Jon Merrill reunites with his children after nearly 3 months apart.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs has long been considered among the most grueling of tournaments in the entire world of sport, perhaps even the most grueling of its kind, but these past two playoff tournaments in the National Hockey League have proven to be extremely grueling for the league's players.

Not only have players been asked to put their bodies on the line this time around but they've also, in many cases, been asked to spend significant time away from their loved ones including friends and families. Although some of the restrictions around who you could and could not interact with were lifted this season, for some players like Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jon Merrill that proved to be no reprieve at all.

Merrill, a veteran of several seasons in the NHL, had spent his entire career in the league thus far playing for American teams but it was just his luck that come the trade deadline this season he was dealt to a team north of the border, the aforementioned Montreal Canadiens. That meant that Merrill, who had to pass through quarantine to get over the border, was forced to leave his family behind as he helped the Canadiens close out the regular season and went on a run all the way to the Stanley Cup Final with them.

That may not sound like such a big deal, and if we were talking about a few days and weeks you might have a point there, but for Merrill this meant a whopping 3 months away from his family which included his wife and young daughters. That separation was likely made all the more difficult by the fact that Merrill and his teammates failed to capture the Stanley Cup Championship, falling instead to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 5 games, but that was no doubt all erased when he reunited with his family this week after being able to return home to them.

Merrill's wife, Jess Molina, captured the whole thing on video.

It was a sacrifice Merrill had made before after going on a deep run in the playoffs as a member of the Las Vegas Golden Knights during the playoffs inside the Edmonton bubble.