27 greatest American NHL players of all-time

player. 19. <p>Dave Christian comes from a big hockey family that includes his father Bill and uncle Roger were played on the gold medal-winning team in the 1960 Olympics and his uncle Gordon played for the silver medal-wining 1056 Olympic team. Currently. his nephew Brock Nelson plays for the New York Islanders.</p> <p>Christian joined his father and uncle when he won the gold medal for the 1980 Miracle on Ice team and began his NHL career one week later when he made his debut for the Winnipeg Jets who made him the No. 40 pick in the 1979 draft after two years at North Dakota.</p> <p>He literally didn’t waste any time in his pro debut when he scored seven seconds into his first shift, setting an NHL record for the quickest goal by a player in his first game. He had 209 points in 230 games with the Jets but they traded him to the Washington Capitals for a first round pick before the 1983-1984 season where he played 6.5 seasons.</p> <p>Christian experienced his finest individual success with the Caps and set a career-high for assists with 52 and points with 81 in his first season in Washington. Two years later he set a career-high in goals with 41 and a new career-high for points with 83. Six of his eight best goal-scoring seasons came with the Caps where he had 417 points in 504 games.</p> <p>For his career, Christian ranks 14th among Americans with 340 goals, 433 assists and 773 career points.</p>. Right Wing. Washington Capitals. Dave Christian. 27