SAN JOSE, Calif. — Sitting high atop SAP Center with a perfect view of the most talked-about player in hockey, Hockey Canada senior vice president Scott Salmond smiled when asked about the national discourse surrounding the Olympic hockey roster.
“Everybody has their opinion on who we should add,” he said, beaming at how great it is that the country is so invested in the Olympic team debate.
“But nobody wants to talk about who they’d take off the roster to make room.”
Fair enough.
Thing is, that’s his issue, not ours.
Somehow, someway, Team Canada needs to make room for Macklin Celebrini.
With the debate intensifying ahead of Canada’s Olympic reveal on New Year’s Eve, the five-ring fate of no. 71 is starting to feel, well, sealed.
On Tuesday night, like so many others this season, he demonstrated conclusively why he deserves a spot.
One game after spearheading his team to a five-goal comeback win, he pieced together his third career four-point game, which included his first of two goals on a spin-o-rama already on the 24-hour highlight loop.
Collecting a pass at the top of the Flames faceoff circle without breaking stride, he spun backwards around Kevin Bahl to spring himself in alone on Dustin Wolf. His initial shot was stopped by Wolf’s stick, before the rebound bounced fortuitously over the netminder and into the net.
“I mean, he's incredible — it seems like every night he does something that just makes you say, ‘wow,’” said Barclay Goodrow, who had two goals in a 6-3 win over Calgary.
“At this point, it's not surprising… but it still is surprising. He proves each and every night why he's one of the best players in the league, and we're all pretty happy he's on our team.”
If he’s not the most exciting player in today’s game, he’s certainly creeping up on contenders like Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid, who happen to be the only two men with more points than him this year.
“He was just okay,” shrugged coach Ryan Warsofsky with a chuckle, pretending he could ever be ho-hum about a player this talented.
“He's a special one, for sure. You know, it's just every time you think he's gonna maybe slow down and maybe hit a speed bump, he doesn't. He just keeps going. And you can see he had legs early tonight.”
His latest clinic came on a night when he played with two new wingers, including Russian Igor Chernyshov who was playing his very first NHL game.
No matter, as his slick backhand setup for John Klingberg’s game-opening goal one minute in set the tone for another Celebrini show.
In a period in which he made several dazzling passes to create Grade-A scoring chances, he punctuated the frame with another primary assist on Goodrow’s second of the period.
Finishing the night with an empty netter, Celebrini’s Sharks are in a playoff spot, and he’s the reason why.
But don’t expect him to say it, as the humble 19-year-old from North Vancouver won’t contribute to the national pastime of pumping his tires.
“I mean, it was kind of just a reaction,” he said of his magic spin-around.
“I mean, (Collin) Graf made a good play on the wall that kind of intercepted it, and then just found me in the middle and I reacted. But it was a little lucky, it goes off my hip.”
As just the 10th teenager in NHL lore to have three or more four point games, trust me when I say this young man makes his own luck.
“He was incredible, regardless of scoring or not,” said Tyler Toffoli, on a night in which he scored his 300th career goal.
“He was definitely feeling it. I think I said it literally to Reavo (Ryan Reaves) right before the first goal of the game that he was feeling it, and he made that great play to Klinger. He led the charge again, and did a great job.”
While there will be no shortage of scorers on Team Canada, it’s Celebrini’s 200-foot game that should make him a lock.
“I mean, you look at what he's done at this age, the maturity of his game — he's not only top of the league in scoring, but he plays in all three zones,” said Reaves of the centre who sits third in league scoring with 18 goals and 51 points.
“He goes into the corners. He's not afraid to get physical. He stops on pucks. If he turns the puck over, he's stopping. He's not going for a loop and hoping for a breakaway. He just plays the game the right way, and he's highly skilled, with a high hockey IQ. Those are the type of players you want. He's got that winning mentality and that dog in him. I think it'd be a huge snub if he wasn't on it. He's just proven everything. There's just nothing else he can really do.”
Trust me, he’ll come up with even more.
“The way he plays the game, the way he competes with and without the puck, he's arguably one of our more physical guys in puck battles, so there's no fear going into puck battles,” added Warsofsky, whose club got a pre-game boost from George Kittle, Brock Purdy and a group of San Francisco 49ers who also joined the lads for post-game pops.
“Obviously, we know what he can do with the puck on his stick and how dangerous he is to create. But for me, it's the habits away from the puck. It's the habits with the puck. He's a winning hockey player. He's ultra-competitive. We could be here all day with the positive things that he can bring to that group.”
