Foligno grows into leadership role

Shortly after the Blue Jackets’ miserable 2015-16 season, captain Nick Foligno was summoned to a meeting with general manager Jarmo Kekalainen and coach John Tortorella at Double Eagle Golf Club, the private course owned by majority owner John P. McConnell.

Double Eagle is the Blue Jackets’ version of the principal’s office. It has been the scene of celebrations (annual goal outings) and terminations (Doug MacLean, 10 years ago), which is why Foligno approached Delaware County with trepidation.

Tortorella had griped about the Blue Jackets’ leadership throughout the

season, with some comments directly aimed at Foligno, who was in the first year of his captaincy.

“I wasn’t sure he could do it, and I told him that,” Tortorella said. “I wanted it to work. But I didn’t know if it could.”

Foligno survived the heart-to-heart — Kekalainen left the two alone after a few minutes — by baring his soul to Tortorella.

“I told him, ‘I don’t think I showed you the real me. You only saw a shell of what I’m capable of, and that’s on me,’ ” Foligno said. “I promised him I would show him the real me this season, and when you say something like that, you have to follow through.”

Barely one year later, Foligno is one of three finalists for an award recognizing the NHL’s best leaders.

The Mark Messier NHL Leadership award will be handed out Tuesday in Las Vegas. Ryan Getzlaf of Anaheim and Mark Giordano of Calgary are the other finalists.

Messier captained Edmonton, the New York Rangers and Vancouver, winning six Stanley Cups and playing in 15 All-Star Games.

“Messier is the quintessential leader, the ultimate captain, so I’m really humbled that he thought of me for this award,” Foligno

said. “And I’m in great company with Getzlaf and Giordano.”

Foligno helped guide the Blue Jackets to the best season in franchise history — 50 wins, 108 points — but it was his off-ice contribution before the season that commanded the most respect. Along with his wife, Janelle, the family donated $1 million to children’s hospitals in Columbus and Boston to help with pediatric heart research after his daughter, Melania, was born with a congenital heart defect.

Foligno also performed on the ice with 26 goals and 25 assists in 79 games, a return to form after a 12-goal 2015-16 season.

“Two years ago, I took everything on myself, and I wasn’t playing well enough to justify getting on guys,” he said. “I had to get selfish, so to speak. I had to take care of myself first, and let my game justify being the leader I always knew I could be.”

There were little moments, too, when a captain defines himself and states his presence

to the team. For Tortorella and many Blue Jackets players, it happened early in the season when Foligno was quick to jump in when he felt an opponent needed to be confronted. The fight that stood out most to Tortorella was when Foligno took on St. Louis forward Ryan Reaves, one of the toughest players in the league.

“Nick and I have come a long way,” Tortorella said, “but the thing I love and respect about Nick is that he’s approaching it like we still have a long way to go.”

They’ve come a long way from that meeting at Double Eagle.

“I was obviously nervous,” Foligno said. “But I wanted to have a chance to sit across from him so he knew where I was coming from, what I was feeling. Torts has definitely helped me become the leader I always knew I could be. I just had to fail a little bit to start to figure it out.”