Career
He is the older brother of Jeff Nelson. Originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1989 National Hockey League Entry Draft, Nelson played primarily in the minors and played just one game for the Penguins. He was inducted into the Pirates Hall of Fame in 2007.
Nelson played in just two games for the Washington Capitals, and played in the minors until his retirement in 2002.
Following his professional hockey career, Nelson moved into coaching. He was first the assistant coach/player coach for the Muskegon Fury of the UHL for the 2001-2002 season.
He was then an assistant coach for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL for the 2002-2003 season before returning as head coach of the Muskegon Fury from 2003-2006. On July 25, 2008, he accepted an assistant coaching position with the Atlanta Thrashers of the National Hockey League. On July 15, 2010, he was introduced as the first head coach of the AHL"s Oklahoma City Barons, affiliate of the National Hockey League"s Edmonton Oilers.
After the firing of Dallas Eakins on December 15, 2014, Nelson was promoted to head coach of the Oilers on an interim basis for the remainder of the 2014-2015 National Hockey League season.
He was replaced as head coach by Todd McLellan on May 19, 2015. On June 16, 2015, Nelson was named the head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League (AHL).
