Chris Nielsen

Chris Nielsen
Born	February 16, 1980 (1980-02-16) (age 31) Moshi, TAN
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Right
Played for	AHL  Chicago Wolves  Manitoba Moose  San Antonio Rampage  Syracuse Crunch CHL  Laredo Bucks DEL  Kassel Huskies NHL  Columbus Blue Jackets
NHL Draft	36th overall, 1998 New York Islanders
Playing career	2000–2006

Chris Nielsen (born February 16, 1980) is a retired Canadian^[1] professional ice hockey centre.

Nielsen was born in Tanzania while his Canadian father was stationed there working for the Canadian International Development Agency. His family moved back to Canada when he was three, and he grew up on a farm near the small town of Goodlands, Manitoba.^[2]

Nielsen was drafted in the 2nd round, 36th overall by the New York Islanders in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. He played parts of two seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Playing career

Nielsen played junior hockey with the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League. He was a member of the 1998–99 team that won the President's Cup, and got within a game of winning the Memorial Cup. He won the Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy in 1999–2000 as the WHL's Humanitarian of the Year.

Nielsen turned pro in 2000, playing three seasons with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League, earning two callups to the Blue Jackets during that time. He then bounced around between the Chicago Wolves, Manitoba Moose and San Antonio Rampage of the AHL and the Laredo Bucks of the Central Hockey League before heading to Europe to play in Germany in 2005–06. Nielsen retired from professional hockey in 2006.

After retiring from hockey, Nielsen went back to school at the University of Manitoba and was the colour commentator for the Manitoba Moose at their home games.

Nielsen is now a second year medical student at the University of Calgary.^{[citation needed]}

Awards

• 1999 - WHL Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy
• 2000 - WHL Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy.
• 2000 - WHL Humanitarian of the Year Award.

Transactions

• June 27, 1998 - Drafted in the 2nd round, 36th overall by the New York Islanders in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.
• May 11, 2000 - Traded by the New York Islanders to the Columbus Blue Jackets for the Blue Jackets' 4th round selection (Jonas Rönnqvist) and 9th round selection (Dmitri Altarev) in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.
• December 2, 2002 - Traded by the Columbus Blue Jackets with Petteri Nummelin to the Atlanta Thrashers for Tomi Kallio and Pauli Levokari.
• January 20, 2003 - Traded by the Atlanta Thrashers with Chris Herperger to the Vancouver Canucks for Jeff Farkas.

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1995–96	Calgary Hitmen	WHL		6	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Calgary Hitmen	WHL		62	11	19	30	39		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Calgary Hitmen	WHL		68	22	29	51	31		18	2	4	6	10
1998–99	Calgary Hitmen	WHL		70	22	24	46	45		21	11	5	16	28
1999–00	Calgary Hitmen	WHL		62	38	31	69	86		13	14	9	23	20
2000–01	Syracuse Crunch	AHL		47	10	11	21	24		5	2	2	4	4
2000–01	Columbus Blue Jackets	NHL		29	4	5	9	4		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Syracuse Crunch	AHL		47	12	12	24	18		10	2	2	4	2
2001–02	Columbus Blue Jackets	NHL		23	2	3	5	4		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Syracuse Crunch	AHL		19	1	3	4	8		—	—	—	—	—
	Chicago Wolves	AHL		18	3	4	7	4		—	—	—	—	—
	Manitoba Moose	AHL		33	3	10	13	13		14	1	2	3	16
2003–04	Manitoba Moose	AHL		72	4	7	11	21		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	Laredo Bucks	CHL		7	0	4	4	4		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	San Antonio Rampage	AHL		54	8	8	16	20		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Kassel Huskies	DEL		38	4	11	15	32		—	—	—	—	—
WHL totals				268	93	103	196	201		52	27	18	45	58
AHL totals				290	41	55	96	108		29	5	6	11	22
NHL totals				52	6	8	14	8		—	—	—	—	—

References

1. ^ 2000 World Jr. Championship
2. ^ http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3094815; http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:hC1VrN94DcgJ:www.sunmedia.ca/2000WJHC/jan3_wat.html

External links

• Chris Nielsen's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database

Preceded by Kyle Rossiter	Winner of the WHL Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy 1999, 2000	Succeeded by Dan Hulak
Preceded by Andrew Ference	Winner of the WHL Humanitarian of the Year Award 2000	Succeeded by Jim Vandermeer

Persondata
Name	Nielsen, Chris
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 16, 1980
Place of birth	Moshi, TAN
Date of death
Place of death