MILAN — At 66 years old, Dave Christian walked into Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on Saturday night with a smile on his face.
It was the first time he attended an Olympics since he and his fellow “Miracle on Ice” U.S. teammates lit the cauldron at the opening ceremony at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.
But even more special?
It was Christian’s first time witnessing an Olympic hockey game in person since Feb. 24, 1980 — the night Christian, a forward who Herb Brooks turned into a defenseman less than two months before the Olympics, assisted on the tying and winning goals in a third-period comeback over Finland that led to celebrating gold on the ice at the Olympic Field House in Lake Placid.
Forty-six years later, Christian was joining his sister, Jeri Christofferson — Brock Nelson’s mom — to watch his 34-year-old nephew, Brock, play his second game as a member of the 2026 United States men’s Olympic hockey team.
“So happy that he’s here,” Christian said not long before Nelson, who scored two goals for the United States in a tournament-opening win over Latvia, assisted on one of the Americans’ six goals in a win over Denmark. “It’s something else. It means a ton just the fact that Brock’s an Olympian. Once an Olympian, always an Olympian. You grow up with that dream of being an Olympian because of my uncles and my dad. That was always my dream. Just having that opportunity to have it come true the way that it did was pretty incredible. And now to have Brock have the same opportunity, I can’t describe what this means.”
Nelson is just the latest generation in the Christian-Nelson family of Olympians from Warroad, Minn., — a.k.a. Hockeytown USA.
Not only did Brock’s uncle Dave win the second United States men’s hockey gold medal in 1980, but his grandfather, Bill Christian — Dave’s dad — and great uncle Roger Christian — Dave’s uncle — were part of the first U.S. men’s hockey team to win gold in 1960 at Squaw Valley. And four years before that, another of Brock’s great uncles and Dave’s uncle, Gordon Christian, won a silver medal in, of all places, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
Seventy years later, Nelson’s in the Milan Cortina Olympics. In fact, Gordon’s children are arriving at the Olympics on Monday to support their cousin and plan to take a train to Cortina to experience where their dad won an Olympic medal.
“I didn’t even put two and two together until somebody mentioned it to me in the summer,” Nelson said. “Pretty cool that it’s just a full circle moment here now for our family and the opportunity that I have. It’s really crazy when you think about it that we have five family members as Olympians with my grandpa, his two brothers, his son and now me.”
Brock Nelson’s brother Blayke Nelson, mother Jeri Christofferson and uncle Dave Christian. (Michael Russo / For The Athletic)
After Saturday night’s win, Nelson skated to the corner of the rink and looked up into Sections B12 and B13 — the U.S. family section. He immediately spotted his wife, Karley, their four kids, his proud brother and mother, Blayke and Jeri, and that unmistakable face of his uncle Dave Christian and his aunt Lisa, Dave’s wife.
“I saw him,” Nelson said, his eyes welling. “I saw him waving on my way out. I’m so proud that he came all the way here to support me and share this with me.”
Forty-five hundred miles away, Bill Christian was watching, too. His brothers, Roger and Gordon, have died. But Bill is 88 and still the biggest Brock Nelson fan imaginable. Traveling to Italy was just too hard at his age, but Brock’s aunt Debbie got Bill up to her home in Bemidji, Minn., so he could watch the Olympics with her and her family.
“I know he was one of the first calls that Brock made after he found out he made the Olympic team before New Year’s,” Blayke Nelson, Brock’s 30-year-old brother, said.
Dave Christian, who went on to play over 1,000 NHL games after winning gold in 1980, said the bond between his dad and Brock has always been inseparable.
“Brock used to go skate with him every day at lunchtime,” Dave said.
Bill and his brother, Roger, founded the Christian Brothers Hockey Company, which manufactured hockey sticks starting in 1964, until they sold the company in 2002. In kindergarten, there were half days back then, so Brock would go with his grandfather to the iconic Gardens Arena in Warroad to skate. In middle school, there was a dirt road behind Brock’s school. He’d cross the road during lunch hour to the Christian Brothers factory.
“My grandpa had his office there,” Brock said. “I would steal quarters, hit the vending machine, and go curve sticks. I’d grab the wood blades, curve blades and we’d play little games on the table. My mom worked there for a bit. The smell of that place is one of the smells that you’ll never forget. Some good memories, just running around. And crazy to think about a kid being able to just run around a hockey stick factory and just grab whatever you want. I’d make some crazy curves in the machine and press them. Warroad’s a hockey lifestyle, so pretty fortunate to have that upbringing.”
Bill Christian is currently writing a book titled “Hockey for a Lifetime.” It was actually supposed to be published by now, but he has paused the process because he wants to add his memories of his grandson being an Olympian and wait for the outcome of these Olympics.
Blayke and his mom have been proofreading the book, and “there are so many things in there that I never heard,” Blayke said. “I thought I heard it all, but reading his memories and talking to him about it, it’s remarkable, like him and Uncle David, the things that they did. And then he talks about watching David at the 1980 Olympics and he gets emotional talking about that more than I ever knew. And now he’s so proud of Brock to me add to the legacy. It’s such a special thing for the family. Every step. Everything is such a big deal.”
Blayke still lives in Warroad. In fact, he’s an assistant coach of the Warroad High girls’ hockey team. They just won their 11th section title to advance to the Class A state tournament in St. Paul. Blayke missed the section final to attend the first three games of the Olympics, including Sunday night’s game against Germany, but will return to the Twin Cities on Tuesday to coach the team at states. Blayke and Brock’s sister, Billye, will switch spots with Blayke and travel to Milan.
“This is unbelievable,” Blayke said. “The Olympics is something Brock and I talked about since we were little. We watched my grandpa, we watched my uncle and talked about it all the time. It’s such an honor to be here.”
Dave watched Brock’s Olympic debut back home in Minnesota.
“A lot of tears that first shift,” Dave said.
In that opener against Latvia, Brock assisted on what everybody thought was Quinn Hughes’ first-period goal.
“I looked at Blayke, and Blayke was teary-eyed, and then of course I lost it,” Brock’s mom, Jeri, said. “And then they called it back, and I’m like, ‘Oh, darn.’ And then he scored the next goal, and they called that back, too. It was an up-and-down roller coaster, but when he scored two goals in the second and third periods, it was a thrill of a lifetime.
“It’s so hard to wrap my head around this. I was fortunate to be in Lake Placid in ’80 for the whole two weeks, and so to come here again and now watch my son after watching my brother, it makes it so much more emotional for us. And then, of course, having one goal in his first game of the Olympics was sweet. But two?”
Jeri was in Colorado visiting her son when USA Hockey GM Bill Guerin called to deliver the good news. She was overjoyed when Brock told her he was an Olympian. It was Dec. 31, and later that night, Brock scored a goal and assist in a 6-1 Avalanche win over St. Louis.
Funny enough, the family wondered if Brock re-signing in Colorado rather than signing with the Minnesota Wild, the NHL team Guerin manages, would hurt his chances of being an Olympian. After all, it wasn’t a secret that Minnesota had been planning to make Brock a huge offer as a free agent if he reached there on July 1. But the reality is, Guerin and especially the USA coaching staff absolutely adore Nelson’s complete game. He’s a coach’s dream, plus he gave them no choice with 29 goals and 49 points in 55 games for the juggernaut Avs, including 26 goals since Nov. 13 — the third-most in the NHL in that span.
“The last 10 years, it seems like he gets better every year,” Blayke said of his older brother, a longtime New York Islander traded to Colorado almost a year ago. “I’ve watched it my entire life, looking up to him, and it’s been that way since youth hockey. High school, college, AHL, NHL, every year he gets better.”
Brock Nelson’s brother, Blayke, surprised him with a Warroad Hockeytown USA “Brock Nelson” Olympic pin. (Courtesy of Blayke Nelson)
Blayke arrived in Milan with a Warroad Hockeytown USA “Brock Nelson” Olympic pin. He surprised his brother with one. The Warroad Youth Hockey Association also created a big Hockeytown USA flag and had 63 kids write cards and notes. As Brock began reading the notes, he began to well up. His uncle Dave also wrote him a private note that he found in the Olympic village upon his arrival, one that “caused me to choke up.”
“Warroad is so special,” said Brock, the first hockey Olympian from the city since T.J. Oshie (2014) and Gigi Marvin (2010, 2014 and 2018).
Blayke said there are so many events right now in Warroad centered around Brock being at the Olympics. There are daily watch parties, and most of the United States’ games are airing at 2:10 p.m. CT. Blayke has also been sending all sorts of pictures and videos back to a hockey community that is rich in history and proud of its latest Olympic hockey hero.
“It’s brought a spark and energy to the town,” Blayke said. “People that visit Warroad, they can’t believe this is a town that’s been around for 125 years. It feels like it’s brand new. It’s growing. It’s getting modern. It’s exciting to be there and such a great place to raise a family.
“And we love our hockey.”
And they love Brock and would love to see a gold medal draped across his neck like his grandfather, great uncle and uncle after the Feb. 22 gold-medal game.
“We can’t think that far ahead,” his mom, Jeri, said, smiling. “We’ll see what happens, but it would be phenomenal and I won’t be able to keep the tears in. But I’m proud of him regardless.”
As Uncle Dave proudly says, “Once an Olympian, always an Olympian,” gold medal or not.
