NIELSEN’S RATING

By Tom Williams

Defenseman’s love of hockey keeps on growing

The 6-foot-5 Avon Lake grad has a scholarship to play for Michigan Tech.

Whether he’s blocking a shot, mixing it up with an opponent or skating in front of the opposing goal, Phantoms defenseman Carl Nielsen is pretty easy to spot when he takes the ice.

“When you have a 6-foot-5, 225-pound guy who is one of the fastest guys on your team, that speaks for itself what he can bring to the table,” Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt said of his backliner.

“Carl is just scratching the surface to his potential,” Mainhardt said. “He’s a big guy who can jump into the play.”

Nielsen’s latest role has been to move up into the slot during Phantoms’ power plays.

“We use him up front because he’s a big body, weighs a lot and it’s hard for a defenseman to move him,” Phantoms forward Jordy Trottier said. “He gets there, he’ll plant,

“He’s an extremely athletic kid. His hand-eye coordination is the best I’ve seen,” Trottier said. “And he does a good job of getting his stick on the puck on shots from the point and boxing guys out in front.”

This weekend, Nielsen begins his final journey as a junior hockey player as the Phantoms open a best-of-five North American Hockey League playoff series against the Traverse City North Stars. Game 1 will be played tonight at 7:30 at the Chevrolet Centre.

Earlier this week, Nielsen received a scholarship to attend and play for Michigan Technical University in Houghton, Mich.

“I’ve been out of school for three years so next year is going to be different for me,” the 2006 Avon Lake High graduate said.

“Two years ago, I played in Alpena, [Mich.],” Nielsen said. “I kind of like the area and Michigan Tech came up with an offer. They play in a great league, the WCHA [Western Collegiate Hockey Association].”

“And they are a good team,” Nielsen said. “The coaches are real sincere about me stepping in and being a player for them as fourth or fifth D [defenseman]. I wanted to go somewhere where I can get some playing time — I really don’t want to ride the bench.”

Nielsen’s perseverance on the ice wasn’t expected.

“I was kinda told at 7 that I wasn’t going to go anywhere with hockey,” Nielsen said. “They told my Dad ‘don’t be surprised if he’s done with it in a year or two.’ ”

What kept him going?

“When I was a little kid, I had ADD [attention-deficit disorder] problems. Instead of putting me on medicine, my parents had me play a bunch of sports,” Nielsen said. “So I played hockey, I swam, I played soccer, baseball. I mean I did it all as a kid to keep me calmed down and tire me out a little.”

Hockey wasn’t his only collegiate opportunity.

“I did play football in high school for one year, my senior year,” Nielsen said. “I had an opportunity to go play at Bowling Green, but I figured I would stick with hockey.

“I like football — football is an interest in my life,” Nielsen said. “I like watching it but hockey is my true love in sports.”

How close did he come to going to Bowling Green?

“It was tempting,” Nielsen said before a recent Phantoms practice at the Ice Zone. “Coaches were like, ‘ah you would have played your junior year.’ But I had been playing hockey so long. I know I like hockey. I just think I like football.”

This season, Nielsen scored five goals and 14 assists. More importantly, he has a +17 rating in plus/minus (for even-strength goals). He also leads the team in penalty minutes (142).

“With a guy his size, he’s got an intimidation factor going into the corners,” Phantoms defenseman Trevor Shively said. “You can count on him to win battles.

“He is strong as an ox. And even if he does get beat, he’s got that long reach that nine times out of 10 he can still make up the play,” Shively said. “It’s nice playing with him.”

Two of his goals were scored on March 26 when the Phantoms defeated Alpena, 6-2.

“We had some good shots by Harry [defense partner Robert Harrison] at the point and I received a nice pass from [Stefan] Salituro to get those two goals,” Nielsen said. “It was a good feeling.

“I’m not used to scoring, that’s not usually what I do but it was a good change of game for me.”

Trottier said, “He’s so big, takes up so much room that the goalie really can’t see [the puck]. He can cause a [bad] rebound and he does a good job of finding loose pucks with the rebounds.

And [opponents] draw penalties on him,” Trottier said. “Like last weekend, as he was scoring, we were getting a delayed penalty call. The [opponent] was trying to move him and broke his stick across his back.

“And Carl was like ‘whatever’ and buried one. He’s a tough kid and an extremely good hockey player.”

williams@vindy.com