When Nick Foligno decided to host several young Chicago Blackhawks teammates for his “Camp Foligno” last summer, he didn’t know what to expect.
Foligno, 38, the team’s captain, had done something similar when he was with the Columbus Blue Jackets around his charity event. He thought the week spent at his Sudbury, Ontario, lake house would be a great bonding experience for himself and youngsters Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, Wyatt Kaiser, Landon Slaggert and Colton Dach. He wanted to “get” them, and for them to know him better.
Turns out the real icebreaking moment came the first night, when Foligno learned more than he ever wanted to about Moore.
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It was around 4 a.m. when the guys noticed Moore — the former University of Minnesota standout — sleepwalking.
“It was a crazy experience, like nothing I’ve seen before,” Nazar said. “We just hear Oliver screaming bloody murder in the middle of the room, asking for (Foligno) to help him.”
Nazar thought the rule was never to wake a sleepwalker, so they hoped he’d just snap out of it. But Kaiser tentatively chimed in, “Moorsey?” And Moore quipped back, not knowing what happened, “Oh. What’s up guys?”
“Honestly, it was one of the funniest moments of my life,” Nazar said. “Funny, but scary.”
“It scared the s— out of everybody,” Foligno said. “But I think it actually helped break the ice a bit, too.”
It was like a five-day summer camp sleepover with the young Blackhawks working out with Foligno in the morning, then hanging out by the lake the rest of the day. They’d barbecue and make s’mores. They went cliff-jumping and wakeboarding. They fished. They drove ATVs. Foligno had a private chef who lived on the lake cook them meals.
“I just wanted them to know, ‘You’re cared about,’” Foligno said. “’There’s a group here that really cares about your well-being.’ That’s how I felt when I came in.”
Foligno, traded to the Minnesota Wild for future considerations at the March trade deadline, makes his return to the United Center on Tuesday. No, it’s not exactly Jonathan Toews coming back, but Foligno — who succeeded Toews as team captain — considers his 2 1/2 seasons in Chicago to be a special chapter in his career.
Foligno, charged with helping Connor Bedard and company through a rebuild, felt he put his “heart and soul” into the team.
“It hurt more leaving than I thought it would,” Foligno said. “I really fell in love with that group. Not just the group of players. The staff. There’s obviously things you’re still going to improve, but they’re on the right trajectory. It was hard to let go, because it was kind of like your baby, right? When you’re really proud of where you came from. I just felt like you were leaving your kids.
“You just want them to do so well, and it’s a weird feeling, because I’m coming here to beat them. And that’s the competitor in me. But you secretly know that’s a team that I’m going to cheer for for a lot of years. I’ll just be really proud, like an older brother.”
Foligno arrived in Chicago after a June 2023 trade from the Boston Bruins (along with Taylor Hall). The two veterans were expected to be part of the leadership group to help the Blackhawks through a rebuild. They had previously been a part of a Bruins team that had one of the best regular seasons in NHL history but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Florida Panthers. Foligno was a healthy scratch in Game 7, which bothered him.
“I knew I had a lot to give,” he said. “And I wanted to go somewhere where I could, first of all, play — show I was still able to compete at a high level. That was the first enticing piece of Chicago. I got the opportunity to come in here and show, not just talk, but show the guys how to play.”
By midway through his first season in Chicago, Foligno signed a one-year, $4 million extension. He then re-upped for a two-year, $4.5 million average-annual-value extension, which ends after this season.
Some veterans his age would be all about chasing their first Stanley Cup, but Foligno found meaning in his part in what the Blackhawks were building. He was paying it forward.
“I like the challenge of getting the room to come together,” he said. “I like the camaraderie. I thrive on that and love the challenge of, ‘All right, let’s see if we can get this team to where I hope we can get to by the time I’m done here. Did I expect to be there for three years? Maybe. But when I did sign the next deal, I was really excited I got a few more years to really help push this thing forward.”
Here’s where the “Camp Foligno” came in.
The players stayed at Foligno’s place on Long Lake, with his brother Marcus, the Wild veteran, spending most of the time with them, as well, as he lives next door. On one of the days on his boat, Nick told them about a spot on the lake where they could cliff jump. He told them there was a lower one — and a really high one. His nerves jumped when the kids picked the more dangerous one.
“It was just the panic of, if something goes wrong here, this is not good,” Foligno said, laughing. “This would be on me. But they all went.”
They’d all get up at 6 a.m. and were on the ice by 7. They were in the gym by 8:30. Foligno noticed that a lot of the players would nap after the workouts for a few hours, and he laughed when they asked him what he did.
“I’m like, ‘I’ve got three kids,’’’ Foligno said. “They’re like, ‘You do this every day?’ It was funny.”
Nick Foligno and Blackhawks teammates were on the ice by 7 a.m. at “Camp Foligno” last summer. (Courtesy of Nick Foligno)
Foligno loved how the young Blackhawks teammates bonded with his family: his wife, Janelle, and their three kids, Milana, Hudson and Landon. They’d set up baseball and flag football games out back, with everyone participating. Foligno’s favorite moments were the quiet ones, just hanging out and drinking a few beers by the dock, having deeper conversations with the guys.
Colton Dach talked about having a brother in the league like Foligno, with Dach asking, “How did you do this?” At one point, Nazar turned to Foligno, looking at the lake house, and said, “I want this one day.” Foligno felt the week opened their eyes to how “wonderful this game can be, the privilege it is.”
“It was honestly the highlight of my summer, being there with all the guys,” Nazar said. “He’s got a sick piece of property up there. To spend time with him and his family and do all these fun activities and go in the water and work out and skate and all that stuff was such a blast. Just to be able to learn from guys like him and his brother, who have such history in this league and know so much, it’s super helpful and really just a great experience for a young guy.”
Bedard wasn’t able to make it to “Camp Foligno,” but Foligno enjoyed getting to watch his rise — and learning that Bedard was very worthy of all the hype.
“He’s a guy that I’m really going to be pulling for,” Foligno said. “I think he’s an unreal person. What he’s gone through in his career is unlike anything else with anybody else. I’m thrilled he’s kind of found himself. He seems to be comfortable in his own skin. And I think his leadership abilities are really coming out now. He’s driven, man. That kid wants to win. That kid wants to be the best. And when you have a person like that in your organization, it can really take you far.”
Foligno was surprised by how funny Bedard is, how socially aware he is, how quickly he commands a room and how often he chirps. After Foligno got traded to Minnesota, for example, Bedard quipped that Foligno had better keep his head up when they play.
“I’m not too worried about Bedsy,” Foligno joked. “Although he’s been hitting a lot lately.”
The Blackhawks haven’t named a captain to replace Foligno yet, but Bedard could be next. Is he ready?
“I don’t think you’re ever ready to be a captain,” Foligno said. “Honestly, I was never, I’m still not. There’s just so much you learn. But I think he’d welcome the challenge. He’s a guy that can handle the load, if that’s what you’re asking. He can handle the stress and the responsibility. He’s going to be sheltered by some guys to help him, so he’s not feeling like he’s on his own. It’s a learning curve no matter what.”
Foligno said Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson approached him a couple of weeks before the trade deadline, right before the team came out of the Olympic break, and asked a simple question. “Do you want to stay or do you want to go?” With Foligno a pending unrestricted free agent, Davidson was trying to do right by the veteran and seeing whether he wanted to be moved to a contender if the right deal came up. He told Foligno that he was going to probably trade some pieces, continuing the rebuild.
Foligno went home and talked with his wife. They decided that going to a team with whom he could play for a Cup was important. Davidson asked if Foligno had any preferences, and he said his first pick was Minnesota, to be with his brother. Foligno just didn’t know if it was possible.
Now, he has played in five games for the Wild. He’s still waiting for Marcus to be activated off injured reserve so they can finally play together. But he’s fit in pretty well with the group in Minnesota and can see special possibilities.
“I had other opportunities to go other places,” Foligno said. “But I really wanted to see if this was going to be a fit, because this is the team I’m most invested in outside of Chicago. This is the one I care about the most. I talk to Marcus. I kind of know their heartbeat already. So it’s felt weird but easy, you know? And hopefully that continues.”
— Mark Lazerus contributed to this story