Doug Armstrong spoke with Macklin Celebrini at the Enterprise Center last December, several hours before the St. Louis Blues hosted the San Jose Sharks.

Armstrong, the longtime Blues general manager who is Team Canada’s GM for the 2026 Winter Olympics, told Celebrini at the time that he would not be on the Canadian roster for February’s 4 Nations Face-Off, but that if he played well, the door was open for the teenager to be a part of his home country’s World Championship team and possibly the Milano-Cortina Games.

“And I told him at about 10 in the morning, and he had (three) points that night,” said Armstrong of Celebrini, “and so I said, ‘I should have talked to him after the game.’”

Armstrong will see Celebrini, now 19, again next week when Hockey Canada hosts its National Teams Orie

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