Blackhawks start new era introducing Nick Foligno as captain

CHICAGO – With teammates and management present, the Chicago Blackhawks officially introduced Nick Foligno as the franchise’s 35th captain in team history on Thursday.

Foligno, 36, has been in the NHL for 17 seasons and is entering his second season with Chicago. While Foligno was just named captain, he has already been a leader in the locker room for some time. Davidson spoke about how Foligno stepped up last season during the press conference.

“Nick very quickly established himself as a leader within our locker room earning the respect and trust of coaches and teammates from the moment he stepped foot in the organization,” said Davidson. “One of the things that stands out to me about [Foligno] and what made this such an easy decision to name him captain, is the passion that he brings to the rink every single day. He’s passionate about our team, our players, and our staff.”

Davidson said the decision to name Foligno captain was made this summer, noting that everyone felt his voice in the room.

There is no doubt the Blackhawks will look different this season. The organization has a lot of new faces with guys like Bertuzzi, Martinez and Teravainen just to name a few. While Foligno might have a different letter on his jersey this season, his way of leading day in and day out won’t change.

“It’s not going to change anything as far as how I’m going to go about my business,” Foligno said.

Foligno is not new at being a captain. He previously wore the “C” with the Columbus Blue Jackets for six seasons from 2015-21, leading them to four-straight playoff berths between 2016-20. While he has had success on the ice, it didn’t start that way with the Blue Jackets.

“The one thing I learned probably in being captain before,” he said, “I had all these ideas of how we’re going to move my team forward and all these plans. That year we started 0 and 8 and you’re like all right, we’re throwing all that out the window.”

Foligno learned early that sometimes planning ahead just cannot work in a leadership position. Throughout the grind of an NHL season, adjustments need to be made.

“It’s not about mapping out,” he said. “It’s making connections and understanding your team. What the wants and needs are at that time, and having a vision of where you’re trying to go absolutely – we’re trying to win hockey games that’s always my goal but there’s so much more that goes into that.”

The Blackhawks also had Taylor Hall, Connor Murphy and Seth Jones at the press conference. Murphy and Jones will serve as assistant captains this season. Jones has gotten to see Foligno’s leadership up close on two different teams. The pair were teammates with the Blue Jackets for six years before Jones was traded to the Blackhawks.

Jones has seen every side of Foligno’s leadership. Foligno has been known to be a great mentor to the young players in Chicago, that was once Jones in Columbus. Jones was just 21 years old when he joined the team in 2015.

“He is a very personable guy, always asking to go to lunch always wanting to go to dinner with different guys on the team to establish those connections,” Jones said. “He wants everyone to be a tight knit group so if you trust each other off the ice you are going to trust each other on the ice.”

Eventually, Jones became a leader in the locker room, wearing an “A” in his last two seasons. Now the pair find themselves together again in Chicago, ready to help lead a new organization to contention.

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