Macklin Celebrini, the North Vancouver teenager turning heads and contending for the NHL scoring title, has been named to Canada’s Olympic hockey roster.
Celebrini joins superstars Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid who will try to return Canada to the podium at the Olympic games in Milan. Hockey Canada revealed the full roster, with 25 NHLers, on Wednesday afternoon.
While Celebrini made the team, fellow North Vancouverite Connor Bedard was left off. So was Sam Bennett, the NHL’s reigning playoff MVP.
“The reality is, there are so many good players, and we just had difficult decisions to make,” said Doug Armstrong, the Olympic team general manager.
Celebrini is the youngest player on the Olympic roster. The 19-year-old hadn’t yet been born when the Olympics were last held in Italy in 2006.
Armstrong told reporters Wednesday that Celebrini’s status on the team was confirmed internally in early December.
“He was one of our 12 that had done enough,” Armstrong said. “His resume is shorter, but it’s extremely filled out for his age.”
“He’s really taken off, he’s gone to the Worlds, he’s fit in really well socially with the top players in the game, and his product on the ice speaks for itself,” he said. “He worked his way on.”
Wednesday’s announcement rounds out Canada’s men’s Olympic Hockey team. Crosby and McDavid were among six players named to the squad this summer.
The team’s defense corps will be the same as it was during the Four Nations Face-Off, but at a different net. Goalies Logan Thompson and Darcy Kuemper will join Jordan Binnington on the team.
Forward Sam Bennett played for Team Canada during then Four Nations Face-off, as did Travis Konecny and Seth Jarvis; All three were left off of the Olympic roster.
“Not one player played their way off this team,” Armstrong said, “Just 25 guys played their way on.”
Some of the NHL players left off of the team will continue to undergo Olympic drug testing in order to remain on an injury standby list, Armstrong said. The General Manager wouldn’t say how big that group was.
“From the moment that Connor McDavid scored that goal at the Four Nations Face-off, Canadians have been debating this roster,” added Scott Salmond, Hockey Canada’s Vice-President of Hockey Operations.
“That debate won’t change today. But what I can tell you, and what is undebatable, is the commitment, the time and the effort that Doug and his management group has put into selecting this roster.”
The 25-man lineup
Goaltenders:
- Jordan Binnington
- Darcy Kuemper
- Logan Thompson
Defence:
- Drew Doughty
- Thomas Harley
- Cale Makar
- Josh Morrissey
- Colton Parayko
- Travis Sanheim
- Shea Theodore
- Devon Toews
Forwards:
- Macklin Celebrini
- Anthony Cirelli
- Sidney Crosby
- Brandon Hagel
- Bo Horvat
- Nathan MacKinnon
- Brad Marchand
- Mitch Marner
- Connor McDavid
- Brayden Point
- Sam Reinhart
- Mark Stone
- Nick Suzuki
- Tom Wilson
