Photo credit: NHL
Nick Foligno has officially had enough calls out his teammates including Connor Bedard
When the Chicago Blackhawks signed Nick Foligno to a one-year contract worth $4,000,000 per season, it was clear they were paying more for his off ice intangibles than his in ice play. In two seasons with the Boston Bruins, Foligno scored 12 goals and added 27 assists in 124 games. This was a significant drop off from his regular production.
For the Blackhawks however it was never about goals and assists. It was about accountability and leadership, everything else was just a bonus. This was an opportunity for Foligno to teach the league's new top talent, Connor Bedard the ropes. This season has already been a difficult one for the Hawks, with multiple blowout losses and injuries mounting.The Hawks again find themselves at the basement of the NHL Standings, a place they hoped to not revisit. In Sunday the Blackhawks lost another game in embarrassing fashion, falling 6-1 to the Dallas Stars.
Foligno had seen enough and after the game he let his teammates have it when speaking to reporters.
My only hope for a game like today is we just finally hammer it through our thick heads of how we're going to need to play, and that is not it. That is just not who we are, not who we can be. That's not what we expect in the room; that's not what our fans should expect. That's what pisses me off.
That wasn't enough though, Foligno continues to add his thoughts on the teams ability to prepare for games, giving this gem of a quote.
There has to be a sense of urgency. And a respect factor in the league. Just becoming professionals. That's the fight we're going to have. We understand where we're at and where we're trying to get to, but we need commitment at that part of it, where every day you're preparing, your consistency in how you prepare, your ability to understand the team you're playing, what you need to do to get yourself ready. That's not on coaches. They've done a hell of a job giving us a game plan and what we need to do and the time off that we need to rest and recover. That's on us. And that's the thing that drives me nuts as one of the older guys in the room. We need to figure that out soon. That to me is immaturity or ignorance. It borderlines a little bit. I don't want it to bleed into ignorance we're young, or this.' That's excuses to me. And that's not a team we're going to be built on. We owe it to ourselves and to our fans to be a better version and every game we have to strive for that.
Comments like this will go over of two directions, either it will light a fire under his teammates or it's going to silence Foligno's voice. Hopefully for the Blackhawks sake, it's the former.
| POLL | ||
January 1 | 1059 answers Nick Foligno has officially had enough calls out his teammates including Connor Bedard Did Nick Foligno go about this the right way? | ||
| Yes, his teammates need to hear it | 764 | 72.1 % |
| No, this should stay behind closed doors | 192 | 18.1 % |
| We'll see if it works | 103 | 9.7 % |
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