Senators announce that they will retire Chris Neil's jersey with a tear-jerking surprise reveal

The Ottawa Senators have announced that they will retire Chris Neil's #25 to the rafters of Canadian Tire Centre forever.

The best part of the announcement though came when the Sens released a video showing the exact moment that Neil found out about the news himself.

Check it out:

How great is that!?

Look, I don't know if Chris Neil of all people is fit to have his jersey number retired, but I do think that this is a very classy move on the Senators' part. I'm not going to rain on anyone's parade, so I'll leave it up to you to discuss Neil's merits.

"Chris Neil was and is everything that you would want an Ottawa Senator to be," said Ottawa Senators president of business operations Anthony LeBlanc in a prepared statement. "While his success on the ice made him one of this franchise's most valued players - his work in the community, both as a player and following his career, have created a unique legacy. His impact on this city is a model for players across the National Hockey League."

"Chris was a team-first player, a physical presence who never backed down from a challenge," said Senators general manager Pierre Dorion. "He earned his place every single day through hard work and dedication; he was the ultimate character player and wore the Senators sweater with as much or more pride than any other player in this team's history."

More from the Senator's official press release announcement:

Neil made his debut with the Senators in 2001 as a 22-year-old and went on to play 15 seasons in a Senators uniform, scoring 112 goals and 138 assists for 250 points in 1,026 career regular season games. He also played in 95 playoff games, including all 20 games in the run to the Stanley Cup final in 2006-07. Neil became only the 46th player in league history to skate in 1,000 games for one team on Dec. 10, 2016, at Los Angeles.

For all his accolades on the ice, Chris, along with his wife Caitlin, made an even bigger impact on the local Ottawa community. On July 13, 2011, they were named as honorary co-chairs of Roger Neilson House, a pediatric palliative care centre facility. Through the strength of initiatives such as Returns for Roger Nielson House, Walk, Roll & Run and the Senators Community Foundation Telethon, they have helped to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars as ambassadors for the centre since arriving in Ottawa in 2001.

Chris has become a fixture and pillar in the local community and he and his wife have spent countless hours lending their voice and support by attending and hosting charitable and media events for dozens of philanthropic organizations in the community including the Ottawa Senators Foundation. They were recognized for their contributions to Canada when they received the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.