SAN JOSE — Behind the counter inside the Sharks’ team shop, Luis Borga couldn’t press sevens and ones onto teal sweaters fast enough.
Macklin Celebrini jerseys were a hard commodity to come by Thursday night as the Sharks resumed their season after their 19-year-old sensation’s star turn during the Olympics.
“Usually we order them premade, but that inventory was all sold out,” the second-year stadium worker said. The 50 or 60 he made in anticipation of the demand were all gone, too.
By the end of the first period.
Safe to say, Macklin mania has officially reached new heights.
And jersey sales are just the tip of the iceberg.
“I’ve been here 21 years,” Sharks vice president of marketing Doug Bentz told The California Post, recalling the stars of past glory days such as Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton. “There does seem to be a different feeling around this where it is going to be much bigger.
“It is going to transcend Bay Area sports.”
Celebrini was widely considered to be a generational talent when the Sharks selected him first overall in 2024. In just two years, Bentz said, “all of our wildest expectations have been exceeded.” The teenager’s latest and greatest triumph came at the Winter Games in Milan, even though his first Olympic tournament ended in disappointment.
Celebrini skated alongside some of hockey’s greats — Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon — and did more than just look like he belonged. As the youngest NHL player in the tournament — and the youngest ever for Team Canada — he outscored them all with five goals. He assisted on another five scores, trailing only McDavid’s 13 points among all Olympians.
The world was watching.
Celebrini’s Team Canada jersey was even more prized than the Sharks’ version, selling out in less than an hour. A month ago, the most Celebrini had been mentioned on various media platforms in a day was about 7,200 times, Bentz said.
Over the three weeks in Milan, Celebrini topped out at about 22,000 mentions on his best day, his average day up 400% compared to before, according to Bentz.
“When he does what he does on a(n international) stage, people are going to notice,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “We’ve seen it here in San Jose. Now the world sees it.”
The Sharks hope to capitalize, and not just on the ice, where they are fighting for their first playoff berth since 2019 and their first Stanley Cup since their founding in 1991.
A well-traveled Western Conference scout remarked that, on a weeknight against a middling foe such as the Flames, “there would have been six or seven thousand people here.”
On Thursday, the Sharks announced a sellout of 17,435 — their third full house on a weeknight this season. Saturday and Sunday’s games are sold out, too.
According to Bentz, the Sharks’ single-game ticket sales spiked 56% during the Olympic break compared to the same period a year ago. Online merchandise sales nearly doubled.
Call it the Celebrini effect.
Season tickets for next season went on sale to the public this week. They’ve already eclipsed the number of new members for all of this year’s season-ticket packages, Bentz said.
A “fair amount” have been purchased by fans entirely new to the Sharks’ database, he added.
Kiley O’Connell, 29, drove up from Monterey to be here with his five friends after they made a recent pledge in a group chat to watch more hockey. Since moving from Colorado about a decade ago, O’Connell said he mostly maintained his loyalty to the Avalanche “because the Sharks haven’t really been great. They’ve kind of just been here.”
But with Celebrini, whose 81 points rank fourth in the NHL? “They’re electric. He’s exciting to watch.” O’Connell intended to leave with his jersey; he had to settle for a blank.
Celebrini received his loudest cheers of the season when he was introduced pregame and was recognized with the Sharks’ three other Olympians during a timeout in the second period. (There are also plans to honor another local Olympic darling, gold medalist figure skater Alysa Liu, who trains at the Sharks-owned rink in Oakland.)
Like the gold-medal game, however, Celebrini wound up on the losing end.
The Sharks stumbled into the Olympic break and didn’t come out of it any better, falling 4-1 to the Flames for their fifth straight loss, dating back to Jan. 29. Before the skid, they were 27-21-3 and in control of a playoff position; they’re now five points back.
“Everyone’s got to dig in and execute at a higher level because he’s obviously creating and showed what he can do on the world stage with the best,” left winger Kiefer Sherwood said of Celebrini after the loss. “We’ve got to be better around him.”
Another superstar in these parts turned a once-woebegone franchise into the most valuable team in the NBA. There’s a reason why Celebrini is beginning to draw comparisons to Steph Curry. The NHL scout agreed: It isn’t misplaced, given Celebrini’s drive and demeanor.
It’s no coincidence that Celebrini’s father, Rick, is the Warriors’ head trainer.
“Given his dad’s role with the Warriors, he understands the responsibility and what it takes to be a superstar,” Bentz said. Still, he tries to remember that Celebrini is still the age of a college sophomore. “We want to be sensitive to his growth not only on the ice but off the ice.”
Celebrini, for one, isn’t shying away from the spotlight.
“All this comes along with it — the fans, the attention — we want those expectations. We want that pressure,” Celebrini said Thursday upon rejoining the Sharks from the Olympics. “Because that means we’re doing a good thing and we’re trending the right way.”
Unlike the Warriors, the 49ers or the Giants, the Sharks don’t typically have a large media contingent. No traditional outlet consistently covers the team away from home.
Celebrini addressed a crowd of at least eight cameras and more than a dozen reporters.
“This is the most media we’ve had, ever,” he said. “It’s starting to feel like a Canadian market.”
