As the top pick in the 2024 NHL draft and the first-ever No. 1 selection of the San Jose Sharks, all eyes are on Macklin Celebrini. When he and rookie teammate Will Smith made a TikTok recreating LeBron James’ famous family driveway workout over the holiday break, it quickly garnered more than one million views. And when Celebrini made his debut appearance on Hockey Night in Canada’s After Hours segment in late December, intrepid host Scott Oake dug deep to reveal that Macklin’s soccer-playing parents, Rick and Robyn, first met at Vancouver’s Roxy nightclub – the notorious setting for many a tall tale on hockey podcasts and even in the memoir of Hall of Famer Chris Chelios.
It’s a very specific type of scrutiny, new to a teenager who did everything possible not to draw attention to himself when he and his older brother, Aiden, tagged along with their dad to work as kids.
Starting in 2014, Rick Celebrini served as the Vancouver Canucks’ director of rehabilitation for four seasons, when Macklin was eight and Aiden was 10. The boys occasionally got to sneak on the ice at Rogers Arena and fantasize about playing in the NHL themselves someday. They also went to the rink on game nights, where they furtively kept their eyes peeled for a passing glimpse of top stars such as Sidney Crosby or the Sedin twins. “We’d go into the family room,” Celebrini said, “between periods or after the game, kind of peek your head out and try to see if you can see a guy or two. I remember I saw Sid one time in the hallway, and me and my brother kind of freaked out.”
Rick was also on staff as manager of medical services and chief therapist when Vancouver hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics. When Crosby scored his ‘Golden Goal,’ three-year-old Macklin had just recently started to skate. And while he bounced back and forth between forward and defense during his early days of youth hockey, he eventually settled in as a center. Just like Crosby.
After Rick joined the Golden State Warriors as director of sports medicine and performance in 2018, the brothers’ development shifted Stateside. And while the Bay Area offered better hockey opportunities than another potential NBA option in San Antonio, that didn’t ease the sting of leaving hockey-mad Canada for…