"He's happy to report that Will is a very good roommate. He's very clean and respectful [...] And might be one of the best golfers he's ever played with ever."
[Kraken Feed] About Will and Matty Beniers rooming up together in Boston this summer.
Oh ok so it turns out ive been borrowing grief from the future ! it turns out ive been preparing to lose the things i love rather than basking in the light of them while they last. Maybe i should nt do that
we finally have answers about how mack and quinn know each other well enough to be college football teammates…xbox! mack stayed with the hughes family for two weeks over the summer for training
a wildly rich text, incredibly dense and succinct.
a) two weeks in the hughes americana vortex! (not beating the traitor to country allegations.)
b) every time media focuses on mack and aiden being sooo close i’m like mmm. are they now. (must be incredibly odd to watch your younger brother eclipse you to such an extent.)
c) would love to know what jungle gym terminator toddler training rock-paper-scissors headcase merry-go-round variation of training that kent johnson, connor bedard, and macklin celebrini get up to. (probably very normal hockey summer nonsense but i am not normal about knowing athletes’ training habits. TELL ME)
d) macklin had to emphasize that he’s a good canadian boy and he simply didn’t personally prefer the chl but it’s still the best obviously. (please don’t file me in the “is a problem” box, hockey canada. see look we’re being good, rj’s not in norcal!)
e) macklin had to insist hockey east is better than big 10. (well OBVIOUSLY if i’m going to leave the objectively best chl for degenerate american cawlidge i will choose THE BEST ONLY. umich NOT GOOD ENOUGH <- don’t pay attention to the empty netters episode where he implied bu won simply because they put in by far the most effort)
f) luke is A Hughes and refuses to give reporters much to work with — when asked about the devils’ plans to shut down mack & will he’s like, “we’ll figure it out tomorrow.” (it’s so funny to me when people read their disinterest as them being dumb instead of dismissive or closed off.)
g) “yeah mack is so easygoing off the ice! just goes along with whatever!” (luke, forever cemented as the baby, very excited to use a smaller baby as his personal chew toy for a fortnight.)
anyway rick credits jim hughes and pat brisson with the shattuck + ncaa plan so it’s nice that that diabolical plan included an eventual invite to the younger hughes’ summertime enrichment outside enclosures vortex.
ooooook let’s get into it. MANY thoughts, not really organized tbh. and no time stamps…… we used to be a proper country…… oh well. link to full interview here :)
1. quinn just looking sad and fidgeting… then staring off into space and blinking rapidly….. honestly so real i get him
2. QUINN’S SMILE MIDWAY THRU LUKE’S FIRST ANSWER. y’all the FACE i made when he smiled like that.
3. the “i hate u guys” and luke’s general overall sassiness in this >>> fun younger sibling vibes
4. QUINN LICKING HIS LIPS RAHHHH but also licking his lips and not looking at kane when he speaks 😭 again asking if he is neurodivergent… orrrrrr perhaps bored/doesn’t gaf what kane has to say (so real)
5. luke absolutely CRACKING tf up at quinn saying slash? 😭 I WOULD HAVE READ IT EXACTLY HOW QUINN DID luke explain urself
6. what is going on with quinn’s hair?
7. OAKVILLE NAME DROP omg i used to do dance workshops in oakville bc my dance school’s main location was there. shoutout oakville
8. quinn back at it again annunciating tf out of his P’s <3 oh how i missed listening to him talk (and laugh)
9. everyone just looks so bored 😭 i’m crying
10. the shot of jack’s hair omg hiiiiiiii
11. quinn constantly fidgeting with the question cards and not looking at people when they speak HE IS SO ME and he is so dear to me
12. kane saying he noticed jack messing with his helmet on the ice…… i just know jack went home and thought about that in bed that night and giggled
13. luke talking about chewing on the mouth guard feels so strange i can’t explain it but it’s like one of those things that i comment on so much that to have him acknowledge it feels sooooo weird 😭
14. “realized it was just way better playing without [a mouthpiece]” ok stupid. but moving on. jack pointing out the risk of losing teeth and kane saying it’s worth it to not be chewing on the mouth guard……. ummmm sure….. LOVE that jack didn’t agree tho slay my safe king. luke saying no way too and quinn shaking his head!!!!! thank u for being sensible!!!!! and kane saying they have nice teeth 😭
15. when quinn gestured around with his arms when talking about the elbow pads why was i laughing he is sooooo dorky i love him
16. all the shots of quinn taping his stick I AM BARKING and his crazy eyed stare omg. and all the shots of their hands… hi
17. quinn saying 2 pairs of gloves per year and luke saying one pair every WEEK AND A HALF 😭 wild. then kane saying new pair every game (diva) + and quinn’s face and his borderline incredulous “you do?” pls he was shocked
18. quinn pouting with that lower lip he knowsss what he is doing to meeeee
19. quinn just looks so cozy bf. i wanna snuggle him.
20. jack hughes stoppppp flirting w kane. i know u have been in love w him for years but stoppppppppppppp
21. THE WAY MY EYES POPPED OUT OF MY HEAD WHEN KANE CALLED LUKE LUKEY????????
22. the way they know each other’s goals is so sweet. quinn smiling at luke and saying “that was against washington, right?” ugh they r so dear to me
23. QUINN’S SMILE WHEN TALKING ABOUT THE GOAL DROUGHT :( “i had a point per game but i didn’t have a goal. so i had like 30 assists, 30 games. and i was like 2 games away from breaking the record- not one you wanna break- and i scored, and it was like the best feeling ever.” (jack: “right before christmas, right?”) “no, right after christmas. it was the most stressful thing ever man. like, i wasn’t pre-game napping, i was like, oh my god, like, i haven’t scored a goal and we’re at christmas. like, it was so embarrassing.” i. love. him. i soooo see this for him. and i like him admitting that he was embarrassed and working himself up about this, cause i feel like a lot of the time players don’t talk so candidly about the fact that stuff like that DOES affect them and get to their head- they want to act like they aren’t worried about any of that stuff, but like, come on. also quinn’s head shake after scoring the goal ugh i just :( he is so swetieeeee
24. HE IS LITERALLY ROCKING IN HIS CHAIR. qhughes u r soooooo adhd or anxious…. or both (real).
25. “who’s that killer?” with the hard k. sigh. quinn hughes one day u will make the most dorkiest dad ever :’)
I also thought the zombie apocalypse video was soo interesting. What is it about wsh?! People love that boy. The whole San Jose sharks roster all the BU guys. He’s universally beloved! It’s crazy (I mean I kinda get it). And then Mack is kinda like this feral guy who out of everyone that will interacts with he chose as his favorite. I just love that for both of them!
imo i think will has sort of this allure to him because he is more Normal Person than a lot of other young NHLers. he isnt like normal in any sense, that's not what i'm saying, but i think that the persona he puts off is very chill, willing to go with the flow, well-adjusted, and calm. i think he does emotional labor, not just for mack, but for the rest of the team too. i also think that he gives off less of the typical Young Hockey Douche than maybe a lot of other young superstars coming into the league. like, there's no crazy rumors about him really, he hasn't been caught blackout drunk embarrassing himself at a bar, no BC girls are out here on the internet shit talking him saying he sucks, he's a douche, he's a cheat, ect. i'm not saying that in real life he's this perfect angel boy who drinks his respect women juice all the time because just by the nature of hockey culture that is probably not true, but i think that he's probably not quite as bad as he could be. and tbh i think that we have one colleen smith to thank for that. i think that her insane helicopter parenting actually worked out for the best for the usntdp era, like, i think that did have a positive impact on him. also, growing up in a household where hockey isnt a huge deal, where 50% of your household is girls (colleen and grace) who you clearly have a good relationship with? that had to help too. so for the BC boys, usntdp boys, he's Hockey Boy enough to fit in and hang out, but also emotionally adjusted enough to be kind and do emotional labor and be a shoulder to lean on when needed. for the vets on the team who clearly love him, he comes across as more emotionally mature, less of a crazy party superstar rookie to tame, a sweet kid, ect, while also still being funny, cool, goofy, ect. i also think that he doesnt really have a crazy superiority complex. bro is posting up in boston in matching fits with will vote's undrafted ass, bratlin celebrini would never.
at this point, if you’ve been paying attention to macklin, you’re aware of rick celebrini and his omnipresent presence in mack’s life. so let’s dig a little deeper into how he's shaped the narrative and get carried away with some analysis, because i cannot stop thinking about rick's impact and i need to write out my thoughts about it!!
(sorry, this post is a long one lmao. my bad!!)
part I: timeline
ok first, a quick mack timeline (courtesy of wikipedia/elite prospects so hopefully accurate) to give us a little framework to work with:
DOB 6/3/06
hometown: vancouver, canada
in 2018 or 19 the family moved from canada to the bay area in california when rick became director of sports medicine and performance for the golden state warriors; mack played for the jr. sharks during this time period (rick got the job in 2018 and the family moved a year later so not sure of specific move date)
attended shattuck st. mary’s during 20-21 and 21-22 seasons
played for the chicago steel in 22-23
played for BU (along with brother aiden) in 23-24
part II: TSN triptych
OK! there were so many ways to approach this post, but I am most compelled by the TSN triptych of the connor bedard, fantilli brothers, and now macklin features, both because these three families had vastly different approaches to raising their highly touted hockey prospect sons, and because TSN framed their stories through much different lenses. the narrative here isn’t JUST rick celebrini and his insane dual parent/director of player health and performance role in his children’s lives, but how the sports world embraces and normalizes it.
so as our starting point, let’s compare and contrast each feature (viewing not required, but all three are linked below if you're so inclined):
connor bedard: connor is the main character of his own feature, which is firmly rooted in his hometown of vancouver, where he is the center of the universe. they interview his neighbors for fuck’s sake! but the framing is very interesting – connor is presented as having this innate drive to work/improve that everyone around him encourages and embraces (for the most part). all of connor’s quotes are strictly about hockey and his craft. did you know connor bedard has a sister? you wouldn’t, watching this feature. (this isn’t a slight against connor – this is TSN’s framing.)
it is interesting to note there is some minor tension between his parents, who disagree on camera about their parenting approach and if they should have deferred to connor as much as they did. (dad had a policy of “no rules” (i.e., allowing connor to break things practicing hockey in the house), which mom didn’t love but apparently didn’t put a stop to. the family also let him bring his hockey gear on a trip to hawaii when he was like 10, so it’s just very clear no one set any limits with this kid when it came to hockey.) anyway, the clear messaging presented here is that a gift like connor’s should be nurtured & everyone else, neighbors included, should sacrifice to accommodate greatness like that when it comes along, and just allow a prodigy like connor to do his thing.
fantillis: adam and luca’s bond is the main character, and both parents are unified in talking about their brotherly bond and the differences in their approach to the game, but neither brother is presented as more 'elite' than the other, despite their obvious skill difference. adam’s quotes are about what luca means to him, and what it’s meant to get to play with his big brother vs. the development of his hockey skills.
this isn't the post to fully get into the fantilli family group decision making model, but there are some good quotes that capture their parenting style. their mom says they “[made] the right decision for each son based on their own circumstance at the time, and we were just really lucky and fortunate that it worked out that they got to be together.” but the most telling quote is from their dad:
“I don’t want it to end. It’s not a long ride that they’re going to get to play together and no matter where their hockey takes them, they’re going to look back at these three, four, five years that they play together as the best time of their life.”
truly I don’t think you can tell a story about adam’s hockey origins without luca, so TSN didn’t really have a choice on how to frame this feature, but there is a clear difference in the fantilli parenting approach here vs. the bedards, and the value placed on that quality family time, the recognition of specific childhood/young adult time and experiences you can't get back, and the importance of not taking it for granted. obviously adam was the lowest draft pick at #3 of this group, and this might be the reason for it, but the fantillis appear to have valued raising a much more well-rounded kid with goals beyond excelling in sports.
also interesting to note there are no guest appearances in the fantilli feature; it’s a complete family affair.
celebrini: without question, rick is the main character of this feature. every opening quote is about him (including from draymond green!!!!), even if the voiceover starts talking about macklin a solid 30 seconds in, like they finally remembered this spot is supposed to be about their highly touted hockey prospect. and god, these quotes about rick include some DOOZIES:
“He cares so much, nobody else cares as much as he does.”
what an interesting word choice from mack’s mom here. we’ll get into what this “caring” looks like later, but clearly rick’s parenting style was being normalized and portrayed as care/love within that family. (which, from a fic perspective, is delicious to consider. how do you know if someone cares about you if they’re not pushing you to be better every day? if they’re not finding your limit and tasking you to go beyond it? can you trust that they really care about you if they’re not showing it in a way that tests your abilities to the brink?)
mack’s mom also says that mack is “lucky he’s got the resource of his dad,” and that mack hangs on every word – just reinforcing that there was no parent in that house questioning if this approach was good for mack as a person (there’s no doubt it was good for him as an athlete, but that's not what this post is about, is it?). mack’s brother aiden also has some really telling quotes:
“We always had to make it our priority to get better every day.”
or what, aiden? no, I don’t actually think this was a threat from rick lol, but clearly this was the value that he was pushing on all the kids, to the point it was most probably unhealthy. aiden also says this, which only reinforces that lack of healthy balance:
“He was our dad, but he was also our director of player health and performance. ‘What’s your plan today? What are you doing to get better today?’ That was his philosophy with us growing up.”
YIKES! these aren't just quotes either - there are clips of the rick "coaching" all four kids when they were little (including mack and aiden's younger sister and brother), doing squats and running up hills and shit. (so it should be pointed out - i don't think anyone explicitly says 'getting better' has to be physically, but it's strongly implied? they weren't cracking books open or improving their mental wellness, ya know? 🥴)
even steve kerr, GSW head coach, who of course was also interviewed for this feature, is like, uh? maybe chill with the kids??
“We joke a little bit with Rick, do the kids really need to hear that every single moment? Can you just – maybe watch a movie with the kids one night?”
granted, both kerr and aiden’s soundbites are given with a little smile, like ‘oh, you know rick – that’s just how he is!’ but it’s very clear why rick is the main character here lol. he is the one running the show in that house. aiden and mack are parroting his messaging, and his wife thinks he’s an invaluable resource who cares more than anyone about the kids, pushing them to be the absolute best so they can excel.
mack, too, has nothing but effusive things to say about his dad, about the hard, important work he’s put in with the athletes he works with, and the most intriguingly, trots out his dad’s philosophy like it’s his own, almost like he hasn’t realized that he’s completely internalized the messaging:
“Every day there’s always something you can do to get better. Doesn’t always have to be the hardest thing in the world. You can just go shoot pucks. It kinda becomes a habit, becomes a routine and what you do. It gets to that point where some off days, I’m like, I don’t feel comfortable not doing anything today.”
yeah bud. I bet you don’t 😭
obviously it takes the whole family, trainers, coaches, teammates, etc. for any hockey player to develop to an elite level, and you can only fit so much into a 5 minute feature, but it’s fascinating to me to see how TSN slices that cross section for each of these players. who can be cut from each of their stories? who is a load bearing wall that their narrative would crumble without? on the flipside, what sells? bedard is packaged as this almost lone wolf prodigy with some innate greatness in him that deserved to be nurtured by the community around him, adam the result of a close-knit family and a brotherly bond that transcends hockey, and mack a high caliber product hand-crafted by his father in some kind of sports lab created specifically to excel. what I’m saying is, we aren’t the only ones out here writing fanfic, you know?
part III: dad's dual roles
this video from sportsnet is an interesting comparison to the TSN feature, as it's got very similar framing with rick as the dual dad/director of player health and performance, but does a slightly better job remembering that mack is supposed to be the main character. it's a little bit longer than the TSN feature, but it's fascinating how some repetitive phrases start to emerge that get at an important thesis statement here...
first, after a clip of rick coaching mack through some exercise, there's this exchange:
Mack: "I like this stuff."
Rick: [laughs] "Because you grew up on it."
there it is in a nutshell! this is the closest anyone comes to acknowledging it aloud, though i'm going to get at it more in depth in a second.
then we've got these soundbites from mack and aiden during their individual interviews:
Mack: "He's our dad but he's also an unbelievable resource."
Aiden: "He's been coach for us and manager for us and advocate for us. He's been our biggest fan and our harshest critic. It makes it really easy to have all those resources in one man."
sound familiar? who else has called rick a resource the boys are lucky to have? 🤔
and this final quote from the madman himself:
"When they needed empathy, when they needed support, when they needed, you know, a hug, I was dad, but the other times, I would be the disciplinarian, you know: you need to be on time, you need to go through your process, and get them, at a very early age, to understand what it means to have a professional approach. You're locked in and you're buying into a process that will allow you to achieve your goals. Your defined goals, not mine."
"your defined goals, not mine." okay sure rick! because you always knew exactly when they needed dad and when they needed director of player health and performance, and they for sure didn't internalized the messaging they had to improve every single day, and they came up with those goals all by themselves and weren't influenced at all by the adults in their lives, which included not only you and your wife but all those athletes they had exposure to who were so close to you guys they agreed to be interviewed for all these features about your family. uh huh. okay. i am for sure buying what you are selling here.
ok, switching gears a little bit, we have GOT to talk about this quote that's been floating around from this athletic article (and the context of it):
mack and rick are telling this story to the interviewer together, recounting how rick pushed the boys to their absolute limit on this particular day.
his "audacious" moment!! mumbling something under his breath, not even swearing at his dad, because his dad made him and his brother run like, insane sprints up and down a hill for 30 minutes after several hours of workouts earlier in the day because he was in a bad mood!! and MACK is the one being audacious! OKAY! talk about the power imbalance here being completely out of wack because you've got both father/son and coach/athlete roles overlapping!!
if you have an athletic sub, this article is SO good because they frame the entire thing around 'the hill' story and keep circling back to it, but this little chunk is probably the most intriguing characterization bit of all:
mack goes on to argue that this specific workout was going to fuck them for the week because they literally wouldn't have the energy for the rest of the planned workouts, that there wasn't going to be the time for rest/recovery or whatever, but he still listened to his dad and didn't quit during the workout itself. his big act of rebellion was to say 'we're fucked' afterwards!! and the way this article calls it the workout a VIOLATION of the indoctrination his dad preached, the philosophy mack was taught and internalized, that this story is so infamous that it's still being brought up and discussed in draft interviews... OOF!
but here's how the hill story ends after they got home:
makes me feel absolutely insane that this particular workout is presented as a violation of trust, that rick (for lack of a better word) exploited the family culture and his son's competitive natures/drive/ambitions, knowing they wouldn't quit, to push them to their absolute physical limits, beyond what they expected from a mental standpoint from their already insane workout schedule, lit mack up for a minor verbal dissent after he complied, and then mack's response afterward is physical affection and gratitude?? rick. rick what have you created. rick i don't think this is good!! have you taught your son to be careful who he trusts because if he goes blindly handing those reins over to the wrong person they are going to damage him!!
not that rick is going to let anyone take the reins.
part IV: rick in control
well i did warn you guys this post was going to be long, didn't i? this is the last section, i promise, but this section is vital.
from this athletic article, we learn how BU successfully recruited mack from these quotes from BU's coach and assistant coach:
rick arranged for mack and aiden to tour the campus, and the next thing you know both boys committed. whenever mack talks about it, he presents it like it was his choice to go to BU and that he liked the campus, which sealed his decision, but given how he's clearly spent his entire life internalizing everything his dad has ever said to him, makes you wonder how much rick even arranging the campus tour impacted this decision, you know? of course, mack literally being a 17-year-old college freshman, it makes sense his family/dad in particular would be involved in that kind of decision.
what's more insane is this:
San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier took us behind the scenes of Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith’s development plans on Monday.
“There’s been a lot of thought and effort put into this from our performance group, led by Mike Potenza, the medical staff, the training [and] strength conditioning staff,” Grier said.
Potenza is the San Jose Sharks’ director of high performance.
Grier added that Macklin Celebrini’s father, Rick Celebrini, the Golden State Warriors’ director of sports medicine and performance, is involved with Celebrini’s plan, though not with Smith’s.
“[With Rick] being in the sports science world as well, he had input and is on board with everything that we’re going to do with him,” Grier said.
(source) i am sure the sharks are absolutely thrilled about this (🙄) but truly, no end in sight for rick's over-involvement in mack's life, or for mack to have any realizations about how not-normal any of this is. of course mack wants rick involved! rick shaped his whole life, helped him get to where he is, has been there driving him every step of the way! and now mack is the face of a franchise only 40 minutes from home, where rick can keep close tabs on him and his development and continue to help him reach the next level.
from a (fic) narrative perspective, mack's at the perfect cusp-of-adulthood age to finally start having some realizations about how overly enmeshed his dad is in his life, to maybe start questioning his upbringing and what it cost him. maybe he'd still choose to make all the same sacrifices to get where he is anyway, maybe he can't carve out the parts of himself that have been so deeply embedded since childhood they feel like they're innate when they've actually been planted as seeds, maybe every eye-opening moment of realization changes nothing.
or maybe he's over at patty marleau's one night, playing ministicks with his boys and will in the basement, laughing so hard his belly hurts at something stupid, will letting one of the kids score on him because it makes his little face light up, and he thinks, oh.
finally, one last bonus quote from rick from one of the athletic articles because it didn't fit anywhere else and this is an insane thing to say about your son:
anyway, thanks for coming to my ted talk. the end!
Hi! You have made me obsessed with Will and Mack 🥰 and I saw your answer about there being no primer (different anon!) but I was wondering if you could say how you see each of their personalities? I am endeared by the two of them together but trying to get sense of what they’re each like of their own…
Thank you for all your gifs, you are an angel ♥️
hey! thank you for inviting me to info dump lmao! <3
I responded to this under the read more:
there is genuinely so much lore with them already that I had to leave a lot of things out, and this still ended up being really long. I think I covered most of the memorable points related to their personalities from this season so far, but there’s definitely still more that I didn’t even have time to touch on. for example, they're both very much influenced by their families, hometowns, and pre-nhl hockey careers, but I've barely scratched the surface of that here.
*disclaimer that this gets into hrpf territory, and it’s only my speculation about their personalities based on what I’ve seen in games, reporting, or social media—plus what I think is the most fun interpretation of those things. I don’t actually know what they’re like as people. think of this as like the commentary of a wildlife documentarian who observes creatures in their natural habitats but has no actual insight into their thoughts/interiority.
*also, just a reminder: please don't repost any of this!! reblogging is fine, but I’m only sharing because I think this will stay on tumblr. if I see any of this screenshotted, reposted, or publicly linked on another website, I’ll just stick to gifs in the future and won’t make another post like this ever again.
anyway:
maybe a good starting point would be to go back to when I asked whether people see their favorite hockey players as more kiki or bouba. I made a post that described why I saw mack as more bouba and will as more kiki.
since the four nations break, things have changed a little bit! it’s getting clearer and clearer that everyone loves will — for example, the sleepover thing and the way will's always described as a puppy. even though they're apparently exhaustingly competitive, mack and will are a "joy to [the] locker room," and I think will in particular seems like he’s super charming if you’re one of the guys in his hockey friend menagerie.
I think part of it is that he’s so used to being loved that it doesn’t even occur to him to be insecure about things — he just likes to do things like hang out with the boys (he likes hanging out with people), watch rom-coms, and listen to pop music! and he dips heated-up chocolate chip cookies into milk on road trips before he falls asleep! so what? he doesn’t care who knows that. there’s an undercurrent of anxiety* (the sleep anxiety thing, the panic or, etc), but fundamentally I think he’s just a confident guy who’s secure in himself. setbacks might frustrate him, but his self-assurance is never actually shaken. and it's fun to me that he calls his shots: for example, saying he would get his first nhl goal right before he did; or saying that all three of them (mack, will, and toff) would get goals to have a sleepover, and then they did…he knows how to manifest things! lol.
*re: the anxiety thing - when the news that mack and will have their own games of pregame sewer initially dropped, it was framed as an example of how they don't really feel pressure. and it goes back to training camp. I think they rely on each other and their friendship to help manage the inherent pressure that comes with being a professional athlete. their dads have even told reporters "how pivotal and huge it's been for the duo to have one another."
will’s sentimentality and thoughtfulness are really interesting character traits for me. he canonically takes notes about/doesn't forget things, researches on tiktok for restaurants to go to/activities to do in different cities, and makes plans to meet up with people if he’s traveling and they’re nearby. he’s probably the type of person to have a calendar app in his phone full of reminders about different people’s birthdays. mack seems more likely to do something impulsively, but if will does something, it’s probably premeditated. this ties into how he’s always making bets. he’ll think of things he wants to do and come up with little schemes to make them happen.
it's interesting that he initially wanted to play hockey because he liked the uniform. he has little fashion moments, like when he wore a suit with bc’s colors during his first game in boston and when he matches his walk-in outfits with his red bull cans. (he also seems to coordinate outfits with mack, because they basically always wear similar patterns/colors when they're photographed together.) everything about how he presents himself seems intentional; he's aware of how he appears to people.
will can have moments of impulsiveness, though — like when he bleached his hair and got a mullet, or early in the season when he cut his hair during the sharks’ initial losing streak because he got "bored" with it.
mack is also interesting, but there aren't as many thoughtful little details to talk about with him. he wears his heart on his sleeve a bit and seems to be more the type to act without really thinking/pre-planning as much. that's not to say that he isn't also capable of being as calculating as will is, because I think mack can be kind of ruthless and more strategic than people give him credit for. he might seem like a sweet little guy if you've only seen the cute social media moments, but he's also a high-level professional athlete, and he didn't get where he is now by being easygoing. remember that this is the guy who felt like he had to clarify that he's not a psychopath! (he's happy with his performance..."when I play well.") he's also willing to get physical on the ice: just look at the utah game in december.
mack and will both set ambitious goals for themselves and then work hard to achieve them, and I think that's one reason why they hit it off so quickly. mack's competitiveness is just way closer to the surface. the sharks broadcasters have said recently that he's getting better at "having a discussion" with refs instead of complaining. earlier in the season, "because of how hard he competes, how much he wants to win - sometimes the emotions would take over."
in the same segment, they also spoke about how will's "more likely to shrug [challenges] off [...] and out-think you in the next shift." the broadcasters really seem to love both of them! they just can't escape the inevitable pull of will smith hockey, lol. even when they're talking about how mack is a "nice and respectful [...] young man," they pivot to a discussion about how they're not surprised that will's the sharks' +/- leader. drew especially really seems to love will.
anyway, I wanted to bring this up to point out that although they're both planners, will usually takes the more thoughtful/indirect approach to problems that mack would solve more directly and maybe less tactfully.
they seem to have pretty similar goals, but will does a better job of hiding his intensity/competitiveness and can actually pull off looking nonchalant, while mack’s not as good at hiding anything. everything he feels is right there on his face. and let's not forget the time he slammed the door to the bench at the end of his shift and fans all the way in the nosebleed sections reportedly heard him yell, "FUCK!"
I think being a locker room darling comes less naturally to him than it does to will, because mack's not as good at hiding his emotions when he's frustrated. mack seems like the kid in the group project who’s a little too perfectionistic and wants to make sure that everyone is doing their assigned parts. he means well, but it might come across the wrong way sometimes.
I guess while I’m on the topic of mack’s personality, I have to mention the competitive yogurt eating (and the competitive everything else), the moment where he said “it’s nice to be wanted,” and the recent interview where he implied that good playmaking is actually defense against getting “kind of murdered.” (personally I think mack might be hyperaware of the safety/injury risks that come with playing hockey because of his dad's influence and his experiences with a shoulder injury and the injury that sidelined him at the beginning of the season.) there was also that time early in the season where he responded to a reporter’s question by saying, “I don’t know, the hockey gods?” and another time when, after being told he was the nhl's first star of the month, he said, "holy fuck. I didn't know that."
he’s just so funny! he doesn’t really have a filter yet. I love his earnestness, and how he's so willing to be silly when he doesn't feel like he's under a spotlight. I think there was a post somewhere that mentioned mack and will are very giggly by themselves but act serious when they know the camera's on them, and there are so many examples of that.
there's also the vancouver of it all: see the links here, here, and here. (I couldn't mention the boston of it all in will's section, because it would probably take an entire college course to explain all of the overlapping lore there, lmao.)
I also want to point out how mack helps kids with their homework (see this, this, and this); plays rock, paper, scissors with kids before games; and plays basketball with will, jumbo's son, and jumbo's son's twelve-year-old friends. and there's this. mack seems to be a little awkward around adults, but he’s a big hit with children.
it’s also endearing to me how he seems to be a goalie appreciator! that pretty much automatically makes me respect someone, because I feel like it's a sign of a team player. he’s always mentioning that a goalie did well in his postgame interviews, fist bumping or saying encouraging things to his goalies during the game, and going up to goalies immediately after the game ends to get in the hug line. it’s one of my favorite things about him.
and, going back to mack and will as a duo - I feel obligated to include this toff quote that basically sums them up:
I think the emergency contact video is also a fun look into what they're like together. it really just seems like the situation is that will's always saying things or suggesting fun things to do, and mack's his go-to guy for "yes, and"-ing. meanwhile, during games, mack is the yapper, and will is next to him listening intently and thinking about what he's going to do on his next shift:
and they're both protective of each other in their own ways. mack's more of a vocal defender of will - he'll be in the trenches fighting anyone who implies that will's not an elite hockey player (possibly the best college hockey player, actually. don't fact check him). and will's more quiet about it, but he also seems to always be there to check on mack when he's going through it. there was even a moment recently where he and mack got into it a little bit with a goalie, and for a few seconds will seemed to be kind of reaching out to defend mack from the bruins players, lol (because of course it was the bruins. who else?)
they're so similar to each other in a lot of ways, but they just have different/complementary approaches for getting to the same end goal. they really are a great yin and yang.
I also really liked a quote from will's recent sharks spotlight episode where he says his relationship with mack "helps me every day. I think he wants to get so much better every day, and so do I. so there’s a lot of competitiveness between us, and it just makes the other guy better.” and a few days later, we got a quote from mack about how the sharks are having fun because "we just try to enjoy it every day." they make each other better, and they want to be better for each other. it's really sweet to me.
who are the smartest hockey players in your mind right now? whether that’s in an academic sense or hockey sense or both
hmm academic achievement is pretty straightforward, you could google which guys have college degrees and there’s some interesting stuff! in terms of hockey iq, all of these guys are pros. if anyone didn’t have genuinely elite, pro-level hockey sense, they’d get killed on the boards out there in a second.
but honestly my favorite kind of Smart is guy who understands how to play a complete game, and I am nawwwt talking academics or hockey. there’s a whole other game out there to be played - and won - and some guys understand that better than most!! and for that, the current leaderboard in my opinion:
#1 will smith hockey
#2 jack hughes
#3 nate bastian!!!
#1 Currently leading - Will Smith hockey
WSH is still new to the scene so who can say how long he can keep this intangible point streak going BUT:
every guy he rotated in and out of the sleepover room ended up surviving the trade deadline (he’d clearly clocked who would be worth investing into)
has endeared himself to not just every single teammate but is also allegedly quite beloved by the equipment guys and rink staff
plays along well with all the sharks social media tiktok trends, etc. he has excellent camera awareness, for example, some guys simply looked down at their end of year ‘awards’ but Will immediately made sure to face the certificate to the camera. (is aware of camera views on the ice, too)
has managed to remain a mystery to the dating gossip sphere, k-pop idol style
some good stuff in this post, namely the notetaking parts and preparing for the animal question in the draft
and of course, has made the highly talented but also windshield-punching future of the franchise entirely indebted to him in ways beyond mortal comprehension. what are you gonna do, send wsh down to the AHL? and leave his unhinged attack dog mack c out there to argue with teammates in practice and have meltdowns by himself on the bench? no way. wsh stays up, and everyone stays happy.
#2 Jack Hughes - perennially good, but has also fumbled a couple plays
part of it is just classic middle child ability to play both sides without ever actually committing to either, but that boy had everrrry single NTDP classmate eating out of his sweaty little palm (voted captain by unanimous vote!). he understands how to sprinkle sugar, jusssst right!
I do find it interesting when he accidentally overplays his hand. It perfectly mirrors his on-ice flaw of when he tries to do too much and then his game falls apart (as noted by hockey scouts & Sheldon Keefe alike). BUT I think the flops are important because unlike his subtle plays that might go entirely unnoticed, these give us a little more insight into how he does it - or at least, tries to set it up.
famously got the devils to draft his special little guy’s special little guy (trevor z’s billet brother) but then moynihan turned out to be basically nothing to the devils in the end (see: his Elite Prospects page)
tried to use 4 Nations as his and quinn’s personal olympics campaign (kept emphasizing how sooooo young he and quinn were, which was a complete turnaround from how he usually describes quinn as mature/experienced, or even himself as unphased/seen it all. kept referring to himself as an ‘01 birth year, and auston and eichel as ‘97s to really drive the point home!! god, you don’t want those old men born in the 1900s do you, USA hockey? I’m good for two, maybe even threeee Olympic cycles!) unfortunately quinn was too injured to play and jack flopped at 4 Nations
#3 Nate Bastian
Fourth line grinder (literally called the ‘Meat Line’) Nathan Bastian? yes, and I’m not even kidding. here’s the thing. there are four audiences for a pro athlete:
1. Your coach(ing staff) & GM
2. Your teammates
3. Sports reporters/PR Team
4. General audience / fans
When I say Nate Bastian plays a complete game, I do mean complete - he has a FULL SWEEP of all four audiences.
First Audience: he understands what role coaches see him as, and commits to it. doesn’t oversell himself. takes hits and gives hits without complaint.
Second Audience: top players automatically rank high in team social hierarchy, but less skilled players have to work for it. nate CLEARLY plays a great locker room game, to the point that he sits next to jack (and you knowww locker room seating has a ton of unspoken politics behind it) and is universally loved by his teammates.
Third Audience: this guy is so loved by Jersey beat reporters that they sought him out to interview while he was literally playing for a different team! the PR team sent him to the VMAs! also in this 2019 axe throwing video the producers/video editors clearly like him, even though he’s just another no-name grinder: they start the video with him, setting him up as the audience surrogate. they keep his self name-drop in the final edit, while literal jack hughes is in the video and HIS name is never said out loud. they kept in his funniest bits and edited out whatever was likely more boring filler commentary. (side note: you can also see Nate’s Second Audience work was already at play, because little pre-rookie Jack was already very aware and intrigued by Nate). By having video editors who love him, surely now you can see how that sways the…
Fourth Audience: how can you not love a guy that the coach commends! how can you not love a guy that his teammates adore! and how can you not love a guy who always gets the best possible edit from the producers! he’s literally made a clean sweep. all while just “being himself” seemingly effortlessly….
i can feel the will smith/macklin celebrini brainrot taking over so i'm collecting some tidy little background notes for myself and anyone else who may find this info helpful. first up is will:
DOB 3/17/05
hometown: lexington, MA
the lexington/boston heritage is VERY important to him!
(source)
attended lexington public schools through third grade, then fessenden school (private school in west newton), then st. sebastian's in needham
lived in plymouth, MI for 2 years while in the NTDP
his family bought a house in MI where will's mom and another teammate (will vote)'s mom each lived for 2 weeks trading off to supervise the boys rather than have them live with a billet family while he was in the program. ryan leonard also lived with will & vote
he's not from a legacy hockey family (more on this later) and the above quotes are SO intriguing about family involvement and what it looks like from that perspective - "important to be there at a critical stage in his life" and that meant will's mom being there to cook for him and provide that day to day support of being his mom and making sure he got to come home to his family home every day he was in the program
but will does have the weight of a different kind of legacy on his shoulders:
i can't even get into him attending SUNDAY MASS with his sister but there's a podcast where he talks about his initial decision to commit to northeastern at 14 (essentially, the other jack hughes (kent hughes' kid) also went to st. sebastian and committed there along with some other older guys so will did too), but will "got to tell his grandfather before he died" that he was committing to BC. WOOF! there's some baggage to maybe unpack there, entirely separate from hockey for once
some more family legacy info of interest - for context, bill smith is will's dad:
(source)
adding this gem from sheng peng about will's less common nickname being "wild willy" like his grandfather to really hammer home the fact that will is named for his father and grandfather, and the unfortunate shift from bill to will as a common nickname for william as the reason he got stuck as will smith lmao. but more importantly: is he william smith III? (or more??) has this little shit been hiding numbers from us this entire time?? drop your full name, coward!
final note on family legacies: it's not just his dad's side and boston roots that give will that old money sheen: "His mother Colleen is from Chicago, and famously, Will is the great-great grandson of original Chicago White Sox owner Charles Comiskey." (source) yeah sure. obviously.
also would be remiss if i did not add this tidbit about will's dad's business, which if i've got the right will (not to be confused with bill or wild willy) means they put will to work tending the grounds and servicing air conditionings as a (pre?)teen? yeah, take that silver spoon out of his mouth for a bit and teach him the value of hard work:
okay, moving onto the hockey! will's parents were athletes, but no one in his family played hockey:
(source)
incredible image of itty bitty smitty running around in an oversized jersey playing pretend, but also incredible that he just fell in love with hockey all on his own and dragged his family into it with him
despite this, sounds like money and connections still helped will get the leg up he needed to turn that natural love for the game/talent into a hockey career lmao:
okay enough backstory; wrapping this up with some final characterization notes of interest:
from the empty netters podcast: knew the animal question was coming during the draft interviews, so thought about it ahead of time; his answer was, “golden retriever off the ice, eagle on the ice”
on if he paid attention to BU/macklin, if that motivation at all: “Both, I think we’re not really worried about them and him overall, I think we obviously see, we check their score and see what they’re doing, but, no. I take notes about everything. I don’t forget things. I didn’t forget the silver medal. I don’t forget some other stuff that happened.” this quote is honestly one of THE characterization notes of all time for me. also pairs well with this quote from one of the athletic articles i linked earlier:
he takes notes about everything. he doesn't forget things. he works on faking people out in the basement until it's second nature, until he can do it without thinking about it, until it's instinct to be three steps ahead through deception at all times
celebrity crush rankings playing shoot/pass/score: 1. tate mcrae 2. sydney sweeney 3. margot robbie (tate was his IMMEDIATE number one choice; i just found this intriguing! he also said he loved euphoria lmao)
pre-game song: pony by ginuwine
binge-worthy show: new girl
i was going to include a section about the bc line but honestly that's just going to have to be its own post at this point. anyway this is all a very rich tapestry to pair with one macklin "my dad cares more than anyone and that's why he manages every aspect of my life" celebrini
(THE END OF) BC’S FRESHMAN LINE
sources & transcript below the cut
Screenshot of BC vs DU, 2024 Frozen Four Finals // Frozen Four: Boston College loses to Denver in national championship // Gabe Perreault // Ryan Leonard // Fortesa Latifi // Leonard has unfinished business // Gabe Perreault Returning // John Banville // Smith signs with the Sharks // Another Nightmare - The Vaccines // Celebrini, Smith becoming fast friends // Gold and Bones, Friday Pilots Club // the NHL will wait // Samson, Regina Spektor // Smith, Perreault // Leonard, Perreault // Smith, Leonard // BC Line // five more minutes
ID’s are in order of appearance.
(1) Black text on a lilac background, the beginning of Fortesa Latifi’s poem The Truth About Grief. Text reads:
all my grief says the same thing:
this isn’t how it’s supposed to be.
this isn’t how it’s supposed to be.
(2) Screencap of the 2024 Frozen Four Championship match broadcast. The final score reads DENVER 2 - BOSTON COLLEGE 0. The broadcast is zoomed in on Boston College Eagles player Will Smith, who is kneeling on the ice with his helmet cage partially lifted. The chin guard obscures his mouth, he rests his chin on his glove. His hair is dark and stuck to his face from sweat. His eyes, seen through the cage, are red rimmed and haunted.
(3) Photo of Boston College Eagles player Gabe Perreault after BC’s loss to Denver. He stares out at the ice with his stick still in his hands. Captain Eamon Powell’s head can be seen at the bottom of the photo — he is at Perreault’s feet having fallen to his knees after the final whistle.
(4) Photo of Boston College Eagles player Ryan Leonard during the same loss. He is on his knees and curled up with his head bowed on the ice, hidden between his fisted hands, overwhelmed by grief. He looks small against the empty sheet of ice.
(5) Black text on a white background. It is a headline that reads: “Frozen Four: Boston College loses to Denver in national championship”
(6) The end of Latifi’s poem, black text on lilac:
and the world laughs.
holds my hope by the throat.
says:
but this is how it is
(7) Black text on a white background. Headline reads: “Leonard has unfinished business before making jump to NHL with Capitals” subheading reads: “Forward, No. 8 pick in 2023 Draft, focused on Boston College quest for NCAA title this season”
(8) Black text on white. Headline reads: “Boston College Hockey Forward Gabe Perreault Returning For Sophomore Season”
(9) From John Banville’s The Sea. Grey text on pale green. Text reads: “The past beats inside me like a second heart.”
(10) Black text on white. Headline reads: “Smith, No. 4 pick of 2023 NHL Draft, signs with Sharks.”
(11) From Another Nightmare by the Vaccines. Black text on orange. Text reads:
You announced to the stadium that
You knew that you were leaving and you’d never come back
Even for love
It wasn’t enough
(12) Article excerpt: “I think it was time to take the next step,” Smith said. “It’s the best league in the world and you’re getting the best players every single night. That’s definitely something that factored in wanting to make that decision.
“It was a really tough decision because of just how much I love BC and my teammates there,” Smith said. “We had a really special bond. Honestly, before I left for [2024 IIHF World Championship] I’d made up my mind that I was going to sign, but I wanted to make sure I did it at the right time.”
(13) From Gold and Bones by Friday Pilots Club. White text on black. Text reads:
Between feeling alive and feeling fine
But I won’t beg, and I won’t look back
‘Cause somewhere deep I know you want that
(14) Article excerpt: “It doesn’t matter the players that left or the players that come in, our coaching staff is going to put together a team that wants to win a national championship,” said Leonard.
(15) From Samson by Regina Spektor. White text on red. Text reads: I LOVED YOU FIRST, I LOVED YOU FIRST
(16) White text on teal. Headline reads: “Sharks roommates Celebrini, Smith becoming fast friends”
(17) Photo of San Jose Sharks teammates Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith grinning at each other during Sharks Development Camp. Other Sharks prospects mill about around them.
(18) Black text on white. Headline reads: “World Juniors: BC Line of Hagens, Leonard, and Perreault Looking Historic for Team USA”
(19) Article excerpt: Part of the reason that this line has been so impactful for the Americans is that the trio plays together at Boston College, driving the offence for their NCAA squad as well. Hagens was a natural fit with Leonard and Perreault after their former NTDP center Will Smith left BC to turn pro with the San Jose Sharks this season.
(20) From Spektor’s Samson again. White text on red. Text reads: I HAVE TO GO, I HAVE TO GO
(21) Cropped photo of Gabe Perreault (left) and Will Smith (right) during a celly. Smith cradles Perreault’s head as they bump helmets. Smith’s eyes are closed, his mouth is open in a laugh.
(22) Cropped photo of Ryan Leonard (left) and Gabe Perreault (right) during a celly. Their arms are around each other tightly, they smile joyfully. Just visible behind them is the top of Will Smith’s (#6) helmet.
(23) Cropped photo of Ryan Leonard (left) and Will Smith (right) during a celly. Smith has jumped into Leonard, they share a joyful embrace. Smith grins wide and Leonard appears to be mid-yell.
(24) Photo of Ryan Leonard, Gabe Perreault, and Will Smith on the bench during a match. They all lean forward over the boards and have put their heads together, presumably to conspire.
(26) Black text on white. Text reads: “In another universe we had five more minutes”
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