Farewell, Captain
Remembering the Jackets longtime leader with five Foligno favorites
The trade that made Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno a Toronto Maple Leaf was not unexpected.
After watching David Savard join the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday in a deal that was a near carbon copy, the feeling was that Foligno would be next. So, when it happened Sunday it didn't land as a shock or surprise.
It did, however, tug at a lot of heartstrings.
Foligno was the longest-tenured captain Blue Jackets history, wearing the “C” on his chest for six seasons. He scored a lot of memorable goals, played through countless aches and pains, and devoted himself to the team and local community. He also took a lot of pride in leading the Jackets from relative obscurity into a team that qualified for the playoffs the past four years.
“It's a big hole,” said star defenseman Seth Jones, an alternate captain who has learned a lot about leadership from Foligno. “He leads by example for our team, leads vocally, leads the way on the ice, always does what he can to make the guys better around him, and he cares so deeply about this organization, this city and this community. The things he's done since he's been here can't be matched.”
Foligno showed up at Nationwide Arena on Monday to say his goodbyes and dole out hugs and handshakes. He also thanked Blue Jackets fans on Sunday night, sending out a heartfelt tweet attached to a post by the team that included a touching montage of his nine years in Columbus.
“My love for the city of Columbus and you, the fans, could never be measured,” Foligno wrote. “Thank you for allowing me to lead your team. To my teammates … it was an honor to battle with you! Til the cannon fires again! I salute you!”
Til the cannon fires again? Was that the captain's way of saying he will return?
Perhaps. Foligno is a pending free agent and has left the possibility of resigning with the Jackets on the table, but for the time being he has a bigger, shinier goal in mind.
“He's been a leader of our team for six-plus years now, so to see your captain leave, it's kind of bittersweet,” said Cam Atkinson, whose friendship with Foligno started as soon as the latter showed up in Columbus in 2012. “It's sad, but I'm also happy for him that he gets the opportunity to chase his dream, just like any of us would, and hopefully win a Stanley Cup … and he can bring it back here to celebrate with us.”
As Foligno heads off on that journey, here are five memories of his Blue Jackets' career that helped him leave an indelible mark on Columbus:
The OT Goal
The Blue Jackets had been in the playoffs once before in franchise history, but were swept in 2009 by the Detroit Red Wings.
The next time they made it to the postseason, Foligno was in his second season with Jackets and the first-round opponent in the 2014 playoffs was the Pittsburgh Penguins, who became their most bitter rival in the Metropolitan Division.
Matt Calvert had scored in double overtime in Pittsburgh to even the series 1-1 — the Jackets' first-ever victory in a playoff game — but the Penguins won Game 3 at Nationwide Arena and people in Columbus had not yet experienced the taste of a home playoff victory.
Foligno changed that with one of the most exciting goals in franchise history, beating goaltender Marc-andre Fleury with a long wrist shot that sent a soldout building into hysterics. Foligno dropped to his knees, pumped both fists and slid toward his teammates to celebrate.
“That was the first franchise playoff win at home, so (it's) not even about me scoring,” Foligno said Sunday. “Just being able to share that with the fans and how loud the building was, and those are all the things I remember more than anything … a team that no one really expected much out of was now neck-andneck with the Pittsburgh Penguins, going back to Pittsburgh. Series tied 2-2.
"It was like the start of what we were
trying to become here, so that's what I remember and cherish every day.”
The Breakaway
The beginning of the Blue Jackets' historic sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the 2019 playoffs looked a lot like the regular season.
The Lightning raced to a 3-0 lead in the first period and it felt like the Blue Jackets might be in danger of being swept by a team that set NHL records that season. Instead, a great save by former Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, plus a timely breakaway goal by Foligno, sparked a surge that overwhelmed the Lightning the remainder of the series.
After scooping the puck off a turnover near the Jackets' blue line, Foligno hit the afterburners the other way and buried a wrist shot past Andre Vasilevskiy to silence the crowd at Amalie Arena.
“I was late coming back in the play and I don't remember why, but that whole time I went down the ice I just said, ‘I'm going to rip this as hard as I can
to the low blocker,'” Foligno told the Dispatch for an oral history series about the sweep. “That's kind of my shot.”
It also was a huge turning point.
The 'Laser Eyes'
Later in that series, the Blue Jackets fended off a furious push by the Lightning at the end of Game 3 to take a stunning 3-0 lead with a chance to sweep in Game 4.
During a scrum near the end of Game 3, Foligno had Lighting captain Steve Stamkos tied up before his counterpart got an arm free and send a gloved haymaker that landed on his nose.
Foligno was not pleased. His incensed, bug-eye reaction, caught on the TV broadcast, instantly became part of Blue Jackets lore. During an interview for the oral history series about the sweep, Foligno shared a humorous memory about a text he had received afterward from his younger brother, Marcus, a Minnesota Wild forward.
It was about Mike Foligno, their dad, who played a long career in the NHL himself.
“My brother and I would joke as kids that we'd get ‘laser-eyed' by our dad, because you would feel like he was burning a hole through you,” Foligno said. “So, Marcus sent me a text that said, ‘Well, you finally mastered the ‘laser eyes' at 31 years old. Congratulations.'”
Foligno's Favorite
Ask a Blue Jackets fan what “Foligno's Favorite” means and they'll likely rattle off that it was a pizza you could order from Papa John's for a couple of years.
The best part was the commercial that accompanied the rollout of it, which was literally and figuratively cheesy. It featured Foligno as every character during the ordering, assembling and sale of a “Foligno's Favorite,” and two highlights stood out.
“Pepperonis, onions, Italian sausage, banana peppers … and a four-cheese
blend,” said Foligno, tossing cheese onto a pizza. “Foligno's Favorite, perfect every time.”
Foligno is then shown handing the pizza to a customer who comes into the store, who is also Foligno wearing his home jersey.
“Here's your Foligno's Favorite, sir,” Employee Foligno says.
“You know, this is my favorite,” customer Foligno replies.
Giving Back
Foligno and his wife, Janelle, had a life-changing experience when daughter Milana was born with a rare congenital heart defect. It took surgery to repair and was a scary situation after the birth of their first child.
They never forgot the care Milana received at Nationwide Children's Hospital and Boston Children's Hospital, where Milana underwent surgery as an infant, and then again at age 5.
Nick and Janelle decided to make a $1 million donation in Milana's honor in 2016 that was spilt equally between the two hospitals. That's how the heart research laboratory at Nationwide Children's Hospital came to be named the Foligno Family Cardiovascular Research Lab.
The Folignos also leaned on Nationwide Children's Hospital during a separate health scare in the 2018-19 season, when their youngest of two sons, Hudson, was hospitalized for five days with pneumonia.
“We always said that we are very fortunate with Milana's situation, having gotten her the help that she was able to get,” said Janelle, who has since started a foundation called The Heart's Playbook and wrote a children's book that both donate proceeds to heart research and families affected by heart disorders. “Not everybody is that fortunate.”
Columbus feels the same about the Foligno family. bhedger@dispatch.com @Brianhedger