San Jose Sharks
Sharks’ Olympic Round-Up, Day 5: France Amazed by Celebrini, Qualification Match-Ups Set
We’re out of the round robin, into elimination.
Round-robin action has wrapped up for men’s ice hockey at the 2026 Olympics.
Macklin Celebrini and Canada, the United States, Pavol Regenda and Slovakia, and Finland will go straight to the Feb. 18 quarterfinal games.
They’re going to face four of the eight other national teams, who will play the day before, on Feb. 17, for the right to go to the quarterfinals: Alex Wennberg and Sweden will take on Latvia at 12:10 PM PT, Philipp Kurashev and Switzerland will face Italy at 3:10 AM PT, Czechia will battle Denmark at 7:40 AM PT, and Germany will clash with France at 3:10 AM PT.
Canada will play the winner of Czechia-Denmark, the US will draw Sweden or Latvia, Slovakia will tangle with Germany or France, and Finland will see Switzerland or Italy in the quarters.
Macklin Celebrini
The teenage San Jose Sharks superstar keeps taking the Olympics by storm, dropping milestone numbers on France:
In a 10-2 rout of France, Celebrini had two goals and an assist, skating 15:44.
Canada head coach Jon Cooper, who had the option of choosing his penalty shot taker, had a great quip about it. Celebrini says that he wasn’t aware of Olympic rules, that the coach can choose anybody to take the penalty shot.
Jon Cooper on Celebrini’s penalty shot
“Well you know you get to pick who takes the shot right?
We’re on the bench. Ref comes over and says ‘hey Coop, choice is yours!’ So I look over and Macklin’s already getting ready – and the boys all look at me like – you gonna change it…
— Jackie Redmond (@Jackie_Redmond) February 15, 2026
Meanwhile, France’s Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, veteran of 700 NHL games with the Philadelphia Flyers, Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Seattle Kraken, was floored by Celebrini.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare on Macklin Celebrini: "He looks absolutely amazing. … I think he's 19 or whatever it is. Goddamn. It's good that I stopped (playing) in the NHL because if this is what it's gonna look like, it's better for me to not be in there anymore."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) February 15, 2026
Also, Tom Wilson got into that rare Olympic fight with France’s Pierre Crinon, in reaction to a questionable Crinon hit on Nathan MacKinnon:
tom wilson you have never done anything wrong in your life pic.twitter.com/EJlbUyhw5D
— jess at the olympics !! 🏒 (@hudrrys) February 15, 2026
Philipp Kurashev
It looks like Switzerland turned to Kurashev to play more minutes, in place of Kevin Fiala, whose season was ended when he got tangled up with Tom Wilson on Friday.
In a Swiss 4-3 OT victory over Czechia, Kurashev skated 17:24, mostly on the top line with Nico Hischier and Timo Meier. Dean Kukan potted the overtime winner.
It’s been a nice comeback campaign on the San Jose Sharks for Kurashev:
Zwei Jahre nach schwieriger Saison und verpatzter WM glänzt Philipp Kurashev bei Olympia wieder für die Nati. «Ich brauchte einen Neustart», sagt der Sharks-Stürmer, der erst kürzlich nach einer Verletzung sein Comeback gegeben hat. https://t.co/rbaUD8F7nJ
— Blick Sport (@Blick_Sport) February 15, 2026
Other Sharks…
The Florida Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk, who beat Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, had this devastating chirp during the United States’ 5-1 victory over Germany on Sunday.
Matthew Tkachuk to Leon Draisaitl, on mic: "Always a bridesmaid, never a bride." #Olympics2026
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) February 15, 2026
And in case you missed it, fun with the very real Sweden-Finland rivalry. The San Jose Sharks’ John Klingberg gets a shoutout from ex-Dallas Stars teammate Esa Lindell!
