Celebrini thriving for Team Canada in 1st Olympics at 19

MILAN -- The puck sat at center ice. Macklin Celebrini circled slowly, about to take a penalty shot in the Olympics at 19 years old.

His parents and two of his siblings watched from the stands at Santagiulia Arena with the other Team Canada families, as thousands of fans looked on and countless others tuned in on television.

"All of a sudden," said Rick Celebrini, his father, "you can sort of feel the moment."

Macklin collected the puck and skated toward the net. A left-handed shot, he faked a backhand, switched to his forehand and flipped the puck past the blocker of Team France goalie Julian Junca, making it look easy.

The San Jose Sharks center became the first NHL player to score on a penalty shot in an Olympics. Calmly, he coasted to his left, curled up the boards and bumped fists with his teammates, starting with center Connor McDavid.

Later, after adding another goal and an assist in a 10-2 win Sunday at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, he would say, "I wasn't really thinking much." He had been practicing that move. He executed it, and it worked.

"You're nervous, and you're on pins and needles and at the edge of your seat," Rick said. "But for the last few years here, he's set these seemingly unrealistic goals, and he's hit them.

"And [he has done it] in all the sort of situations where you're not necessarily worried about the hockey ability -- I think he's demonstrated that -- but it's more the context and the moment. He's able to just focus on playing hockey.

"You're not thinking about that in the moment of the penalty shot, but in retrospect, I guess we shouldn't be surprised anymore."

Robyn Celebrini, Macklin's mother, said she doesn't get nervous anymore. That goes for all of her kids. Son Aiden, 21, is a defenseman at Boston University and was selected in the sixth round (No. 171) of the 2023 NHL Draft by the Vancouver Canucks. Daughter Charlie, 16, plays tennis. Son R.J., 13, plays hockey.

"I watch them, and I like to see them figure it out in the moment, knowing that it's just part of the process," she said. "I feel like that's where I'm at now. Yes, I guess it's a high-pressure moment, but as a mom, I don't really think of that anymore. I think I've kind of moved past that in a way, become a little more philosophical about it all."

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Rick and Robyn sat down with NHL.com on Tuesday to share what it's like as parents to watch their 19-year-old son excel at the Olympics. In the process, they gave insight into how Macklin got here and who he is.

A former pro soccer player, Rick has worked with several sports organizations as a physiotherapist, including the Canucks and the NBA's Golden State Warriors, for whom he is now director of sports medicine and performance.

He has worked at three Winter Games. He was the physiotherapist for Canada's alpine men's ski team at Lillehammer in 1994 and at Salt Lake in 2002, then the chief therapist and medical manager for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

When Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal for Team Canada in Vancouver, Robyn, Aiden, Macklin and Charlie were at home, watching on television. Rick was with the medical team at the arena.

"I was literally probably 40 feet from Sid when he scored," Rick said.

Now Macklin is playing with Sid at the Olympics, and Rick and Robyn are enjoying the Olympics in a different way.

They're hanging out at the Hockey Canada Ice Palazzo, a venue for Canadian hockey players, speed skaters, figure skaters and their families. They're going to games at Santagiulia Arena in their Team Canada gear. They're meeting the Crosbys and the McDavids and so many others.

"We're truly just parents and fans and spectators and soaking it all in," Rick said. "We've met most of the parents, a lot of the parents, and just as you'd expect, great people. It's been fun to get to know them in different situations and just talk about their background. They've been so welcoming and supportive as well, so it's been great."

Macklin has been the right wing on Team Canada's top line, with McDavid at center and Tom Wilson or Nathan MacKinnon at left wing.

When he's with McDavid and MacKinnon, Macklin has the third-most points in the NHL this season among his linemates, even though he's fourth in the League with 81 points (28 goals, 53 assists) in 55 games. McDavid leads the League with 96 points (34 goals, 62 assists) in 58 games for the Edmonton Oilers. MacKinnon is next with 93 points (40 goals, 53 assists) for the Colorado Avalanche.

Macklin scored Team Canada's first goal of the tournament.

After the preliminary round, in which each team played three games, he had six points (four goals, two assists), tied with Crosby (two goals, four assists) and Slovakia forward Juraj Slafkovsky (three goals, three assists) for second in the tournament. McDavid led with nine points (two goals, seven assists).

Macklin has set the record for goals by a teenager at an Olympics with NHL players, passing defenseman Olli Maatta, who had three goals for Team Finland at Sochi in 2014. He has tied the record for points held by forward Evgeni Malkin, who had six points (two goals, four assists) in seven games with Team Russia at Torino in 2006.

He could add to that in the single-elimination portion of the tournament. The Canadians went 3-0-0-0 in the preliminary round, earning a bye into the quarterfinals and the top seed. The winner of the Team Czechia-Team Denmark game Tuesday will face them Wednesday (10:40 a.m. ET; Peacock, USA, CBC Gem).

"He's one of the best players in the world regardless of his age," MacKinnon said. "He's a top five, seven, player in the world, no questions."

MacKinnon said he couldn't imagine himself at 19 in the Olympic environment.

"I was an idiot," MacKinnon said. "No. No. Not good enough. Not mature enough. Not anything enough."

Macklin is both good enough and mature enough.

"It's amazing to see someone at 19 be that dialed in to their off-ice, their on-ice, their everything," MacKinnon said. "I think everyone can learn from him even though he's 19. None of us are perfect, and we always can learn new things, and I'm definitely trying to learn from him and everyone that's here."

Some of it comes from Macklin's background. Some of it is just special, though.

When he was young, Macklin learned from his dad, and he was around elite athletes often thanks to his dad's job. He left home at 14 to play at Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault, Minnesota.

"It becomes very clear that if you're going to achieve your goals, it's on your shoulders, and you have to take that responsibility and you have to really grow up quickly," Robyn said. "And I think that definitely shaped who he is, for sure."

At 16, he played for Chicago of the United States Hockey League. At 17, he played for Boston University. At 18, as the No. 1 pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, he played for San Jose and lived with Hockey Hall of Famer Joe Thornton, who won gold for Canada in 2010. He joined Crosby, MacKinnon and others to play for Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Championship.

He scored in each of his debuts in the USHL, NCAA, NHL and Olympics.

"I think he's been shaped from a lot of different experiences, as we all are, and at this stage, certainly some of the exposures he's had I think have helped him," Rick said. "But I think there's also an innate part of it.

"It's a nature-nurture kind of combined effect. I don't know that it's just the fact that he's been exposed to some of these different environments and experiences. I just think that's kind of who he is as well. Part of what has made him successful to this point is his focus and his ability to not let the noise creep in, just stay focused on the task at hand."

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After the game Sunday, NHL Network asked Team Canada defenseman Cale Makar what he'd learned about Macklin Celebrini.

"Just how great of a kid he is," Makar said. "It's amazing to see what he's capable of right now at 19 years old in this tournament. Looking back to myself at that age, I don't even think I come close to this. It's pretty spectacular to see how much his game evolves just day by day here, especially with his linemates and how well they work together."

To a parent, the first part of that quote jumps out.

"Through this crazy ride for the last couple years, I think we are truly as much or more proud of how he's doing everything versus what he's doing -- the way he's able to stay humble and grounded and focused on the right things and not get distracted or get caught up in the noise or the hoopla," Rick said. "Again, I'm not sure where he got that from, but …"

Rick looked at Robyn with a smile.

When Macklin met his family for dinner in Milan on Monday, they did not talk hockey.

"I think that's really, really important," Rick said. "Macklin burns hot. In his process on the ice or training, he's so locked in and so intense.

"Some guys can thrive with that on and off the ice, and that's just who they are. There's other athletes and players, they need joy all the time, and they need to have joy while they're playing.

"I think Macklin needs both, and he needs a balance to kind of counter the intensity on the ice, and as a family, we make a point of having him laugh and enjoying each other's company but trying to not talk about hockey, give him a reprieve."

Aiden couldn't come to Milan because of his college hockey schedule, but this has been family time for Rick, Robyn, Charlie and R.J.

"We have such a busy life, and we're all going in different directions most of the time, so it's just been nice for us to be here," Robyn said. "I mean, we miss Aiden. We wish Aiden could be here. But I've really just enjoyed that, us being together."

They'll be together again at the rink Wednesday to see what Macklin does next.