Aiden Celebrini set a goal for himself to make a big leap in his development this summer and he’s feeling good about the work he’s put in as he prepares to head back to Boston University for his sophomore season with the Terriers.
Spending the summer in his hometown of Vancouver, Celebrini has been training at his old stomping grounds, the North Shore Winter Club. Included in his summer training was a week at Canucks development camp and working with his longest tenured trainer: his dad.
“Summers are busier than the season,” said Celebrini. “That’s the philosophy my dad set up for Mack and myself. Make the summers harder than the season so you keep getting that constant improvement.”
On Celebrini’s journey of becoming the player he envisions for himself he’s been working on taking his defensive game to another level and growing his offensive game.
“I’m really excited going into this season. I know last year, not producing how I wanted to, really motivated me to work on my shot, my offensive playmaking and I’ve been doing a lot of Sunday 3-on-3 drills, different scrimmages, and power edge pro really helped me throughout the summer grow that offensive game. I’m really excited to display it more next year and hopefully in a bigger role,” Celebrini said.
The 19-year-old talked about how instrumental the power edge pro has been in his development. Between that and getting out on the ice with his skills coach Cole Todd for three to four hours a day, he likes what he’s added to his offence.
Last season at BU, the defenceman tallied six points (one goal, five assists) and while he says points are good for measuring improvement, his goal is to create more shot opportunities and get his teammates good looks.
“At the end of the day I’m not looking at the stats, I’m looking at impacting the team and helping the team win and I think that’s an area that I haven’t really unlocked yet; being able to help my team win games. I think there is a lot of potential for me on that side of the puck,” he said.
Tapping into the mental aspect of the game and thinking the game at a higher level has been one of the highlights for his summer training. He’s always taking notes and has drawn inspiration of different ways of looking at the game from some current and former NHLers.
“I’ve grown to love the art of defending. I used to think defending was all physical and getting in guys’ way, but there really is an art to how you think the game defensively and that’s what I’ve begun to appreciate and started to build on,” he said.
Surrey native, Parker Wotherspoon, has been giving Celebrini tips on his two-on-one game, defending the rush and providing professional insight on how to handle different situations which Celebrini feels is a big advantage for him as he heads back to NCAA hockey.
Attending Troy Stecher’s camp, Celebrini has learned a lot from Kevin Bieksa who is helping coach the camp, and shares that he gains perspective of what it means to be a lockdown defender by watching pro athletes in other sports as well.
“Even after one skate, Kevin Bieksa has given me so much to think about and reflect on in growing in my defensive game. It really is [about] finding those guys that are great and have made a career out of defending - like Kevin Bieksa, like Draymond [Green] - and really just trying to be a sponge when listening to them. I see it in soccer too with players like [Virgil] van Dijk and watching the Euros. No matter what sport it is, I’m trying to learn from each of these greats because that’s what I strive to be,” Celebrini said.
One thing that sticks with him from four-time NBA Champion, Draymond Green’s approach to defence when faced with a tough matchup is: “If you don’t have a mindset that you’re the best ever, you’ve failed already.”
Celebrini finds truth in the words from the Golden State Warriors’ top defender and he’s also a big believer in the training programs from one of the top sport physiotherapists who’s also with the Warriors.
With the help of Rick Celebrini’s workout programs, Aiden has taken his fitness to another level this summer. The workouts are unique and target different movements and areas compared to the usual post-practice weightlifting sessions and they dive into all the details, fine-tuning things like balance, mobility, and explosiveness.
Through the years of training with his dad, he built his foundation at a young age which allowed him to take a big step forward this offseason.
“He’s helped me make huge strides on the ice as well as off the ice because he finds that way to translate it to my sport. He’s been huge. Every summer I take great strides in my development largely because of him, but this summer feels bigger than ever. We’ve really dialed it in with the process,” Celebrini said.
“There’s no offseason now in pro sports, so, being able to grow that foundation for a year like this where the primary goal is to have a breakout season and change a lot of minds this upcoming year [is important]. It’s just about creating the tools and giving myself the opportunity to make a jump in the season.”
Celebrini said Canucks development camp was the perfect bridge between the first and second parts of his summer training for him to gauge his improvement.
The defenceman is all about the details and he loves being able to break down the game with the development coaching staff, ask questions, and put what he’s learned to practice.
“Being in the middle of the summer, it’s given me a good frame of reference to see where I’m at relative to where I was before development camp. It gives me another boost from the standpoint that I’ve trained the first half of the summer, now I get to compete and develop with all these great players that I’m in the system with and really grow our games together, compare, and see what I can take from those guys and the coaches,” shared Celebrini.
“It’s such an experienced and legendary group of coaches on the development staff so it’s really great every year to come back and use that as a catalyst for the second half of the summer training.”
As summer winds down, Celebrini feels like he’s gained an incredible amount of knowledge and heightened strength.
His hustle over the summer has him feeling prepared to reach the goals he’s set for himself next season.
