Another Day At "The Office"

I wanted to finish off September with something fun, but I'm posting it here today on the last Friday of September because I've had a bit of a trying week. You likely know the guy to the left as "Jim Halpert" from the sitcom The Office, possibly "Jack Ryan" from Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, maybe as Lee Abbott from A Quiet Place and its sequel, potentially as Reed Richards of The Fantastic Four in upcoming Marvel movies, or less commonly as Mr. Emily Blunt. That's John Krasinski who never played a second in the NHL, but did skate with Joe Thornton, Lyndon Byers, and Rick Middleton of the Boston Bruins!

Before anyone goes back and points out that Mr. Krasinski never suited up for the Bruins, you're technically right. He never wore the jersey in an official NHL game, but he is a Bruins superfan as we saw during the 2019 Stanley Cup Final when he and St. Louis Blues superfan and co-star on The Office Jenna Fischer had a little running feud during that series.

Back to the main reason we're here, Krasinski did skate with those three hockey legends, though. Kraskinski is on the record as stating that his very first commercial that he did as an actor was for US coffee chain Dunkin' Donuts for a contest they were running called "Sports Dreams Instant Win Game". Here's that commercial!


Pretty awesome, right? There's actually a story that John tells in a WIRED Autocomplete Interview where he and Michael Kelly are discussing various roles they played, and he elaborates on acting in his first commercial and what happened during the filming. Here's that interview featuring Krasinski and fellow actor Michael Kelly!

If you rewatch the commercial above, you'll see John's skates in the air after Thornton hits him. If that's where John hurt his knee, I can understand why because that's some height he got on that hit if his skates came up that high!

In any case, I saw that interview today and thought that story was pretty cool if one went back and watched that commercial again. It doesn't sound like there were lifelong friendships made between the then-unknown John Krasinski and the three Bruins on the ice, but perhaps that friendship has now blossomed thanks to John's role on The Office and Joe Thornton's legend in the NHL.

For six years, though, John Krasinski had a memory of Joe Thornton every time he bent his knee. That's gotta be worth something, right?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!