Macklin Celebrini's Dad Reveals His Son Was 'Inconsolable' After Gold Medal Loss To Team USA
Celebrini and the Canadians lost to the Americans 2-1 in overtime.
San Jose Sharks and Team Canada star Macklin Celebrini took the loss to Team USA incredibly hard.
On Sunday, Celebrini and Canada lost to the Americans in the men’s hockey final at the Olympics. There were a handful of moments in the game where the Canadians could have taken a lead but failed to do so, including when Celebrini had a clean breakaway yet failed to convert.
It’s the kind of game that will haunt a lot of players for a long time, including Celebrini, who had a phenomenal tournament. The 19-year-old is as competitive as they come, and has a bright future ahead of him (and likely an Olympic gold somewhere down the road). But those thoughts were far from him in the aftermath of the gold medal game.
Macklin’s father, Rick, is the vice president of player health and performance for the Golden State Warriors. Speaking with reporters yesterday, he revealed his son was "inconsolable" after losing out on one of hockey’s biggest prizes.
"Macklin handled it the way I expected, he was inconsolable after the game. He was upset, he was upset at himself, he was upset at the results," Celebrini said. "With a lot of athletes, it's fuel. I really do think it's a motivator for him. Four years from now, that will be additional motivation (for him) to prepare and to be ready and to hopefully influence a different outcome."
That's a more constructive approach than anything Nathan MacKinnon or Jon Cooper did.
Remember, Macklin is not even 20, which means that he likely will have at least three more Olympic runs in him. We don’t have a crystal ball that will show us how those years will unfold, but if he already reacts to losses like this before he’s legally allowed to drink, he’s already setting the foundation for becoming an all-time great player.
That could spell problems for the rest of the National Hockey League, and world hockey.