FEATURE: A ‘No-Brainer’ to Name Foligno as 35th Blackhawks Captain 

As the Blackhawks wrapped up their opening meeting before the start of training camp on Tuesday night, General Manager Kyle Davidson told the players he had one last announcement to make to the team:

“Last year we had Seth Jones, Connor Murphy and Nick Foligno wearing letters (as alternate captains),” he began. “We’re going to keep that same group. We’re going to make one change, and we’re excited tonight to announce that the 35th captain in Blackhawks history we’re going to name: Nick Foligno.”

A surprise to all 55 players in the room, including Foligno himself, the immediate reaction spoke volumes about the choice.

“He’s the perfect man for the job for this team,” Jones explained moments later. “I think he's a great leader, on and off the ice. He leads by example, but he's also a great communicator, whether it's a young guy or an older guy, whether we're playing well or they need to work on something. He's always there to kind of fill that gap, especially between coaches and players as well.”

“The ‘C’ really suits him,” added Murphy, the team’s longest-tenured active player. “That's not easy to do coming in your first year, and having to get a read on the team and organization, as well as trying to make an impact on and off the ice. He's been able to do that, and it's really well deserved.”

Foligno himself was initially left speechless by the news — a self-admitted rare occurrence — as his three kids, Milana, Landon and Hudson, presented him with his No. 17 jersey donning the ‘C’ for the very first time.

“What a tremendous honor,” Foligno later told Blackhawks.com. “I’m humbled and so appreciative of the opportunity to help lead this group. I'm really humbled and appreciative of the Wirtz family's belief in me, right through management to coaching staff to the players, ultimately. And I'm beyond thrilled that I get to do it for this fan base, too.

“It's not just me. Now that I'm wearing a captain’s ‘C’, it really doesn't change anything in my eyes. I get to go lead with some great players in that room, and I'm excited about doing that starting tomorrow.”

After playing last season without a designated captain, a show of respect for the 15 years Jonathan Toews served as the team’s leader, the conversation around making Foligno the next to wear the ‘C’ was one that permeated the Blackhawks offices throughout the offseason — involving ownership, management, coaches and beyond. But in the end, the decision wasn’t much of a decision at all.

“To be honest, it was a little bit of a no-brainer for us,” Davidson said. “I don't think anyone around the facility or around the team can really see anyone but Nick as the leader of this current Blackhawks team. Since day one, he stepped in and was the voice of the locker room and he's really taken on that role, even if he wasn’t wearing the captain's ‘C’ on his chest.”

As a 16-year veteran and former captain for six seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Davidson and the Blackhawks signed Foligno last summer in large part for what he could bring to the locker room. But just how fast he took on that role of the team’s most meaningful voice in a matter of weeks even surprised the team’s executives — not an intentional assertion on Foligno’s part, but a natural byproduct of his character.

“I talked to him in the summer before he signed, and he said 'I'm going to kind of take a back seat and see what happens,’” laughed Jones, who played for five seasons in Columbus with Foligno as his captain. “But once training camp hit, and once kind of those first few games hit, and we started to struggle a little bit, he jumped right back into form. It didn't take him long.”

Foligno garnered respect inside the locker room early, but fans publicly got their first taste of the new captain just nine games into the season. Having beaten the reigning Stanley Cup champions in Vegas to improve to an early 3-5-0 record, the Blackhawks jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 28 seconds into a game in Arizona two nights later — and from there the wheels fell off. The Coyotes scored eight straight goals to seemingly crush the progress that was taking place in Chicago with an 8-1 final score. As reporters entered the Blackhawks locker room following the defeat, Foligno stood front and center ready to send a message before a five-day layoff between games.

“Maybe it's a good thing that happened,” he said bluntly that night. “Now we have five days to chew on it because I hope our team understands how you have to respect this league... we started off unbelievable and then it’s like ‘Oh, this is going to come easy to us.’”

Chicago returned home after the layoff and scored three first-period goals — including a Foligno tally to open the scoring — to beat the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, 5-2.

“Part of the role of captain is to know what to say, when to say it, who to say it to, and sometimes out in the public sphere is the best place to deliver a message,” Davidson said. “He has a great feel just through his experience on what needs to be said and when, and who needs to hear it and where that message should be delivered. That's one of the things that we really appreciate about Nick, and I really love about his leadership quality.”

“He said he didn’t want to be the guy right away, but he can't help himself,” Jones added. “It's just who he is inside. He's just a great person. He's a great leader. He wants to make everyone else around him better... Everyone respects him in the room, you can see it.”

It’s not lost on Foligno that wearing the ‘C’ for an Original Six franchise carries an immense weight. Only 34 men before him have had that honor in Blackhawks 98 seasons to date — the last having served as captain longer than any player in Chicago sports history.

“It makes me think about Jonathan Toews and how he handled (being named captain) at such a young age, coming into an historic franchise, an Original Six team, and the way he led this organization,” he said. “Those are big, big shoes to fill, but I'm not going to try and do that because they’ll never be filled. He is a pillar of this organization that we stand on because of the way he led, and he's given me a great guideline of how to build success here. Now I get to do with my own style with great guys in the room, and I'm really humbled and honored to do that.”

Foligno then immediately recalled what it was like to face those teams of the Blackhawks heyday, using them as an example to convey his goal of helping lead the franchise back there.

“I always admired them — what this team accomplished and was like to play against,” he said. “I want to bring that back. I want people to fear coming in here like we used to fear in the age of Toews and Kane and Hossa and those teams... I'm going to go about it the way I know how and hopefully get this group to new heights or to back to the golden years that we're here.”

The first step starts this season, and building off the foundation put in place by Davidson and the rest of Blackhawks management. While the team boasts bright pieces for the future in Connor Bedard, Alex Vlasic and a cadre of promising young prospects, this summer also brought an infusion of established veterans like Alec Martinez, Pat Maroon, Teuvo Teravainen and others who, like Foligno, will look to lead by example and set the stage for what’s to come. The message for the team in the room on Tuesday night was clear: the next step has to be taken after a difficult few seasons in Chicago.

“It's just demanding a higher standard and driving us forward,” Davidson said, echoing his sentiment to the players. “I don't think the last two years have gone the way we wanted to on the ice, but I believe we've, we've got the group now to really take a step forward… it's even more impactful when (that message) comes from the players and your own peers, and certainly Nick's not afraid to share his thoughts with his teammates. But it comes from a place of wanting to take a step forward, wanting to do well by not only the players individually, but the group as a whole.”

At 36 years old, though, Foligno knows that Father Time is not on the side and that the Blackhawks next dominant era will likely come after his playing career has ended. He can undoubtedly still play the game at a high level — his 37 points a year ago his highest mark since 2015-16 — and he’s under contract for the next two seasons. But what excites him the most as the newly-minted captain is the greater impact he can have in leaving the franchise poised for its next chapter, and in turn leave his legacy going forward.

“It’s: ‘What can I do now to help build this next foundation?’ How strong can we make this foundation so that when players do move on, there's still so much there to stand on and build on top of? I think that's what I'm excited about,” he said. “In Columbus, I was building it to help and be part of that for as long as I could and win Cups. Now, that's still the goal, but how can I put this team in a position to have the next layers of leaders come in and really push and have things set in a great way going forward?

“It's a huge honor, and something I don't take lightly. I was so excited to get to work before, and even more so now. I'm really looking forward to getting going to war with these guys.”