Maven's Memories: Frans Nielsen, Sultan of the Shootout

There were a lot of things to like about Frans Nielsen when he wore the Islanders livery; not the least of which was his unmitigated mastery of the Shootout.
In fact, it would be a fair to say that Denmark's gift to the National Hockey League ranks among the most multi-dimensional forwards in the Islanders half-century of operation.

Frankly, there were no signs that there was anything special about Nielson when general manager Mike Milbury plucked him in the 2002 Entry Draft's third round, 87th overall.
It took almost five years for him to make it to AHL Bridgeport, but on January 6, 2007 he ascended to the bigs -- and climbed the NHL ladder to eventually enjoy the sweet smell of success.
Currently based in Sweden, Frans is a combination scout-coach -- or European player development consultant, if you will -- for the Seattle Kraken's young prospects. For the moment, the very likeable Dane looks back at his near-decade in Uniondale with the same brand of affection his fans held for him.
"I can speak for both myself and my wife," Nielsen says, "that even though we moved away from America, Long Island is the place we miss the most. For us, Long Island had everything. Living-wise it was wonderful and then there were all the friends we made and got to know over the years I spent with the hockey club; not to mention bonding with teammates and, of course, winning games."

Modest to a fault, Frans could not possibly overlook one overriding fact that placed him on a permanent pedestal. He ranks as one of the most successful major-leaguers when it comes to Shootout success percentage.
What others have termed "The Danish Backhand Of Judgement" can -- arithmetically -- be translated to a success rate of 46.23 percent, or 49 Shootout goals in 106 tries, sixth most among NHLers with at least 50 shootout attempts. Nielsen's 42 shootout goals and 82 shootout attempts are both tops in Islanders history and his 51.2% is most among any Islander with more than 20 attempts.
"To be perfectly honest," Nielsen asserts, "I still have no idea why my moves worked. I kept doing it (the "Danish Backhand Of Judgement") and it kept working. To get a better answer as to why the move worked so well, you'd have to ask all the goalies who I had beaten and how and why they went for my deke."
Then, a pause: "But I also realized that, after a while, that I'd have to come up with some other moves. I knew that I had to switch from the backhand and make the goalies think a little bit. So what I then did was do my move with a five-hole shot."
Frans listed goalies Henrik Lundqvist and Pekka Rinne as the most challenging goaltenders that he faced. "I just didn't like going against those guys," he says. "Those two were at the top of my list when it came to tough goalies to beat.
"But I never would say that I had a 'favorite' to go up against. Then again, there were goalies whose style -- for some reason -- just didn't work against my move."
Point-wise, the 2013-14 campaign was Nielsen's best. Typically durable, Frans played in all 80 Islanders games and totaled 25 goals and 33 assists for 58 points. Over the seasons, he enjoyed a number of linemates and remembers four in particular.
"The guy I played most with was Josh Bailey -- a terrific forward and a great guy," he recalls. "But there were others; in particular Michael Grabner who had great wheels and Kyle Okposo. I'm so glad that Kyle has gotten back in good form with Buffalo."
In a sense, the 2015-16 term was even more successful for Frans because the club gained a playoff berth and Nielsen tallied six points (3G, 3A) in 11 postseason contests.
Then again, he was no slouch a year earlier when he rang up his first NHL hat trick on October 25th 2014, scoring all three goals in the third period against Dallas.
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His coaches -- Ted Nolan, Scott Gordon, Jack Capuano -- all leaned heavily on Frans for penalty-killing, a role he enjoyed and did to perfection.
Nielsen: "In my early years my PK partner was Grabner. He had speed and smarts and we worked well together. Later on it became me and Nikolay Kulemin. I recall that in my last two or three years, we got really successful on the penalty kill.
"I'd say that Nik and I were pretty close to being the best pair in the league. The trick was that we had found a system that worked for us. The other thing that always helped with a good penalty-kill was staying with the same partner for as long as possible."
As a teenager, Nielsen knew that the odds were against Danish-born stickhandlers making it to the NHL. But former big-leaguer Petri Skriko took Frans under his wing and made the youngster's big-league dream possible.
"Petri was so important to me in the sense that -- with his experience -- he knew what it was like in the NHL and he was able to transmit a lot of good lessons to me. Also, he knew that I had that dream of playing in the NHL and he was willing to help me get there."
Likewise, each coach on Long Island had an effect on Frans, starting with Ted Nolan. Some were tough; others took an easier approach and a couple still stand out in his appraisal.
Nielsen: "With Ted Nolan you really had to earn everything you got from him and -- to be truthful -- I'm thankful for the time I had with him even though, every time you made a mistake you felt you were going to be sent down to the minors. Still, that anxious feeling actually helped me later on in the NHL.

"I had Jack Capuano for several years as coach and he also meant a lot to me in terms of my development. Jack believed in me and really taught me how to play the game."
Frans played nine years for the Islanders for a total of 591 games. He claims that his first game in Nassau was "special" but when it comes to his "most memorable" contest, he singled out his first playoff game at the Coliseum, May 5, 2013, against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"We had won game two at Pittsburgh," he smiles, "and then came home to the most incredible crowd reaction imaginable. In fact the fans were so loud that even in our locker room we could barely hear ourselves talk.
"There must have been 16,000 in the stands and when we came out for warmups, well, how can I describe it other than to say I've never experienced a crowd reaction as enthusiastic -- and loud -- to match the one on that night. The Coliseum atmosphere for that game still stands out for me."
There's no question that Frans will go down in team history as one of the most beloved of Islanders. He, in turn, is more than grateful that he could spend so much of his NHL career in Isles garb.
"When I think about the times when I was young," he concludes, "and dreamed about coming to the States from Europe, and all I wanted to do was play one game in the NHL. But then I got that game in with the Islanders and, soon enough, I set goals for myself and, to be honest, the time just flew by and I enjoyed a good career.
"But, don't kid yourself; it wasn't easy. It took a lot to stay an Islander; a commitment every day. Even in the summers, I knew that I had to do whatever it took to be ready for a new season."
After a deep breath, he puts it all in perspective: "There's no doubt about it, being an NHL player is a grind. But, do you know what? In the end, it's all worth it!"