Respect was earned from Celebrini’s attempted penalty decline
With the San Jose Sharks up 3-0 on the Edmonton Oilers during the second period on Thursday, Sharks’ phenom Macklin Celebrini drove the net looking for a cross-crease pass. Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm attempted to lift Celebrini’s stick, and inadvertantly contacted Celebrini around the shoulders, just missing his face. Celebrini snapped his head back as an involuntary reaction, drawing a high-sticking penalty on Ekholm. Of course, Ekholm protested the errant call, but so did… Celebrini himself?
Macklin Celebrini is an ethical superstar
Maybe Macklin has been watching too much of the NFL playoffs, but you can’t actually decline a penalty in the NHL. Ekholm served the two-minute minor, and the Oilers eventually stormed back for a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory. While Celebrini’s integrity is commendable, Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky is probably telling him to simply accept any bad calls that go his way from now on.
On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed Celebrini’s moment of selfless honesty.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I’ve never seen a guy try to decline a penalty in the NHL. Listen, Celebrini’s 19, I get kind of what he’s trying to do, but if I’m a veteran on that San Jose team, I’m pulling him aside and being like “Hey man, we’ll take the powerplay.”
Carter Hutton: You gotta take it when you can get it. But I do respect the kid for being able to own it, and you don’t want to get that rap. Guys get that rap as guys that are divers and embellishing plays. This is a unique one for me. I think moving forward he’ll probably not try to sell it as much, because it is a natural reaction. A stick gets up near your eyes or anywhere near it, you want to kick your head back. I remember playing with Dan Carcillo when we were in Philadelphia and in Chicago, where any cross-check from from his belly button up, his head went back. That was the draw, you get the refs. I respect Celebrini trying to play the game the right way, but if you can get a powerplay against the Edmonton Oilers in their building, somehow you’ve got to take it.
You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Friday’s episode here…