The 2014 Olympic Games are now over, to the sure chagrin of many. Chances are very good that a lot of Canadians tuned in to these international sporting events, especially given the fact that both our men's and women's ice hockey teams won gold.

But one of the most challenging things about watching this year's games was the fact that they were held halfway around the world. While, sure, the major TV networks replayed many of the events during primetime, people probably had to avoid spoilers on the Internet, on the nightly news and from their friends and family. Alternately , they could have just watched the events in real time during the middle of the day.

Of course, for many Canadians, that would have meant turning on TV in the office, which isn't always possible if the company hasn't invested in screens, or even working from home. That might have worked for a few of the events during the two weeks or so the Olympics were on, but that probably won't be the case during other times. This might be a problem for some rabid sports fans, especially since hockey season is now on its backend and baseball is just around the corner - and afternoon games are relatively common in both sports.

However, the Internet can provide a lot of relief if you're stuck in the office or elsewhere when your favourite team is about to play. Canadians who want to catch the game as play is unfolding should consider taking a page out of the books of many who watched the Olympics in real time.

More than 15 million people watched
According to The Globe and Mail, more than 15 million Canadians watched the gold medal men's hockey match where Canada bested Sweden to take the gold. That's a massive number of people, considering the nation has a population of about 27 million. And many of these individuals surely tuned in on the Internet - the newspaper reported that CBC claimed a television audience of 8.5 million.

The viewers may have found a specific streaming website to watch the play-by-play action, or they could have taken to the CBC website to find a connection to what was going on in Sochi. Many times, it's best to head to official channels so as to avoid viruses or other malware.

This is what approximately 625,000 viewers did during the Feb. 21 game between Canada and the United States. The news outlet, citing CBC data, noted that these individuals tuned in on the Internet, either on traditional computers or via mobile devices.

High speeds are key
When streaming video content, it's important that individuals have access to a high speed connection. After all, when you're watching a game, you don't want to be bogged down with slow-moving video, choppy cuts and freezing, because what's the point of watching the event at all if it's sub-par? There are plenty of Internet service providers (ISPs) that provide fantastic and speedy connections that will impress even the biggest of sports fans.