Avalanche forward Brock Nelson has won the Gold Medal with Team USA at the Olympics in Milan, continuing a family ice hockey tradition that's spanned generations as he is now the third member of his family to win the top podium spot. Nelson, 34, was one of eight representatives sent by the Colorado Avalanche to compete in the Olympic games, including Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Devon Toews, who all played for Team Canada against Nelson in the gold medal game.
Nelson's mother, Jeri Christofferson is the daughter of 1960 gold medalist Bill Christian, and his uncle is Dave Christian, who played for the US Men's Team during the "Miracle on Ice" run in 1980. Seemingly, the US men's team wins gold when a member of the Minnesota-based hockey family is on ice. Drafted in 2010 by the New York Islanders, Nelson has been playing for a juggernaut Avalanche team that has been dominating the NHL this year.
Olympic Excellence
In Nelson's Olympic debut against Team Latvia, he recorded two goals, including the game winner and an assist. In fact, Nelson found the back of the net three total times in that game, though the first was called back due to excellent spotting by the Latvian team's video coach. In all Nelson had three points across all five of US men's team run, with an assist in the game against Denmark for Jack Hughes. Hughes would score the game winner in overtime in the Gold medal game.
The victory in Milan came about due to a return for NHL players to the international best on best tournament after a decade-long hiatus, and 46 years after pulling off the most unlikely of outcomes, Nelson and Team USA have taken back the crown as the best team in the world at the Olympics.
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