After spending 10 seasons with the Islanders, Frans Nielsen will play against his former team for first time on Sunday.
"There will be some butterflies for me, some nerves," Nielsen said before the game. "Hopefully it'll take a couple of shifts, I can relax and just play my game."
The Danish forward scored 349 points (119G, 230A) in 606 games for the Islanders, but was lauded for his all-around game. Nielsen was an adept defensive forward, who played on both the power play and penalty kill, scoring a career-high 25 goals in the 2013-14 season. Drafted in 2002, Nielsen's 606 games rank 12th all-time in Islanders history.
"He's a tremendous person with a great work ethic and somebody that I really learned from," John Tavares said of Nielsen. "No one could ever discount his effort or the way he played the game. He always kept everybody accountable just by the way he played and you couldn't question him doing the right things and really setting the example that way."
"He set the tone for our team, especially without the puck and obviously a tremendous player with it," Tavares added. "We asked him to play in so many situations, we counted on him in so many areas. That showed his versatility and the quality of player he is. It'll be a fun game."
Nielsen has six goals and eight assists in 25 games this season and was asked to reflect on his memories of being an Islander.
"Playing my first game to scoring my first goal, the first playoff series I was in against Pittsburgh, the Coliseum how loud it was," Nielsen said. "Winning a round last year and all the friendships, all the people I met, not only with hockey, but away from the rink are friends for life living on Long Island. One third of my life I lived here, so there's a lot of stuff you miss about being here."
