Brock Nelson’s Olympic bid completes a three-generation Christian-Nelson legacy in Milan
brock nelson is carrying a three-generation Olympic hockey lineage into the Milano Cortina Games as one of 25 men on Team USA, and the family’s history has followed him to Milan. The presence of his uncle Dave Christian, his grandfather Bill Christian and other relatives has turned this week’s tournament into a full-circle moment for the Christian-Nelson family from Warroad, Minn.
Uncle Dave Christian made a return to Milano Santagiulia
Dave Christian, 66, walked into Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on Saturday night with a smile and watched in person for the first time since Feb. 24, 1980. That night in 1980 — when Herb Brooks had converted Christian from a forward into a defenseman less than two months before the Olympics — Christian assisted on the tying and winning goals in a third-period comeback over Finland and celebrated gold on the ice at the Olympic Field House in Lake Placid. It was also the first Olympics Christian attended since he and his fellow Miracle on Ice teammates lit the cauldron at the 2002 opening ceremony in Salt Lake City. "Once an Olympian, always an Olympian, " Christian said, and he joined his sister Jeri Christofferson to watch his 34-year-old nephew play in Milan.
Brock Nelson’s scoring, semifinal and role with the Avalanche
Brock Nelson, wearing No. 29 in Milan, scored two goals in Team USA’s tournament-opening win over Latvia and assisted on one of the Americans’ six goals in a win over Denmark. The center, who is one of 25 men representing the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics, skated in the men’s semifinal against Slovakia on Feb. 20, 2026 at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. This is brock nelson’s Olympic debut; he had played his second game as a member of the 2026 U. S. men’s Olympic hockey team after those earlier matches. Nelson has been playing center for the Colorado Avalanche since he was traded on March 6, 2025.
How the Christian-Nelson family’s medals map across generations
The family’s Olympic résumé reaches back decades. Bill Christian, Brock’s grandfather, was a forward on the 1960 U. S. team that beat the Soviet Union to win gold; his age is given in the context as 88. Bill’s brothers Roger Christian and Gordon Christian also won Olympic medals: Roger was part of that 1960 gold team, and Gordon won a silver medal in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The context supplies the 1960 gold but gives two different locations for that win, so the precise site of the 1960 victory is unclear in the provided context. Dave Christian won the second U. S. men’s hockey gold in 1980. Nelson has said he only fully noticed the family symmetry after someone pointed it out in the summer and has described it as a "full circle moment, " noting that the family now includes five Olympians — his grandpa, his grandpa’s two brothers, his uncle and himself.
Family presence at the rink and beyond: sections, names and travel plans
After the Saturday win, Nelson skated to the corner and looked up into Sections B12 and B13, identified in the rink as the U. S. family section. He immediately spotted his wife Karley, their four kids, his brother Blayke and his mother Jeri, and he saw his uncle Dave Christian and Dave’s wife, Lisa. Nelson said he saw Dave waving as he left the ice and that he was proud Dave had come all the way to support him. Meanwhile, Gordon Christian’s children were scheduled to arrive at the Olympics on Monday to support their cousin and planned to take a train to Cortina to visit the place where their father won an Olympic medal. Forty-five hundred miles away, Bill Christian was watching.
NHL background, draft and Islanders history
Before joining the Avalanche, Nelson played for the New York Islanders after being drafted into the NHL in 2010. He was traded to the Colorado Avalanche on March 6, 2025 and has played center for the Avalanche since that trade. The context also notes that Dave Christian wore No. 30 for the 1980 U. S. team, a detail often recalled alongside historical anniversaries tied to the current tournament.
Anniversaries and a gold-medal stage set for Feb. 22
The 2026 U. S. gold-medal game against Canada is set to fall on the 46th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice game of Feb. 22, 1980, and the schedule means Nelson will be skating for gold on anniversaries connected to both his uncle’s and his grandfather’s past Olympic victories. That alignment — and the presence of multiple generations of Christians and Nelsons in Milan — is central to why this Olympics has felt like a return to the family’s history as well as a chance to add another chapter.
