and this shit has been LIT for these first 45 seconds

— Tony X. (@soIoucity) April 26, 2016

All i know is Im bout to watch the mighty ducks and have superior knowledge on hockey now.

— Tony X. (@soIoucity) April 26, 2016

White people been hiding hockey from us for years bruh. This shit lit

— Tony X. (@soIoucity) April 26, 2016

But then something delightful happened: whoever was running the St. Louis Blues Twitter sensed a change in the air. "A new fan has joined the hockey fandom," they said out loud, probably. They reached out to Tony X. and invited him to a hockey game:

Welcome to Hockey Twitter & #stlblues fandom, @soIoucity! Want to check out Game 3 live? It's on us! #WeAllBleedBlue https://t.co/27o5fB69KE

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 26, 2016

And then one week later, lo and behold:

Looks like @soIoucity is enjoying his first hockey game. #WeAllBleedBlue #stlblues pic.twitter.com/HAsJbu9MWn

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 4, 2016

Aw! Look at him! The gentle smile that spread across his face that could only be read as, "I'm exactly where I want to be right now, and also hockey is pretty lit lmao." Between this and the new James Blake album, this is too much emotion for one girl to handle!

If only all of life (or just Twitter) worked this way: you find something you love, you declare your love publicly, and then, somehow, the universe works its magic to bring you that thing you love. Twitter user @STOPFLEXIN said it best:

Twitter is the land of opportunity pic.twitter.com/oZO5ww3L6o

— Marcus (@STOPFLEXIN) May 5, 2016

It almost seems too good to be true. In my weary, hardened heart, I'm immediately skeptical of anything that doesn't seem to come with a catch. In fact, when I tried to look at the viral tweet above that started it all, I got this message:

Yeah okay, I suppose this does count as sensitive media because my heart is SMILING!!! My editor Chris Plante summed it up perfectly when he said, "The internet is so allergic and unaccustomed to good things, it mistakes it for danger."

But maybe it's okay to let your guard down every once in a while on the internet. You can even go so far as to be sincere (A new concept for me — my default state is Extremely Incredulous and Incredibly Self-deprecating (also the title of my next memoir!!)). You can talk openly about the things that make you happy, and this is the kicker: other people might share in your happiness and go out of their way to help bring you closer to what you love. What a world!

• ViaTwitter