TORONTO, Ont. — Everything’s coming up Foligno.
Though getting what you want is easier when you know what you’re looking for.
Columbus Blue Jackets winger Nick Foligno is having a career year in more ways than one. His goal and point totals are approaching career-highs just halfway through the season and on New Year’s Eve he signed a lucrative, long-term contract with the Jackets that will keep him in red and blue until 2020-21.
“I had a really good conversation with management about what kind of player I wanted to be and the potential they thought I had,” Foligno told Sportsnet Radio 590 The Fan Friday. “I took it really seriously. It’s worked. It just took me a while to figure out what player I wanted to be.
“Getting to Columbus really helped my career because I got put into a role that I thought I could succeed in.”
Things are looking up for his team, too.
Columbus will host its first NHL All-Star Game on Jan. 25, its second major event since entering the league in 2000. The city hosted the 2007 NHL draft.
“I think it’s huge because it will be a great way for Columbus to showcase how big a hockey town they actually are,” said Foligno. “Last year in the playoffs you saw how crazy our crowd was.”
The all-star weekend could be a benchmark for both player and the team.
“It would be a huge honour to rub elbows with some of the greatest players in the game, something that I would cherish,” he said. “I wouldn’t have dreamed of that at the start of the year.”
The start of the year didn’t exactly begin the way anyone on the Jackets hoped. Injuries ravaged the team, with key cogs such as Nathan Horton, Brandon Dubinsky, James Wisniewski and Artem Anisimov going down for extended periods.
Foligno, unsurprisingly, won’t use that as an excuse.
“When you’re going through (injuries) it’s so bad (that) something’s gotta give,” he said. “Once we figured out we weren’t playing to our identity it just started to snowball from there. We weren’t playing the hockey we’re capable of.”
As Foligno and the Blue Jackets come through Toronto Friday, the son of former Leaf Mike Foligno remembers playing his first NHL game at the Air Canada Centre.
“I (had) never realized how big this arena was,” he said. “I remember stepping out for warmups and just looking up. It was a time when Ottawa-Toronto was a pretty big rivalry still. I had my parents in the stands, my sisters, brother. It meant a lot to me.”
The Buffalo-native can also clearly recall his father’s mark on the Leafs’ franchise. Mike played for the Leafs near the end of his career and scored a crucial playoff goal in 1993 against the favoured Detroit Red Wings.
“I’ll never forget,” Foligno said. “The ’93 series sticks out in my head. We were watching on TV when he scored (against) the Red Wings. The city was on fire. It was a really cool time to be a Maple Leafs fan.”
Mike has called it the biggest goal of his career and Nick didn’t flinch when asked if his overtime winner against the Pittsburgh Penguins in last year’s playoffs was his own personal highlight.
“There’s nothing like scoring in the playoffs,” he said. “I can totally see why (my dad) would say that because it’s definitely mine, for sure.”
Mike is now an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils after having previously coached his son in Sudbury with the OHL’s Wolves.
“He was a great coach,” said Nick. “He demanded a lot of respect. I’m really happy to see he’s in the league and doing what he wants to do. It was tough, my mom had to step in a few times (during) some arguments.
“It was a really special moment for us.”
This season, Nick played his 500th NHL game. His father played more than 1,000 games in his own career.
“It’s such a big milestone, it’s a benchmark for a great career,” Nick said of his father’s 1,000-game mark. “I’m so proud to have already played 500 and I want that to continue so it would be really special to get to 1,000 one day.”
For now, Foligno is soaking up a season like no other for him or his franchise. One can tell he’s enjoying himself in a post-victory ritual he does with goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky who signed his own four-year, $29.7 million contract extension on Friday. The two are always the last to congratulate each other, doing so with a big, fat hockey hug. Foligno says he’s often gotten along with the unique brand that is the fraternity of goaltenders.
“I was really good friends with Brian Elliot in Ottawa so I’ve always enjoyed those guys,” he said. “As soon as Bob came to the team, just his attitude, I love that he’s just a happy-go-lucky guy. It (began) the year we were making a push for the playoffs. Every game just got bigger and bigger and after every game we just hugged bigger and harder. When we win I’m happy and so is he so we don’t mind huggin’ it out.”
Perhaps Foligno should think about hugging each one of his teammates after wins. It seems to be rubbing off across the franchise.
