Jackets line up behind captain Foligno

By Jim den Hollander

Midwest Hockey Editor

There are some great veteran players on the Columbus Blue Jackets, but the selection of Nick Foligno as the team’s captain is a good call.

This past season was a frustrating one in Columbus with injuries to key players, including goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky playing a part in a 6-15-2 start to the season that all but sealed the team’s fate by the end of November.

However, a 15-1-1 finish to the season gave the team some consolation as team members headed off to the golf course. The Jackets looked to build off of just its second post season performance and a solid run against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2013-14 and one player that did show marked improvement on the ice was Foligno.

The last time Foligno scored 31 goals in a season was in his third and final season with the Ontario Hockey League’s Sudbury Wolves in 2006-07. Add to that 42 assists and Foligno’s 73 point total nearly doubled his 39 points of the previous season.

Apart from that, Foligno who is just moving into the prime years of his career as long as he can stay healthy. Foligno played on his off wing with center Artem Anisimov and left winger Brandon Dubinsky at the end of the season — both of those players missing substantial portions of the season due to injury.

Here is some other recent news from Columbus.

• The 2014-15 season is not yet over — at least for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks, but the Jackets have already began to plan for the 2015-16 campaign, announcing its eight game pre-season schedule. One of the more interesting notes on the schedule is a two-team challenge as Columbus will both host and travel against the St. Louis Blues on Sept. 22 as both they and the Blues will split their teams. The pre-season begins a day prior to the split squad matches at home against the Penguins and wraps up Oct. 3 on home ice against Nashville.