William David Christian (born January 29, 1938) is an American former

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player. He led the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to a gold medal at the

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Valley ...

. He was inducted into the

United States Hockey Hall of Fame The United States Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1973 with the goal of preserving the history of ice hockey in the United States while recognizing the extraordinary contributions of select players, coaches, administrators, officials an ...

in 1984, and the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 1998.

Career

Christian played prep school hockey at

Warroad High School Warroad High School is a public high school in Warroad, Minnesota, United States. Despite the small size of the community, the school has produced several successful hockey players. Academics 21% of Warroad students participate in the school's A ...

where he led the team to the 1953 state tournament finals. Christian then attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. However, since freshman were not allowed to join varsity sports teams at the time, Christian describes it as a “lost season.” After one year at the University of Minnesota, Christian joined the United States National Team. He led the

to a gold medal at the

. During the Olympics, Christian led the team with seven goals and five assists, and they became the first American team to play in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

a year earlier. After the Olympics, Christian had a brief tryout with the minor league

Seattle Totems The Seattle Totems were a professional ice hockey franchise in Seattle, Washington. Under several names prior to 1958, the franchise was a member of the Pacific Coast Hockey League (renamed the Western Hockey League (1952–1974), Western Hockey ...

but chose not to become a professional player, returning to build houses in Minnesota instead. He kept playing for the

Warroad Lakers The Warroad Lakers were an American Senior ice hockey team from Warroad, Minnesota. The Lakers played in various Manitoba AHA and Thunder Bay AHA senior and intermediate leagues and were granted special eligibility for the Allan Cup and Hardy ...

for 23 years before retiring after the 1980 season. Four years later, in 1984, he was inducted into the

. In 1998, Christian was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame as a player. In 2016, both Christian and his son Dave auctioned off their gold medals with Heritage Auctions.

Personal life

Christian comes from a hockey playing family. Both

Roger Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...

and Gordon Christian played for Team USA at the Olympic Games. His son,

Dave Christian David William Christian (born May 12, 1959) is an American former professional ice hockey forward. He played on the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal during the 1980 Winter Olympics. Christian went on to play for five Natio ...

, was a member of the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, at the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

that also won a gold medal before embarking on a successful career in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

between 1980 and 1995. His grandson,

Brock Nelson Brock Christian Nelson (born October 15, 1991) is an American professional ice hockey player for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nelson was drafted 30th overall in the first round of the 2010 NHL entry draft by the Ne ...

, has played in the NHL with the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

of the NHL. The Christian brothers' father was a carpenter. In 1964, Christian and his brother Roger began a wooden hockey stick business called "Christian Brothers Hockey Company". The company was eventually bought out by Harrow in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, Bill 1938 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen American men's ice hockey players Ice hockey players from Minnesota Ice hockey players at the 1960 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1964 Winter Olympics IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Medalists at the 1960 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in ice hockey People from Warroad, Minnesota Warroad Lakers players United States Hockey Hall of Fame inductees

Career

Personal life

See also

References