Clayton Keller gives emotional interview after passing of his father.

The National Hockey League was struck by the sudden and unexpected news that Utah Mammoth star forward Clayton Keller had lost his father, Bryan. The Thanksgiving tragedy was a terrible one for fans of the sport to learn about but everyone's thoughts were of course with Keller and the rest of his family as they dealt with the terrible news.

Much to his credit, Keller has continued to play for the Mammoth despite the terrible tragedy and, following Saturday night's game against the St. Louis Blues, Keller even stepped in front of the cameras to speak to reporters about what he and his family are currently going through. The result was an incredibly emotional interview from Keller who was choking back tears the entire time, one where he described how his father helped shape his love of the sport.

"Lots of memories at this rink," said the native of Chesterfield, Missouri. "Growing up, coming to games here, sitting on my dad's lap and my grandpa's lap just admiring those players."

Keller became choked up at several points during the interview and as a result had to cut his comments short, but the impact of his words was not lost.

"Wanting to be out there, so it was definitely a tough couple of days," said Keller. "I couldn't have done it without my family and my teammates, they had my back always. I care for them more than anything."

The post-game media scrum abruptly ends at that point as Keller became overwhelmed with emotion, a painful moment to witness but simultaneously a beautiful tribute from a son who clearly had a very deep love for his father.

You can see his entire media scrum in the video just below:

My most sincere thoughts and condolences go out to Clayton, the entire Keller family, the Utah Mammoth and anyone else impacted by this terrible tragedy.