Macklin Celebrini<\/a> did to Canada GM Doug Armstrong, when the also-St. Louis Blues GM first told Celebrini that he was on the Olympic radar last Dec. 21, before the San Jose Sharks\u2019 tilt at the Enterprise Center. The-then rookie admitted that gave him a boost, promptly dropping a goal and two assists on the Blues in a 4-3 win.<\/p>\nCelebrini shared his excitement over being selected to the Canadian Olympic team, who he called first with the news, his thoughts on getting to play with Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, the San Jose Sharks already at 20 wins this season, and SAP Center chanting \u201cMVP! MVP!!\u201d for him.<\/p>\n
Macklin Celebrini, on finding out he made the team:<\/p>\n
I found out this morning and it\u2019s just all excitement. Can\u2019t really put it into words. I was just so excited. It\u2019s tough to refocus into the game we had. Especially with the early game, it was tough to give focus.I think it\u2019s just excitement and a huge honor.<\/p>\n
Celebrini, on his phone call from Armstrong:<\/p>\n
It was pretty simple. [He said] that I was on the team and that he\u2019s excited for the group. Obviously the work starts now, building some of that chemistry. All looking towards Milan. It was a short phone call, and I was too excited to take in everything. It was just a short message.<\/p>\n
Celebrini, on who he called first afterwards:<\/p>\n
I called my parents. They did so much for me growing up, they\u2019re the reason I\u2019m here, and all their love and support.<\/p>\n
Representing Canada at any level, that\u2019s just a huge honor and I think you can tell by how I\u2019m answering these questions, it\u2019s just all surreal, and I\u2019m just really excited.<\/p>\n
Celebrini, on the San Jose Sharks:<\/p>\n
Obviously, we have a lot of goals as a group and a lot of big aspirations. I keep bringing it up, but that was our 20th win tonight, and we had 20 all of last year. You can see the excitement in the crowd. There\u2019s just a lot better of a vibe around our group and the way that we\u2019re doing things right now. We\u2019re winning games, stringing games together, playing good hockey, and just finding ways to win. I think that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about.<\/p>\n
Celebrini, on if being told he was on the Olympic team\u2019s radar last December against Armstrong gave him extra motivation against the Blues last season:<\/p>\n
For sure. That was the dog days of the season, and to hear that for sure gave me a little bit of a boost.<\/p>\n
Celebrini, on if he\u2019s already started thinking about the Olympics:<\/p>\n
You can\u2019t not think about it, especially right now while it\u2019s fresh. Just thinking about representing Canada in the Olympics. The message at the orientation camp was that we\u2019re just one group and our whole country that\u2019s representing us over there. You\u2019ve got all kinds of sports and different athletes that have worked their whole life to kind of get to that level. I think that was a message that everyone\u2019s there to represent Canada and do the best that they can do, so it means a little extra kind of being part of the group that represents the hockey side of it.<\/p>\n
Celebrini, on training with Crosby and MacKinnon over the summer:<\/p>\n
Those are two of the best players in the world. Probably one of the greatest ever and Nate\u2019s on his way. Being around those guys at World Championships, and a little bit over the summer, you can\u2019t not soak up all the little details, the stuff that they do, and also how they approach every day. They love doing what they do and I don\u2019t think they\u2019d be in the position that they are without doing that. Just watching them, being around them, they can\u2019t not rub off on you.<\/p>\n
Celebrini, on if his performance at the World Championships helped him make the Olympic roster:<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a question for me. I\u2019ve just tried to, for more reasons than one, play my best hockey. I worked this summer to give myself the best chance to not only help our team succeed and have a better year, which was a huge goal of mine; last year sucked, so that was a huge motivator, but also the added extra motivation of this Olympic Team.<\/p>\n
Celebrini on if he\u2019s talked to Joe Thornton about the Olympics:<\/p>\n
I talked to him a little bit before I even knew I was in consideration for the team. He\u2019s told me stories about when he was at the Olympics and how much fun he had, but he\u2019s in Switzerland right now, so I haven\u2019t talked to him yet.<\/p>\n
Celebrini, on the San Jose Sharks\u2019 reaction to the news:<\/p>\n
I think it just shows how close our group was. Everyone was so happy for me, and I really wouldn\u2019t be here without them. We have a special group this year. Our chemistry, my linemates, everyone I play with. It\u2019s a team game, and you can\u2019t have success without a team. It was really cool that they were also happy for me.<\/p>\n
Celebrini, on the MVP chants tonight:<\/p>\n
That\u2019s something I\u2019ve never had before, but it\u2019s cool to see their excitement around our team, and to see the energy in the building, especially today. It was there. And I hope we can just keep winning, keep pushing, so that we get that more often.<\/p>\n
Celebrini, on if the selection feels like the best Christmas gift ever:<\/p>\n
Yeah, it\u2019s the best Christmas I\u2019ve ever had.<\/p>\n
Celebrini, on if he\u2019s been able to wrap it in his head that he\u2019s going to the Olympics:<\/p>\n
No, I think I just focused on the fact that I get to represent my country at the Olympics, how special that experience is, and what a huge honor it is to be selected for that team.<\/p>\n
Celebrini, on if he\u2019s got any Italian in his family history:<\/p>\n
My grandpa was from over there.<\/p>\n
Celebrini, on if he\u2019s hoping to be on Crosby\u2019s line:<\/p>\n
I think everyone is. (laughs)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019re probably not going to see Macklin Celebrini overwhelmed a lot anymore. Celebrini is just 19, but he\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[61221,4173,12672,18693,49964,93,1035,7573,24178,9888,61790,16713,88,90,89,98],"class_list":["post-115896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-2026-olympics","tag-2026-winter-olympics","tag-canada","tag-connor-mcdavid","tag-doug-armstrong","tag-featured","tag-macklin-celebrini","tag-mvp","tag-nathan-mackinnon","tag-rick-celebrini","tag-robyn-celebrini","tag-roster","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-san-jose-sharks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}