Nelson to grow family legacy with United States at 4 Nations Face-Off

EAST MEADOW, N.Y. -- Brock Nelson stepped back and apologized for needing a moment to gather himself, to wipe his eyes and brush away the tears before they dripped down his face.

Nelson, the New York Islanders center, was trying to tell the story of how he told his grandfather Bill Christian, a forward who won a gold medal with the United States at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics, that he made the United States roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off, the best-on-best tournament featuring NHL players representing the U.S., Canada, Finland and Sweden in Montreal and Boston from Feb. 12-20.

"I called him," Nelson told NHL.com, his eyes welling up. "He was pretty emotional. Yeah. My grandma Carol passed in the spring, in March, and this meant a lot to him. He was choked up. Yeah."

Like his grandson, Bill Christian admitted he gets emotional every time he talks about Nelson being one of 13 forwards to make Team USA for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

He, in fact, did during a phone call with NHL.com from his home in Bemidji, Minnesota, on Saturday.

"It means everything," Christian said. "It's been a big part of our life, hockey, and international hockey was of course the best part of it because we played in the Olympics, played in the world tournaments. To have Brock have the same type of experience, I'm really proud. It is certainly just really a gift. It is. The timing couldn't be much better for everybody. It's just part of our life."

Nelson doesn't want to be seen as anything more than a player who helps the U.S. win the tournament next month.

Except, he's more than that and he knows it too.

Nelson is a legacy player following generations of his family on the international hockey stage for the United States.

Gordon Christian, Nelson's great uncle, earned a silver medal at the 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Olympics. Bill and his brother, Roger Christian, won gold in 1960. Dave Christian, Bill's son and Nelson's uncle, played for the "Miracle on Ice" team that won gold at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. He went on to play 1,009 NHL games, scoring 773 points (340 goals, 433 assists).

"It's unique," Nelson said of his USA Hockey lineage. "I mean, it gives me the chills. For me growing up, I didn't even really know any better, they were just family, it was just grandpa to me. Now obviously growing up and learning more about the game, playing and being involved, learning the history of USA Hockey and seeing what they did, it's all the more special."

After their playing days, Bill and Roger Christian founded the popular Christian Brothers Hockey Company based out of their hometown of Warroad, Minnesota. Christian Brothers wooden sticks were among the most popular used by NHL players through the 1990s. Nelson used their sticks when he was growing up playing on the outdoor rinks with his grandfather in Warroad.

"He's a big reason why I'm here today," Nelson said. "He helped me a lot as a kid just skating and loving the game. I owe him a lot."

Nelson has vivid memories of Bill shoveling off a piece of Warroad River when it froze in the winter so they could play there too.

"He had a nice little boat house," Nelson said. "We had an outdoor rink out by the Gardens Arena in the Olympic in Warroad that we could skate on, but my grandpa would always shovel off a little bit of the river and he had a couple buddies who would shovel off spots too, so we always had a place for outdoor exposure to get to play. It's the best."

Said Bill Christian: "I went through it myself and then I went through it with my son, and then to have a grandson come along who is so passionate about playing, every opportunity we got to be on the river we'd be there. He'd get out of school on his lunch break at noon and we'd go to the rink for 30-40 minutes just playing around. It was a great experience for me to experience watching him grow and develop. You could tell at a very young age that that's what he wanted to do. He wanted to play hockey, and he certainly has done that."

Nelson said those are his favorite memories from growing up, being on the river and then sitting by the fire to warm up. He said he had no idea at the time what his grandfather and Uncle David did in the game, the impact of their gold medals. He learned over time about his grandfather's accomplishments through stories and questions he would ask. He learned more about his uncle and the 1980 team from the movie "Miracle," which premiered in the United States on Feb. 2, 2004, when Nelson was 12 years old.

"I remember being 10ish and seeing their medals," Nelson said. "I still view them as grandpa and Uncle David. It's just a great hockey family and I'm fortunate to be a part of it and to grow up in that environment."

Now it's Nelson's turn to represent his family on the world's biggest hockey stage.

He is 33 years old, and he's played 888 NHL games, all with the Islanders, scoring 562 points (290 goals, 272 assists), including 31 (15 goals, 16 assists) in 48 games this season, and is fifth in goals and games played in Islanders history. He has represented the United States at the IIHF World Championship five times (2014-17, 2024) and won a bronze medal at the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Team USA general manager Bill Guerin said Nelson made the 23-man roster because of his versatility.

"What I like about him is he's kind of like a Swiss Army knife," Guerin told NHL.com. "He can do everything. He can play center. He can play wing. He can win face-offs. He can kill penalties. He can play on your power play. He can play on the flank. He can play net front. He's just very versatile and he's really smart. I like his complete game. With limited roster sizes you need guys to be able to wear different hats and he can do that."

Ironically, Guerin said he didn't know of Nelson's USA Hockey lineage when he selected him for this tournament, but he knew how much it would mean to Nelson "because every opportunity he gets (to play for the United States) he says yes."

Could the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics be next? Seventy years later, could Nelson follow his great uncle Gordon Christian with an opportunity to play for an Olympic medal in Italy?

That would be a dream, but Nelson said he's not thinking that far ahead. His proud grandfather is.

"It's pretty hard to explain to somebody what you feel about playing in the Olympics, but I can say that the 1980 experience with my son David was even a bigger thrill than playing in my own Olympics," Christian said. "Now if Brock could eventually get on to play Olympic hockey, well that would just be more than you could expect."