MILAN — When Kyle Rehman pointed to centre ice, awarding Macklin Celebrini a penalty shot in an already lopsided affair, you just knew the referee’s next point would be toward the back of the net. Where the youngest NHLer in the 2026 Olympic tournament would surely stuff the puck.
But wait a second.
Celebrini wasn’t required to take the shot.
Rehman skated over to remind Team Canada coach Jon Cooper that IIHF rules allow any player to take the free breakaway. Sidney Crosby? Connor McDavid? Nathan MacKinnon?
Canada’s entire bench turned and looked up at Cooper: “Oh, what are you going to do now, Coach?”
Cooper looked up and saw Celebrini already circling around Jordan Binnington’s net, revving up for his deke.
“I would’ve been booed out of the building if I didn’t let him shoot it,” Cooper said, following Canada’s 10-2 smoking of Team France at Milano Santagiulia Arena.
Celebrini is a teenage dream living his Olympic one.
Three games, four goals.
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And in Sunday’s preliminary-round finale for Team Canada, the 19-year-old put a cherry on top of a cupcake matchup against an overwhelmed and winless Team France, who trudge to the qualification round.
“Just trying to embrace it. Trying to just kind of not let it weigh you down. There’s a lot of excitement, a lot of nerves going into it. But I think once you get there, you kind of feel free and you’re just able to play your game,” Celebrini said.
“A different kind of atmosphere, a different kind of energy. I think it’s all pride. You’re just honoured to wear the Canadian sweater and represent all the people back at home and all the other athletes that are here.”
Although they had already locked up first place in Group A, the Canadians (3-0) had reason to rout.
Hungry for top seed overall and a weaker opponent in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, Canada needed a greater goal differential than Team USA (3-0), who could’ve run up the scoreboard against underdog Germany in Sunday’s late game but settled for a convincing 5-1 win.
The No. 2 seed–Americans are likely to face a formidable Sweden squad in the quarterfinals, provided the Swedes aren’t upset by Latvia.
Outscoring its opponents 20-3, Canada secured the No. 1 seed with a plus-17 goal differential and will face the winner of the Czechia-Denmark elimination game.
It was of little surprise that the dominant Canadians had already scored seven by the time the French had seven shots, chasing poor starter Julian Junca after 40 minutes.
Backup Antoine Keller, coming for third-period relief, faced a Connor McDavid breakaway 20 seconds in. You can imagine what happened.
“I’m just cold sitting on the bench for two periods, and I have to come in against one of the best teams in the world,” said Keller, giving up four in 20 minutes. “It’s pretty hard, but I try my best.
“The best players in the game against a national team (where) hockey is not the best sport in the country. That’s normal.”
Supernormal is McDavid and Canada’s offence. With a third three-point showing, McDavid already has as many Olympic points as periods played (nine) and just surpassed Jonathan Toews (eight) for most points by a Canadian in an NHL-participation Olympics.
Tom Wilson (spending time back on McDavid’s top unit and registering a Gordie Howe hat trick), Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Mark Stone, Sidney Crosby, Brandon Hagel, and Bo Horvat all found the net as well.
Simply ridiculous, relentless depth.
In all, Canada had nine different goal-scorers Sunday and 12 through its three games.
“Yeah, I guess that’s good,” Makar said. “Spread the love a little bit.”
Cooper said his pre-game talk did not focus on goal differential, but rather: “Are we getting better as a team?
“How you’re playing without the puck. I don’t care about the rest of this stuff. You want to win this tournament? You better be giving up one or two goals a game. Anything more than that, the game’s in jeopardy.”
Canada’s power play struck twice more, Stone scored shorthanded, Wilson enforced, and all four lines seem to be clicking.
“They are hustling. Those are the best players in the world, and they were playing a nation that is supposedly not in the top 12, so they could really take it easy. Instead, they are just working their bag off,” French captain Pierre-Edouard Bellmare said. “Maybe I was wrong. Maybe they were like, you know, smoke a cig and playing, but I feel like they worked.
“That generates even more respect, because I don’t feel like they took us like, you know, snobbing us. When you have some of the top line hitting you, you feel like, ‘Let’s go.’ I like that.
“They have the talent, and they have all these things, but, God damn, they are working hard.”
Is there anything Canada needs to improve?
“That’s a great question,” Makar said. “I feel like there’s lots of little aspects of our game that we can clean up, regardless of what it is. For us, the power play, we’re still scoring, but I think there’s little things we can do a little bit better on it. Even the PK, too. I mean, you’re never a perfect team.”
Sure, but Canada is easily the favourite team heading into the knockout stage, where Celebrini can continue his global coming-out party.
“I can’t say enough good things about that kid. He’s so, so impressive,” McDavid said.
“He’s a great young player, but not just because he’s so good with the puck. Just all the little things he does, the hard work he puts into the game, good along the wall, wins battles, plays just a hard game. Impressive kid.”
Impressive team.
Fox’s Fast Five
• Nice for Logan Thompson to start — and win — an Olympic game. But, barring injury or an early disaster, the net belongs to Jordan Binnington from here on out. Ride or die.
“He’s a big-moment guy, and that’s the biggest compliment you can pay a guy,” McDavid said.
• As was the case Friday, Brad Marchand and the injured Josh Morrissey did not dress. Both players did practise Sunday morning with third-string goalie Darcy Kuemper.
Cooper had said previously that Marchand would play in this one, but the veteran is dealing with an undisclosed injury.
“We want everybody to make sure they’re 100 per cent,” Cooper said. “We thought this was a game that if we didn’t have to play him, we didn’t need to.”
Marchand will play in Wednesday’s quarterfinal, Cooper assures, and Morrissey will practise with the team Tuesday.
• Hot take: Team France’s whites might just be the slickest uniforms in the tournament.
Stone says he cried when Canada failed to medal at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin. He was 13.
Playing for the Brandon Wheat Kings, Stone says he cried again in 2010, when his now-teammate Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in Vancouver. Better tears.
• Because IIHF warmups go for 20 minutes, Canada shows up four minutes late. The players wait until there are 16 minutes on the warmup clock to mimic their NHL routine.
