Macklin celebrini\u2019s performance for Team Canada in Milan has briefly dictated schedules and moods across the Bay Area: Warriors players paused a Friday morning film session and San Jose is tracking surges in ticket, social and revenue metrics tied to the 19-year-old\u2019s Olympic breakout. The stakes are immediate \u2014 Team Canada faces the United States in the Olympic gold medal game on Sunday. <\/p>\n
Warriors stopped film to watch the closing minutes<\/p>\n
In San Francisco, the Golden State Warriors were preparing for Sunday\u2019s game against the Denver Nuggets when many players and coaches instead watched a tight Olympic game in Italy. The film session was scheduled for Friday morning, but, as coach Steve Kerr said after Saturday\u2019s practice, \u201cWe had half the team watching the final two minutes of the game, \u201d because it was 2-2 at 10 o\u2019clock and they were supposed to be starting film. The game action was taking place about 6, 000 miles from the Chase Center. <\/p>\n
How Celebrini\u2019s family ties linked him to the Warriors<\/p>\n
Much of the local interest traces to family connections inside the organization. Celebrini\u2019s father, Rick, is identified both as the Warriors\u2019 vice president of player health and performance and as the team\u2019s vice president of player health and medicine, and has been with the organization since 2018. Rick stayed in Los Angeles for a couple of extra days after a recent road trip to be there for Jimmy Butler\u2019s ACL surgery, then flew to Milan to be with the rest of his family and cheer on his son. <\/p>\n
Players who know the family shared memories and praise<\/p>\n
Members of Golden State\u2019s roster and staff shared memories of Macklin growing up around the franchise. Coach Kerr recalled watching Celebrini play in fullcourt pickup games against his mother, Robyn, older brother Aiden and younger sister Charlie at the team\u2019s old Oakland facility. Moses Moody said he got to know Macklin several years ago while rehabbing injuries under Rick\u2019s watch and praised the family\u2019s demeanor; Moody noted Macklin\u2019s youngest brother, RJ, as an up-and-coming teenage hockey player and said with a smile, \u201cI want Rick to come back in a good mood. \u201d Moody also referenced a popular online meme about LeBron James predicting improbable futures when describing Macklin\u2019s pedigree. <\/p>\n
Payton\u2019s wake-up call and high-ceiling comparisons<\/p>\n
Gary Payton II \u2014 who usually ends his press conferences by telling media \u201cyou guys are great\u201d \u2014 looked into the camera after Friday\u2019s practice and ordered the region to tune in: \u201cGo watch Mack, alright? Everybody, wake up in the Bay, and watch Mack. \u201d Payton urged viewers to catch the 5 a. m. PST Olympic gold medal match in Italy and said, \u201cThat kid\u2019s just unreal, \u201d listing Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin alongside \u201cMac\u201d when predicting the sort of all-time company he might keep. <\/p>\n
Olympic performance details and on-ice impact in Milan<\/p>\n
Celebrini took the ice in Milan as the youngest NHL player in the Olympics and the youngest-ever on a Team Canada roster. Through five Olympic appearances he has totaled 10 points while playing alongside Connor McDavid, Nathan McKinnon and Sidney Crosby. In Friday\u2019s dramatic come-from-behind semifinal win, Celebrini led Team Canada in ice time, logging nearly 26 minutes, ripped a team-high eight shots on goal and assisted on McKinnon\u2019s game-winner. <\/p>\n
How the Sharks and Bay Area are feeling the effect<\/p>\n
The impact has rippled back to San Jose. Sharks chief marketing officer Doug Bentz said the \u201cathletic spectacle\u201d of Celebrini\u2019s Olympics is turning him into a must-watch and that even some fans who might root for the United States are nonetheless cheering for him to \u201ccontinue to do these special things. \u201d KNBR host Derek Papa said he loves America but added, \u201cMacklin Celebrini is going to change things in the Bay Area. He\u2019s going to be the Steph Curry of hockey. \u201d <\/p>\n
Celebrini was the No. 1 overall pick by the local San Jose Sharks in 2024 after departing the Bay Area for one season at Boston University as a 17-year-old. After a stellar rookie season, he has 81 points this season \u2014 28 goals and 53 assists in 55 games \u2014 and has been mentioned for the Hart Trophy as part of a Sharks team listed at 27-24-4. That 81-point total is the fourth most in the league this season. Bentz, who has marketed the Sharks for more than two decades, said the franchise\u2019s strategy over the last five years has shifted to grow beyond the Bay Area, and Celebrini\u2019s rise has translated into measurable gains: the Sharks set a franchise record for single-game ticket sales in his rookie season despite finishing at the bottom of the Western Conference, and the franchise is on track to surpass that marker by nearly $3 million this season. <\/p>\n
Since landing in Milan two weeks ago, Celebrini\u2019s fame has surged: his Instagram following has grown by 40% and he has the most visited player profile on NHL. com during the Olympic break. Bentz noted that growing Celebrini\u2019s personal presence has a positive impact on the team. In past scheduled NHL breaks the Sharks\u2019 social engagement dipped between 30 and 40 percent; with NHL players back in the Olympics and Celebrini on Canada\u2019s top line, this year\u2019s pattern is markedly different. <\/p>\n
A photograph by Kelley L Cox \/ Imagn Images captured the attention around his Olympic run. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Macklin celebrini\u2019s performance for Team Canada in Milan has briefly dictated schedules and moods across the Bay Area:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[2195,44472,88890,88891,57223,88674,2668,88,90,89,2193,8003,13340,88892],"class_list":{"0":"post-189319","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-and","9":"tag-celebrini","10":"tag-celebrinis","11":"tag-has","12":"tag-milan","13":"tag-olympic","14":"tag-run","15":"tag-san-jose","16":"tag-san-jose-headlines","17":"tag-san-jose-news","18":"tag-sharks","19":"tag-the","20":"tag-warriors","21":"tag-watching"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189319","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=189319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}