A hockey dynasty continues as Brock Nelson joins a legendary Olympic lineage, skating for Team USA and continuing his family's storied winter games tradition.
Former New York Islanders forward Brock Nelson accomplished a tremendous feat when he took the ice for Team USA in their 2026 Olympic opening 5-1 win over Team Latvia on Thursday.
Nelson became the fifth member of his family to hit the ice for Team USA at the Olympics.
His uncle, Dave Christian, was part of the Miracle on Ice team that shocked the world by winning gold at the 1980 Winter Olympics.
His grandfather, Bill Christian, and great uncle, Roger Christian, were on the gold-medal winning 1960 USA squad. Roger and Nelson's other great uncle Gord, won silver at the 1956 Winter Olympics.
Those Olympics took place in Cortana, Italy.
At 10:38 of the second, Nelson became at least the third member of his family to score a goal in the Olympics:
He scored his second goal of the game at 19:48 of the second to give Team USA a 4-1 lead:
Scoring goals is what his family does:
Nelson, who represented the USA at the NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off last season, did not take part in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, the last time NHL players were eligible to partake in the Olympic Games.
While he doesn't share the Christian last name, Nelson continues to carry on his family's hockey legacy, one stride at a time.
"I felt all the emotions coming out there. Super special. Lots of family here to share it with, too. Just awesome. I'm trying to take it all in."
Nelson recorded two goals in 13:25 minutes, playing on Team USA's fourth line and on their penalty kill.
The grizzled veterean and Team USA battle Denmark on Saturday at 3:10 ET before a quick turnaround to battle Germany at 3:10 ET on Sunday