Actor Jeff Daniels on the importance of being a hockey dad.

It's Father's Day, not only an important day for many men and women around the world but one in which we celebrate all the wonderful dad's of the world for the hard work and love that they put in each and every day.

Of course here at Hockey Feed there is a special place in our hearts for all the hockey dad's of the world and recently long time Hollywood actor Jeff Daniels shared his thoughts on just how important it can be to be the father of a young hockey player. Daniels, whose children are now adults, was reflecting on the past where he and his kids would take long trips to attend games, and he spoke of the importance of making those moments special for the kids.

"The time you spend in the car, driving 2 hours to the rink for that 8:00 am game, and the time you spending driving back... that's why you do it," said Daniels with emotion in his voice.

Daniels also went on to share his thoughts on how important he felt those car rides home with his kids were. Daniels stressed that, unless prompted to by his kids, he would avoid the subject of hockey altogether on the ride home.

"And you talk to them about anything other than hockey," said Daniels. "If they wanna talk about the game, ok. But it was never about 'you gotta get that slapshot working cause if you wanna be at a D1 school, and I know you're only 10, but you've gotta start getting to work.' Never that."

Daniels believes that this approach greatly impacted his family and it is even something that he credits for the good relationship he has today with his children as adults.

"I think that our time spent with the kids in those car rides, not talking about hockey, paved the way for the closeness that we have as a family in their 20s and 30s."

Believe it or not, in spite of his success as an actor, Daniels views his role as a hockey dad far more fondly than he does even his own career.

"That was more important than any career success I might have had," said Daniels.

That may sound like lip service but in 1986 Daniels would move his family to Michigan in an effort to create a sense of normalcy for his family despite his high profile job, and he never looked back.

You can hear him in his own words in the short clip below: