Teen Celebrini captains Canada and has Crosby for company at world hockey champs, US defends title

Macklin Celebrini is to captain Canada and Sidney Crosby will join him on the team at the world hockey championship in Switzerland, where the United States sets out to retain the trophy it won in 2025 for the first time in 92 years.

Celebrini, the 19-year-old teenage star of the San Jose Sharks, is the youngest-ever Canada captain and the youngest on the team's roster for the worlds, which open Friday in the cities of Zurich and Fribourg.

He has had a year to remember. In only his second NHL season, the center recorded staggering numbers, setting a record for the Sharks with 115 points for 45 goals and 70 assists in 82 regular-season games.

Celebrini finished fourth in the league and was a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award along with established stars Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Only two teenagers have reached the 50-point mark faster in a season than Celebrini, two of the greatest players in NHL history: Crosby and Wayne Gretzky.

Celebrini's performances have earned him a place on a Canada team that had to settle for silver at this year's Milan Cortina Olympics.

Canada is the most successful nation at the worlds, with 28 titles, and is one of the favorites every year no matter who is available at the time of the NHL playoffs.

Celebrini joins forces with two 35-year-old alternate captains, John Tavares of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ryan O’Reilly of the Nashville Predators.

The last-minute addition of Crosby for his fourth appearance at the tournament is a boost for Canada, which is hoping to rebound from a disappointing fifth-place finish last year.

Celebrini, the top pick in the 2024 NHL draft, was at the 2025 tournament on a team that included Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, but the Canadians were stunned 2-1 by Denmark in the quarterfinals.

Canada last won the trophy in 2023.

Last year, Tage Thompson scored at 2:02 of overtime in the final to give the U.S. a 1-0 victory over Switzerland for its second world championship and first since 1933.

Thompson is not on the team this time round because his Buffalo Sabres face Montreal Canadians in the NHL playoffs. Only two men remain on the roster from last year, forwards Mason Lohrei of the Boston Bruins and Isaac Howard of the Bakersfield Condors in the AHL.

Forward Matthew Tkachuk can become the first American in hockey’s Triple Gold Club. He won the Stanley Cup back-to- back with the Florida Panthers and claimed a gold medal at the Milan Cortina Games as part of the U.S. team.

There are 30 players who have been Stanley Cup, Olympic and world championship winners, led by 11 Canadians.

Tkachuk is the only Olympian from the Milan Games named to the U.S. team. Justin Faulk of the Detroit Red Wings will captain the U.S. in his fourth worlds.

After finishing runner-up the previous two years, host Switzerland hopes for more. The team includes forwards Nico Hirschier and Timo Meier of the New Jersey Devils, Nino Niederreiter of the Winnipeg Jets, Pius Sutter of the St. Louis Blues and Nashville star defenseman Roman Josi.

Sweden, with Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond, and Finland, with Florida center Aleksandar Barkov on board, are both traditional medal contenders.

The 16 teams are divided into two groups for the preliminary round.

The United States is in Group A in Zurich with Switzerland, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Austria, Hungary and newcomer Britain. Group B in Fribourg includes Canada, Sweden, Czechia, Denmark, Slovakia, Norway, Slovenia and another newcomer, Italy.

The top four in each group make the quarterfinals. The final and bronze-medal games are scheduled for May 31.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

FILE - United States' Matthew Tkachuk (19) celebrates after the United States defeated Canada in a men's ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Dust storms, heavy rain, and lightning damaged homes and other structures and killed at least 96 people in northern India, officials said Thursday.

The storms also injured more than 50 people as they swept across several districts late Wednesday in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state.

Officials said some deaths were caused by falling trees, collapsing structures and lightning. Police and disaster response teams used chainsaws and cranes to clear fallen trees from roads and railway tracks in several districts.

Storms are common in northern India during the hot season from March to June, before the annual monsoon rains arrive.

Narendra N. Srivastava, an administrative official, said emergency teams were deployed across the affected areas and that homes, crops and power infrastructure were widely damaged, particularly in rural districts.

In Prayagraj district, residents described panic as strong winds tore through neighborhoods.

“The storm came suddenly and the sky turned completely dark within minutes,” Ram Kishore said. “Tin roofs were flying and people ran indoors. We could hear trees falling throughout the evening.”

In neighboring Bhadohi district, Savitri Devi said her family narrowly escaped after strong winds damaged their mud house.

“We rushed outside when the walls started shaking because of the wind. Our roof collapsed moments later. We spent the night at a relative’s house," she said.

Uttar Pradesh's Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered officials to complete relief operations within 24 hours and directed authorities to provide compensation and emergency aid to affected families.

A Home Guard member ties a rope to a fallen tree to set up a temporary shelter following dust storms and heavy rain in Prayagraj, India, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)