MILAN (AP) \u2014 Brock Nelson has quite the international tradition to uphold.<\/p>\n
He is the fifth member of his family to play hockey for the U.S. at the Olympics. Great uncle Gord Christian went in 1956, grandfather Bill and brother Roger won gold in 1960, and uncle Dave Christian was part of the \u201cMiracle on Ice\u201d<\/a> in 1980.<\/p>\n Nelson wasted no time making an impact in his Olympic debut Thursday night, scoring twice in a 5-1 rout of Latvia<\/a> and showing why he made the team in the first place.<\/p>\n \u201cBrock\u2019s a guy that just brings a complete game,\u201d coach Mike Sullivan said. \u201cHe\u2019s got a mature game. He plays on both sides of the puck. He can score goals. He\u2019s having a great year for Colorado. He\u2019s a cerebral player. He\u2019s conscientious defensively. You can use him on the penalty kill. If we needed him on a power play, we could use him on a power play.\u201d<\/p>\n Nelson has 29 goals 55 games into his first full season with the Colorado Avalanche and is on the verge of hitting 30 for the fourth time in his NHL career, which until 11 months ago was spent entirely with the New York Islanders. Many of his U.S. teammates played alongside him at the 4 Nations Face-Off<\/a> a year ago and know all about his skillset after his decade in the NHL.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s probably been doing it for 15 years,” said linemate Jack Hughes, who set up each of Nelson’s goals against Latvia. \u201c(This) was another big stage for him.”<\/p>\n Nelson skated on the fourth line alongside Hughes and J.T. Miller, with Vincent Trocheck mixed in. It’s a testament to the depth of USA Hockey’s talent pool that standout players on their NHL teams are relegated to these kinds of depth roles, but such is life at the Olympics.<\/p>\n Sullivan is reluctant to call any of his forward trios the \u201cfourth line,\u201d usually reserved for grinders or energy guys hopping over the boards to give bigger-minute players a breather and flip the momentum with a strong shift. Nelson did so much more than that in the Olympic opener and he actually scored three times, though one was waved off after a coach’s challenge by Latvia.<\/p>\n \u201cYou never really know how many looks you\u2019re going to get, so you have that happen and you\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, man, maybe just not the night,’\u201d Nelson said. \u201cJack was great, saying, \u2018Just keep going, we\u2019re going to get another look.\u2019 He made a couple great plays there and found me.\u201d<\/p>\n Playing for the New Jersey Devils, Hughes spent years facing Nelson on the division-rival Islanders.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone around the league knows he\u2019s an elite two-way center,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cYou know when you\u2019re playing him, you\u2019re getting a hard night.\u201d<\/p>\n Nelson has 636 points in nearly 1,000 regular-season games in the NHL.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a dangerous guy,\u201d goaltender Connor Hellebuyck said. \u201cHe\u2019s got a big, long stick. He\u2019s got poise with the puck. He plays his system very well. He plays two ways with the puck. I just think he\u2019s a full-on complete player, with the vision of scoring.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. has preliminary round games Saturday against Denmark<\/a> and Sunday against Germany before the knockout round. The Americans don’t necessarily have to lean too much on Nelson, but it won’t hurt if another Olympic hockey player from Warroad, Minnesota<\/a>, chips in some more scoring along the way.<\/p>\n \u201cHe moves so well, and he does all the little things really well and he\u2019s got a great finishing touch,” center Jack Eichel said. “No surprise. All of us as players really appreciate his game.”<\/p>\n Fourth line or not, Nelson scored two goals in under 14 minutes of ice time.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the biggest things a guy like that has shown, going even back to last year is what makes our team successful and that\u2019s the sacrifice,\u201d winger Matthew Tkachuk said. “It\u2019s really just the sacrifice. That\u2019s what\u2019s going to make our team successful.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n