you wouldn’t take a ferrari off-roading

there were some questions raised about whether these were actually new pics, or could have been taken when the sharks played in chicago towards the end of the season, but then the rest of the sharks were busy having their end of season outing the exact same day, and will and mack were absent! 👀

the next location they pop up in together is boston, so we can only assume that they made a stop in chicago on the way? it makes a lot of sense as they both have strong chicago links: a lot of will's family are based there, and mack likely has links from playing on the chicago steel.

-> Mack attends a BU MarMon darty 🍻

if you, like me, are european, you're probably thinking at this point what the hell is a 'marmon darty', well:

A Marmon darty is a popular Boston-area college tradition referring to a "day party" (darty) held on Marathon Monday (MarMon), the day of the Boston Marathon in April. It is characterised by massive, early-morning student parties in off-campus housing, specifically in neighborhoods like Mission Hill, Brighton, and Fenway. They take place on the third Monday of April (Patriots' Day). Students from Boston University, Boston College, and Northeastern celebrate by hosting parties that start at the crack of dawn. It is considered one of the biggest social events of the year for local students, often running alongside the race festivities. It often involves themed costumes, "borgs" (blackout rage gallons), and high energy in areas near the marathon route.

the first evidence we see of this is the now infamous, macklin celebrini failed keg stand. there is truly so much going on in this video, so let's try and break it down...

first things first, what's with the outfit??? as we've seen above, marmon dartys often involve themed costumes. mack's wearing a basketball-style jersey that some of my very knowledgeable sports friends were eventually able to identify as a Georgia Bulldogs anthony edwards jersey. (yes, this was the next pic to hit the timeline... who knows what he's doing)

as more photos emerged, we can see that mack's attending the darty with his brother, aiden, who's sporting a philadelphia phillies baseball jersey, and his other ex-teammates from bu, who are also wearing random jerseys, which was presumably their theme.

the bu women's hockey team were also there! some wearing matching shirts as seen below, others can be seen dotted in the background of the above pics dressed as where's waldo lol. also, hello cole hutson!

now it's time to mention the elephant in the room, WHAT'S UP WITH THE HATS?!!! mack starts of the day with a flat cap, progresses to a normal cap, then ends up with a cowboy hat that was first seen on jonathan morello's head?? mack may have swapped hats with the guy in the right pic at some point?? the flat cap in particular was a point of huge contention because, well, who have we seen genuinely trying to make a flat cap work this season??? one, will smith.

now, this is clearly not the same exact flat cap, but it certainly led to some wonderful memes for your perusal. mack's sunglasses reminded us of another will smith look too...

mack was very clearly absolutely WASTED (good for him). he was also busy making terrible tiktoks, jumping on some guy's mic, and being posessed by the spirit of a small victorian child (when did his jersey get so dirty??? what's up with the baseball glove??)

basically, mack was getting to live the bu lifestyle he never really had. mack was only 17 at college and the youngest member of bu hockey by far. his teammates might have had a chance at getting into a bar or buying beers, but mack certainly did not. he was too busy focusing on being drafted 1st overall anyway.

will has also been pretty vocal about them missing out on their college experiences like this, saying:

"I think when you're 19 and 20, you've got to have fun off the ice. We're still supposed to be in college."

so it's not very surprising to me that will probably encouraged him to travel out to boston with him for marmon! speaking of will, where was he whilst all of this was unfolding...?

-> Will watches the Marathon with Will Vote 🏃‍♀️

yes, whilst mack was out getting white girl wasted, wsh was watching his agent's wife run in the marathon with his boybestie, will vote, where we get a sneak peek of their marmon outfits!

-> Will links up with his ex-BC teammates 🍺

will and co take photos with fans at The Circle, a pub. unclear whether this was an organised BC general marmon after party, or if it was just a gathering of all of will's special boys. known attendees include gabe perrault, ryan leonard, drew fortescue, teddy stiga (and presumably voter too?? since he and will never leave each other's sides in boston).

a boston red sox game can be seen in the background of the second pic here, which started at 11AM EST. so this was presumably where will and co spent most of their day.

will, gabe and drew and the other BC boys are all wearing matching costumes from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby! what's very interesting is that... leno seems to have not gotten the memo?? despite being spotted at the BC chipotle earlier on in the day with gabe and linking up with them earlier on...

-> MACK makes an appearance at The Circle! 🩵

YES, you read that right. macklin 'i hated him for a while, to be honest' celebrini, BU to the bone, attended the BC marmon after party. yup.

he's seen here in the same kitchen the leno photo was taken in. features of note:

mack's flat cap has reappeared??! (to presumably stay sufficiently marmon dressed-up)

will has taken off his hoodie (pic taken later in the day?)

mack has ditched his dirty jersey, maybe he went back to where he's staying and changed? (and hopefully drank some water) before coming back out again

mack is was also seen outside of the pub with a fan and will and gabe! it seems light outside, but maybe like the sun is setting?? so is likely from later on in the evening. will has already shed his hoodie at this point, so it's not them arriving at or leaving the pub together, presumably. stepping outside for some air or meeting mack when he turns up, maybe?

what this does tell us is that mack was probably there for a good while! and maybe came pretty much directly from his BU marmon darty??

it could be argued that mack attends the circle bar first, before heading off to the bu darty, but for me the above photo is the most telling that this was later on in the evening (floodlights are lit up in background, everyone's got a sunset glow going on...)

may i remind you that this all took place in the span of less than 24 hours? feeling recovered and up to date? well great, because there's MORE! :)

-> Mack's Players' Tribune article 🦈

now, i know that mack's heartfelt 'For San Jose' article was probably just always scheduled to be posted on the 21st of april, but i do think it truly is very funny to imagine rick and pat brisson and co scrambling to play damage control the day after the above events.

-> Will, Mack and Gabe have dinner together! 🍴

two days later, will, mack and gabe are posted by restaurant, strega north end, which is popular amongst athletes and celebs.

such an interesting seating arrangement going on here. obvs they've been told to get onto one side of the table for the sake of the pic, but still...

it was definitely just the three of them as well. this vid captures them walking in. AGAIN, i am looking(TM) at the order they get out of the car, gabe in the middle again lol. notable absence in ryan leonard. after also being left out from the matching bc marmon costumes, there are indications that he's not quite as in touch with willgabe anymore! hmm!

then followed these pics, that the manager/owner always takes with famous ppl and has them do this pose lol. seperate pics AND together, amazing.

something that was also noticed from this day is that??? mack's wearing two different types of shoe??😭(note the brown sole on the left, which is a golf shoe. the right is a normal jordan 1.)

firstly, HILARIOUS. what! how does this happen? did mack pack a pair of two wrong shoes?? (they do look very similar and i would not put it past this man.) was this some kind of bet? (would also not put it past these two...) another possibility is that mack's shoes were still dirty from the marmon darty! as seen below, everyone's white shoes are completely caked in mud lol.

did mack wear the wrong pair (on purpose???) on this day so he was then forced to wear the only nice, clean, mismatched shoes he had left??

-> Mack posts on Insta 📸

the next day, whilst still in boston, we get an insta dump from the end of the season from mack. as always, there's a photo of just him and will featured, but what's most intriguing to me is the audio paired with it... Ella Langley's 'Loving Life Again'.

the chorus:

Just like that, I'm back to loving life again Dreaming dreams about back home riding on the wind When I close my eyes, I find some peace in the back of my mind

for me, it's the hugeeee juxtaposition with this audio choice and the last personal post mack made after the olympics where he overlaid, Frank Sinatra's 'That's Life' in a 'what can you do' deafeated way, after canada lost out on the gold medal to team usa. now he's in boston surrounded by his brother and all his ex-teammates, getting integrated into will's special circle of day ones, and he's LOVING LIFE AGAIN!!! <3

-> Mack is kicked out of a Boston bar for being underage 🍹

(april 25th) firstly, mack took a pic with fans earlier in the day on newbury street in boston where he was 'with a group of like 5 guys'.

the main story surfaced on tiktok from the bouncer that actually kicked him out because he recognised him and knew his age, and then asked for a photo with him😂

according to the guy, he was with 'his BU posse'. another tweet claims aiden was there, but also will! obviously take this with a pinch of salt, but i'm so 👀👀👀 if this is true. mack x BC and will x BU crossovers all in one trip!

however, the guy in the pic says he didn't see will there (tiktok comments):

No but I told him how I loved Patrick Marleau growing up and I asked if he’d met him he was like yea my buddy lived at his house I said “who will smith?” He was like yea lmfao

(i am also taking note of the past tense here for will having 'lived' at patty's house... so intrigued to learn what both their setups will be next season)

-> Mack returns to Vancouver 🍁

mack is then spotted training in vancouver on april 29th, so leaves boston sometime between the 25th and then!

-> Mack's announced on the Worlds roster 🏒🇨🇦

less than a week following mack's boston adventures, mack is announced to be playing for canada at worlds!

this is despite the week prior (april 18th), mack saying that he was unsure about playing at worlds:

He's played 88 games of hockey this season between the regular season and Olympics and is unsure if he'll play for Canada at the 2026 IIHF World Hockey Championships. "(With) no break, it was a little tough. Every guy was going through it, so there's no excuses," Celebrini said. "A little bit tired now, (but) I mean, I'm sure if the season is still going, I'd still have a lot of energy, but now that's all over, I think it's kind of hitting me a little bit more. I got a call. I'm still thinking, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do."

one must wonder whether mack's very public (ONE!!) wild weekend influenced his decision to play at worlds (and his dad's opinion on the matter too...) it certainly shifted the public's attention away, especially when he was later announced as captain!

conversely, will stuck to what he said in his exit interview and will not be playing at worlds for team usa:

"This summer, I’m out for Worlds. I just want to make sure I’m ready to go next year. Like I said, get bigger and stronger and a big May is definitely a big head start."

this means mack and will will continue their streak of not having played opposite each other since their BC/BU days!!

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hence, we now come to the end of what i've come to deem The Boston Saga and its knock-on effects. just to remind you:

"I think he might come out to Boston for a bit, and then I’ll go out to Vancouver."