Macklin Celebrini brings Olympics momentum to Sharks: ‘Now the whole world knows'
· Yahoo Sports
Macklin Celebrini slipped into the crowded room and looked out at a wall of cameras, microphones, notebooks and 27 media members.
"This is the most media we've had, ever" he said. "It's starting to feel like a Canadian market."
Visit lebandit.lat for more information.
Welcome back to a changed world. Celebrini, 19, returned Wednesday to the San Jose Sharks and a landscape transformed by his incredible performance at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
"Now," said longtime Sharks radio announcer Dan Rusanowsky, "the whole world knows."
Yes they do. Celebrini, the only teenager to ever make the Canadian Olympic men's hockey team, was more than just an addition to lay groundwork for the future. He was the breakout star of the best-on-best hockey competition. He led the tournament in goals (five) and shots on goal (28) and was second in points (10) behind only his linemate and the player regarded as the best in the world, Connor McDavid.
It was a stunning debut. A deep-dive tutorial. A lifetime experience. Yet Celebrini's main takeaway is disappointment.
"It sucks, it's a little sour," said Celebrini, arriving home with a souvenir gash under his left eye. "We didn't get the job done.
"At the end of the day we didn't win. It's bitter. It's sour. And we came so close."
Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini fields questions from media on Wednesday after practice at SAP Center in San Jose. (Ann Killion/S.F. Chronicle)The overtime loss to the United States in the gold medal game will haunt Canada for a long time. The sport is a religion for our northern neighbor and the team was one of the best ever assembled.
"It just shows how close it is between winning and losing," Celebrini said. "A lot of people say you learn more from losing than winning. And I definitely did. That hurt. It hurt when they put the silver medal around our necks. And we had to wait around for about 30 or 40 minutes after the game, standing on the ice, watching them celebrate.
"Hopefully I've got a few more chances at winning with Hockey Canada and I'll get fortunate enough to be on those teams. And I'm going to remember that especially as we get going here and not take anything for granted."
The Sharks get going again on Thursday night against Calgary. They have 27 games remaining and are currently five points out of a Western Conference wild-card spot, with two teams between them and the final slot (currently held by Anaheim). It's pretty heady stuff for the Sharks, who have been the worst team in the league - by a long shot - the past two seasons and whose once robust fanbase had withered away.
The new success can be traced directly to Celebrini, who is fourth in the NHL in points and tied for third in assists.
Celebrini said he wants to take what he learned on the biggest stage he's ever played on, from teammates who are the best in the world, and apply it to the final 27 games.
"Just where the bar is at, the pace, they're so fast, the practices were the fastest I've ever been at," he said. "It's a different level.
"I was with some of the best players in the world, some of the best who have ever played. I can bring some of that back and know what it takes."
He hopes the mob of media sticks around to witness the Sharks' journey.
"We want to take those next steps," he said. "We want that attention, those expectations, that pressure. It means we're trending the right way."
And he hopes the crowds come back to the Shark Tank. Celebrini is a huge draw - and many in the Bay Area, no matter what their passport says, were rooting for Team Celebrini.
"Every sports franchise goes through a tough spot and maybe fans don't show up," he said. "When you're losing, you can't really expect someone to pay their money to come watch you lose. We're going to try to change that."
Despite the loss, the overall Olympic experience was gratifying. Celebrini enjoyed hanging out in the athletes' village for meals (though the NHL players didn't stay there). He loved having his family there - the Olympics fell during the NBA All-Star break so even his father Rick, the Warriors director of sports medicine and performance, could make the trip, along with his mother and two of his siblings.
"I spent every off day with them," Celebrini said. "It was great knowing they were there, supporting me."
The family took his silver medal back home to Vancouver. But Celebrini will carry the experience with him. The disappointment of not having a healthy Sidney Crosby in the gold medal game ("he's been Captain Canada for so long … it made an impact on all of us.") The way the overtime was decided, with three-on-three, ("there's a reason the Stanley Cup isn't determined by three-on-three, but you can't whine about it … it's the same for either side.") The breakaway shot he had in the third period, and other opportunities ("I've thought about those a lot. I'm coming to terms with it.")
How long will he be haunted by the disappointment?
"Forever," Celebrini said.
Forever is a long time when you're 19. Macklin Celebrini will win an Olympic gold medal for Canada one day. And maybe - in this newly transformed world - he'll also win some hardware with the Sharks.
This article originally published at Macklin Celebrini brings Olympics momentum to Sharks: ‘Now the whole world knows'.