John Tortorella is missing the NHL All-Star Game for a beautiful reason.

John Tortorella and the Columbus Blue Jackets have had a wonderful season leading into the NHL All-Star break. In fact, he was selected to coach the Metropolitan division in this years All-Star game in Los Angeles. It was announced before the Blue Jackets game against the Nashville Predators that "Torts" would be missing both the CBJ's final game before the All-Star break and he would be missing the All-Star game as well.

Speculation began as the reason for his absence was that he had to deal with a "personal matter." Concern also began to set in because Tortorella's son is in the military. People naturally assumed the worst, but thankfully it was not the case. Rather, Tortorella announced he would be missing the All-Star game to be with his family and one of their five dogs who is in ailing health. The dog also turns out to be his son's, who is on active military duty. I have to give props to Torts for being with his family when they need him. As a result of missing the game against the Predators, he won't have to miss a game after the All-Star break.