TORONTO \u2014 Welcome to Toronto in an Olympic year, Macklin Celebrini.<\/p>\n
The San Jose Sharks\u2019 teen phenom, third in the NHL with 43 points, is the talk of Canada, along with 20-year-old goal-scoring sensation, Connor Bedard.<\/p>\n
The top-of-mind question: Will the North Vancouver products, the 2023 and 2024 first-overall picks, both wear the maple leaf in the 2026 Olympics?<\/p>\n
Celebrini took many questions on that subject, talked about Bedard, how his social media usage has evolved, and how he blocks out all the noise.<\/p>\n
Celebrini, on making Team Canada\u2026<\/p>\n
For sure, over the summer, it\u2019s a goal. It\u2019s a dream of every kid who grows up in Canada, but right when the season started, that wasn\u2019t really my focus, still not my focus. Right now, can\u2019t really control what they decide or what they do, but obviously being on that team would be a huge honor.<\/p>\n
On whether he\u2019s talked with Canada head coach Jon Cooper or GM Doug Armstrong\u2026<\/p>\n
No.<\/p>\n
On Cooper saying Bedard and Celebrini are making team selection difficult\u2026<\/p>\n
It\u2019s great to see how much success he\u2019s (Bedard) having and the way he\u2019s lifting up that organization, that group. It\u2019s so fun to watch him, see his highlights every night and see him succeed. It\u2019s been a good year, better start for both our teams.<\/p>\n
On talking to Joe Thornton about his Olympic experience\u2026<\/p>\n
Sometimes, but it\u2019s more like, just because the schedule is pretty crazy. I was just asking if the schedule is like that, when he was going through it, and what he felt.<\/p>\n
On if he has memories of the 2010 or 2014 Olympics\u2026<\/p>\n
Not really. Obviously Sid\u2019s golden goal, but I was four at the time, so re-watching it, but not many.<\/p>\n
On playing with Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon at the World Championships\u2026<\/p>\n
That was awesome. They were so great to me. Just being around them, seeing two legends, two Hall of Famers. To see how they carry themselves, approach every day. Two guys I looked up to growing up that was, that was pretty cool.<\/p>\n
On getting to know Crosby\u2026<\/p>\n
The first couple times I met him, I was a little nervous. He\u2019s my mentor, or not my mentor, my role model, and someone I looked up to growing up. Just to start to get to know him, and it\u2019s been really cool.<\/p>\n
On how Joe Thornton has helped him this season\u2026<\/p>\n
It\u2019s just his family and the way they\u2019ve accepted me into their home and given me a place to feel comfortable throughout the season. That was something that was so big for me, just going home and having a home-cooked meal and feeling like I have a second family there, that\u2019s what\u2019s meant the most to me, just how great they\u2019ve been to me and that sense of comfort.<\/p>\n
On Thornton now having an official title with the San Jose Sharks\u2026<\/p>\n
Nothing\u2019s really changed. (lauyghs)<\/p>\n
On dinner with the Thorntons\u2026<\/p>\n
It\u2019s awesome. Family dinner. His wife, Tabea, makes amazing food. And just chat, talk about the day.<\/p>\n
On if Joe is a good cook\u2026<\/p>\n
I haven\u2019t seen him cook. (laughs)<\/p>\n
On if he\u2019s thought about stepping onto the ice at the Olympics\u2026<\/p>\n
No. One, there\u2019s so much hockey to be played before that too. Two, you don\u2019t know if I\u2019m going to be on the team or not. So no, I\u2019m not really thinking about that.<\/p>\n
On whether the Olympics have been a motivating factor this season\u2026<\/p>\n
Over the summer and leading up to it, I think for sure, it\u2019s been something that obviously, I\u2019ve been working towards, and it\u2019s been a goal of mine. That thought obviously lingers around you, but there\u2019s so much we need to focus on, so much going on that if you just keep thinking about it it\u2019s going to be a little bit overwhelming.<\/p>\n
On Armstrong watching him\u2026<\/p>\n
I think they\u2019re watching everyone who\u2019s in consideration pretty closely, and they\u2019re taking in all the information and watching everyone play.<\/p>\n
On whether he\u2019s surprised himself with his play this season for the San Jose Sharks\u2026<\/p>\n
No. I believe in myself. I believe in what I can do, and I believe in the work I\u2019ve put in. So I can\u2019t say I\u2019m surprised or I feel any other way.<\/p>\n
On working out with Crosby and MacKinnon over the summer\u2026<\/p>\n
It was great. I think Nate\u2026put on a little camp there. And it was great, just skating. Will was there too, and a couple other young guys, like Fantili and guys that I know. So it was great to go out there and train for a little bit.<\/p>\n
On whether he knows about the rabid Olympic speculation about him and Bedard in Canada\u2026<\/p>\n
That\u2019s another thing. I try to stay off social media and all that stuff. Everyone\u2019s going to have their opinions and what they think, and you\u2019re allowed to, but there\u2019s so much of it that I just try not to focus on it.<\/p>\n
On getting better at blocking out the noise\u2026<\/p>\n
For sure, something that I\u2019ve gotten a little bit better at, just working through staying focused, staying here and now. You really take it a chunk at a time. Like now it\u2019s this road trip, tomorrow and in Pittsburgh, and you focus the two games on a time. If you look too far ahead, it gets overwhelming. So it\u2019s putting it into blocks and focusing on what we need to do tomorrow.<\/p>\n
Especially this year, over the summer and this start to this year, I\u2019ve tried to stay off social media. There\u2019s not too much to it. It\u2019s just more focusing and trying not to let whatever is said on the internet affect anything.<\/p>\n
On letting Will Smith handle his social media, TikTok\u2026<\/p>\n
Yeah, he does that. (laughs)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 Welcome to Toronto in an Olympic year, Macklin Celebrini. The San Jose Sharks\u2019 teen phenom, third…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[12672,12234,49964,93,29792,1035,24178,10012,88,90,89,98,4861,4568,3578],"class_list":["post-90000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-canada","tag-connor-bedard","tag-doug-armstrong","tag-featured","tag-joe-thornton","tag-macklin-celebrini","tag-nathan-mackinnon","tag-olympics","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-san-jose-sharks","tag-sidney-crosby","tag-social-media","tag-will-smith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90000","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=90000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}