Celebrini's 5 points power Canada to blowout win over Latvia at world juniors
CBC
Macklin Celebrini knew there would be lots of eyes on him in Sweden.
The presumptive top pick at the 2024 NHL draft hasn't blinked.
Celebrini had a goal and four assists in a dominant performance from start to finish as Canada hammered Latvia 10-0 at the world junior hockey championship on Wednesday.
"Making this team, it was an honour, a childhood dream," said the 17-year-old from Vancouver. "I'm just trying to enjoy it and do whatever I can to help us win."
Celebrini's five points were two short of the national record for a single game at the under-20 tournament — a mark held by six players, including Connor Bedard at the 2023 event in Halifax.
"Really special doing this at a young age," said Matthew Wood, whose goal and two assists were overshadowed by his linemate. "His habits are unbelievable, his skill's unbelievable.
"The real deal."
Conor Geekie and Carson Rehkopf, with two each, also scored for Canada, while Fraser Minten and Brayden Yager both had a goal and an assist.
Owen Allard and Matthew Poitras rounded out the deluge, while Denton Mateychuk and Ty Nelson had two assists apiece.
Mathis Rousseau made 22 saves for the shutout less than 30 hours after leading the Canadians to a 5-2 victory over Finland in their opener.
Linards Feldbergs allowed seven goals on 31 shots for the overmatched Latvians, who dropped their first game 6-0 to hosts Sweden, before getting chased early in the third period. Aksels Ozols made seven saves on 10 shots after Feldbergs got the mercy pull.
Canada is in Group A with the Finns, Swedes, Latvians and Germany. Group B consists of the United States, Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Norway.
Looking for a third straight gold medal despite missing an impressive list of NHL talent, with Bedard right at the top, Canada entered Wednesday's game with a 3-0 record against Latvia all-time with a combined 31-4 scoreline, including a 16-0 victory on Dec. 26, 2009.
Things weren't quite that bad on this night. The Latvians, unsurprisingly, were also never close.
Canadian Paralympic Committee CEO Karen O'Neill acknowledges the team’s showing at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games wasn't the same as past years.
Canadian Para alpine skier Kalle Eriksson and guide Sierra Smith capped their memorable Paralympic debut with bronze in the men's visually impaired slalom on Sunday at the Milano-Cortina Games.
Canadian skip Kerri Einarson looked up Saturday and saw real people, instead of cardboard cut-outs, in the stands at Calgary's WinSport Event Centre. She heard the roar of the crowd instead of the sound of flushing toilets piercing the silence.
Aaron Judge doubled and Pete Crow-Armstrong and Brice Turang each had two hits as the United States beat Canada 5-3 on Friday night in Houston to reach the World Baseball Classic semifinals.
Canada's Natalie Wilkie captured her second biathlon gold of the Milano-Cortina Paralympics on Friday, winning the women's standing sprint pursuit for her fourth medal in as many events.
Canada made wheelchair curling history on Thursday as the first team at any Paralympics to complete round-robin play without a loss.
The winningest men's ski cross racer in history added to his total on Thursday.
Canada's Mark Arendz collected his 14th career Paralympic medal while teammate Brittany Hudak earned her fourth in Wednesday's standing cross-country skiing races at Milano Cortina.
Alphonso Davies covered his face with his shirt as he left the field with an injury in Bayern Munich's game against Atalanta in the Champions League on Tuesday in Bergamo, Italy, raising questions about the Canadian star's availability for the World Cup.
Canadian Para nordic skiing star Natalie Wilkie has now won a medal of every colour at the Milano-Cortina Paralympics, adding bronze in the women's standing sprint classic on Tuesday in Val di Fiemme.
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Canadian Para alpine skier Kalle Eriksson and guide Sierra Smith continued their impressive Paralympic debut on Monday by racing to bronze in the men's visually impaired super-G for their second medal.