{"id":189200,"date":"2026-02-22T21:34:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T21:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/189200\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T21:34:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T21:34:21","slug":"san-jose-sharks-macklin-celebrini-disappointed-after-milan-winter-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/189200\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini disappointed after Milan Winter Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini<\/a> stood stone-faced as an Olympic silver medal was placed around his neck on Sunday at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t what Team Canada\u2019s youngest player wanted.<\/a> Or expected.<\/p>\n

Celebrini and the Canadians lost 2-1 to the United States<\/a> in a heart-stopping final as New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes scored 1:41 into 3-on-3 overtime to give Team USA its first gold medal<\/a> in men\u2019s hockey since the Miracle on Ice team stood atop the podium in Lake Placid in 1980.<\/p>\n

During the 12-day tournament, the first to include NHL players since 2014, Celebrini finished second in scoring<\/a> with 10 points, becoming the highest-scoring teenager in Olympic men\u2019s hockey history. Still just 19, he was named to the Olympic all-tournament team, as his five goals led all skaters.<\/p>\n

All of that did little to ease the sting of Sunday\u2019s loss for the ultra-competitive Celebrini.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole time, we believed in ourselves,\u201d Celebrini said. \u201cWe had lots of chances, I had lots of chances I missed. You get put in those situations, you have to capitalize on your opportunities, and I didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, during the Games, Celebrini grew from being one of the NHL\u2019s coolest stories this season and a burgeoning Bay Area star <\/a>to having a much bigger international profile while cementing his status as one of the game\u2019s greatest players.<\/p>\n

From the start, Celebrini fit in seamlessly <\/a>alongside the NHL\u2019s leading scorer, Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, and regularly played during Canada\u2019s most high-leverage moments.<\/p>\n

Just before Hughes\u2019 goal Sunday, Celebrini was on the ice with Vegas Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner. Those two combined on an overtime goal that lifted Canada past Czechia in Wednesday\u2019s quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

Canadian forward Nathan MacKinnon was moved onto a line with McDavid and Celebrini early in round robin play. The longtime center played right wing on that line and said, \u201cI understand the position and obviously playing with the best player in the world (in McDavid), and maybe the second-best player in the world, in Macklin, it was a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MILAN,MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 22: USA’s #74 Jaccob Slavin (2L) and Canada’s #17 Macklin Celebrini vie for the puck during the men’s gold medal ice hockey match between Canada and USA at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 22, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Julien de Rosa – Pool\/Getty Images)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, it seems, nothing will be the same for Celebrini, who is still more than three months away from his 20th birthday.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the massive viewership numbers that were expected for Sunday\u2019s game, Celebrini will no doubt become more visible wherever he goes. As time goes on, the expectations for him and the Sharks will also increase, and by playing so well this season and on the world stage, Celebrini will likely help San Jose become a more attractive place for free agents.<\/p>\n

Heck, since Celebrini and McDavid played so well together and found instant chemistry, there\u2019s already been speculation that McDavid will leave the Oilers in 2028 when he becomes a free agent and joins the Sharks. We\u2019ll see what happens.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to see a special talent, come watch the Sharks,\u201d Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Saturday. \u201cIf you\u2019re a hockey fan, if you\u2019re not a hockey fan, you can just feel there\u2019s a little bit of buzz around the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m getting texts from people back home (in Massachusetts), because we\u2019re on late, and now they\u2019re going to stay up and watch the Sharks. And credit to Mack, he\u2019s been a big part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Celebrini and the Canadians thought they let Sunday\u2019s game slip away after badly outshooting the Americans 42-28, including 33-18 over the final two periods.<\/p>\n

Celebrini had two glorious chances to score when the Canadians were on the power play late in the third period, and MacKinnon missed a wide-open net from short range.<\/p>\n

\"MILAN,MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 22: Brady Tkachuk #7 of Team United States shakes hands with Macklin Celebrini #17 of Team Canada after the team’s 2-1 overtime victory in the Men’s Gold Medal match between Canada and the United States on day 16 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 22, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Gregory Shamus\/Getty Images)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of American goalie Connor Hellebuyck\u2019s 41 saves, perhaps the most memorable was the one early in the third period on Devon Toews, where Hellebuyck used the knob of his stick to stop what could have been the game-winning goal from going in.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Hellebuyck) was our best player by a mile,\u201d said winger Matt Boldy, who scored a first-period goal to give the Americans a 1-0 lead. \u201cHe\u2019s an absolute stud. He wants to be in those moments. He wants to make the saves. And he did just that, so he was definitely our MVP.\u201d<\/p>\n

Celebrini will likely remember such challenging moments as he begins to digest his often exhilarating experience at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games. But he\u2019ll also likely remember the good times, how he set the stage for himself for the rest of this season with the Sharks, the 2028 World Cup of Hockey, and the 2030 Winter Olympics in France.<\/p>\n

Things won\u2019t be the same for Celebrini going forward. But as much as Sunday\u2019s loss hurt, he also has to be excited about what\u2019s ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went through a lot,\u201d Celebrini said. \u201cWe\u2019re all going to remember this time, but unfortunately, it\u2019s going to be more motivational than celebration.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini stood stone-faced as an Olympic silver medal was placed around his neck…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189201,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[4173,184,7,401,402,181,404,10012,88,90,89,98,198,403,200,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-189200","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-2026-winter-olympics","9":"tag-bay-area","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-inside-sports","13":"tag-latest-headlines","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-olympics","16":"tag-san-jose","17":"tag-san-jose-headlines","18":"tag-san-jose-news","19":"tag-san-jose-sharks","20":"tag-santa-clara-county","21":"tag-sharks-alert","22":"tag-south-bay","23":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189200","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=189200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}