When the Canmore Eagles hockey team took to the ice a few weeks ago in October, none of them could have guessed who would be watching them in the stands that night. Unbeknownst to them, Emmy-award-winning actor Jon Hamm had dropped by to see the team play in Calgary.

The star-studded surprise appearance, according to Head Coach and General Manager of the Canmore Eagles, Andrew Milne, was a little bit of luck and a little bit of some connections to Hollywood and the NHL.

"A player on our team; his father played for the St. Louis Blues for a number of years and formed a friendship with Jon Hamm, who was from St. Louis. Jon happened to be in Calgary filming a movie and was invited by his friend and father of one of our players to come and watch the game," Milne said. "The players weren't aware; they didn't know he was at the game until after the game until we came into the dressing room."

 

Milne said that Hamm is quite a big fan of hockey and in the tradition of the game, he presented Canmore Eagles' forward Kayden Smith a hat after Smith had gotten a hat trick in the game.

"He gave some positive reinforcement on the game and he was just really complimentary to our team and the way we played and then how exciting the game was," he said. "It's cool to have a guy [of] Jon's stature around the dressing room. He's been involved in hockey for a lot of years and is passionate about hockey, so, it was really cool to see that; a guy of Jon's stature still finds the time to watch the game."

When Milne was asked which Jon Hamm movie he enjoys the most, Milne said that Hamm's appearances in Skip the Dishes commercials are quite entertaining to watch.

The Canmore Eagles were facing off with the Calgary Canucks the night of October 28 and won 5-3. 

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