Canada’s top line of Celebrini-McDavid-Wilson embodies joy of Olympic hockey

With 12 nations represented in men’s hockey at the Winter Olympics and most of the world’s hockey talent concentrated in (let’s generously call it) four to six countries, we were always going to get some lopsided games. 

As I see it, that’s just fine. Great, even, and not saying that just because I’m Canadian. 

It’s enthralling to see talents such as Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon play in a game where the opposition isn’t able to send out a handful of elite defensive players whose entire goal is to smother their speed and grace. You can coach a “clog-it-up” style against them all you like, but if you don’t have the raw ability to execute it, you’re still cooked. 

There’s an old stand-up comedy bit about how the Olympics should have a regular person in every event to demonstrate how great the athletes actually are, and honestly, that’s kind of what it’s like when McDavid plays the 10th- through 12th-seeded teams. It’s refreshing.

For the nations without as much NHL talent, they win too. Maybe not literally, but their players get the exposure of playing against the best in the world, which is an honour itself. No athlete wouldn’t love a crack at facing the best in their sport. Then there’s games against other nations where they have a chance at a win or two, to say nothing of how even keeping the games close against the dominant nations can become small victories themselves. 

I know Italy’s opening showing against Sweden was a source of pride for them, and it should’ve been.

More than all that is that the best games are coming. All that stuff above is great, but eventually, the teams — after a few games finding some chemistry — have circled up and built speed like two protons shot in opposite directions in the Large Hadron Collider, and are now set to run smack into each other in the semis and finals. 

Single-game elimination, massive stakes, elite talents. We’re gonna get that for dessert, too.

More than any of this, though — and I admit this is a joy unique to Canadians — is that you almost get to play that game where you’d say to a friend (or perhaps a fellow radio host, depending on your occupation): “What’s the most complete line you could build using literally anyone from the NHL,” then you get to see it in practice, not just fantasy. 

So far in the group stage, Canadian coach Jon Cooper has given us everything we could’ve asked for. He’s put together McDavid and MacKinnon and Macklin Celebrini, three of the NHL’s top-four scorers. I saw Brandon Hagel try to connect with Sam Bennett on a play, two Florida rivals coming together for the greater cause. We’ve seen power-play connections between the great Sidney Crosby, McDavid and MacKinnon too.

But as for a real line, one that allows you to spread talent throughout your group a bit and can play it any way you want, nothing has been more “Canadian hockey” than the line of McDavid, Tom Wilson and Celebrini. Through three games, they’ve been everything you could ask for. Not to be too old-school and throw it back to my father-in-law, but there’s shades of Trottier-Bossy-Gillies here.

It feels like we perpetually overlook our greatest assets from a story perspective, as it’s so obvious to heap praise on McDavid that it’s not even newsworthy anymore. But he’s been super human in this tournament, completely controlling the pace and direction of every shift, every touch a threat. He creates the space for everyone else out there, forcing defenders in retreat with just his presence when the Canadians gain possession. He’s first in tournament scoring with nine points in three games, and it feels like he should have more.

What’s been so cool is how the idea of “maybe Tom Wilson would fit beside him” has worked out in practice. The big power forward has thrown as many hits as anyone in the tournament, helping his line get the puck back into the hands of McDavid and Celebrini. He’s seemingly spent all three games in the O-zone, cycling the puck, putting up a goal and two assists, parking at the net front and causing problems. And, as we know, he went after the French player who took a shot at MacKinnon, showing that even in a tournament that isn’t a years-long commitment to his teammates, he knows exactly where he fits into the equation.

Celebrini, then, has been both a benefactor of those complementary skill sets and the perfect guy to exploit what comes available. Between his ability to deceive with the puck, and to read the play without it, he’s shown he’s fully deserving of every label calling him the “Next One.” I mean, he’ll need a more lasting nickname soon, as he’s already arrived, but to have him on the same team as Crosby and McDavid and MacKinnon is a treat. He sees the play like only the best can, and can absolutely rip it when he finds soft spots.

To me, there’s some gatekeeping among “real hockey fans” here in North America when it comes to the Olympics. I see the harumphing about mismatches, and how it doesn’t make for the most competitive matchups, which I’ve acknowledged here. But in those games, the score gets lopsided because everyone’s trying. The good teams need to run up the score for goal differential, and the lesser teams are playing hard for their national pride on the big stage. So, no, the scores aren’t always as close as say, 5-3 between Columbus and Utah on a Tuesday in January, but the parties involved are far more invested. Once every couple years, I’ll take the level of mid-February passion over close.

Now, on the cusp of the tournament’s most dramatic games, we’ll see if the “perfect” line of McDavid with Wilson and Celebrini holds up. We’ll see when NHL players play NHL players and the coaches try to clog it up, if the overall tools of that trio can still plow on through whatever barriers get set up. I can’t imagine there’s many plans to stop them, but could they at least be slowed?

Canada and the U.S. are on a collision course. The Tkachuks, Eichel, Hughes, Matthews, Werenski, they’ll have something to say about the fun the Canadians have been having. The Scandinavians aren’t gonna roll over.

It will be exciting, and it’s been damn fun to watch on the way there. Questions are being answered, but are still floating out there, which means the best is yet to come.