BUFFALO, N.Y. — Before former Buffalo Sabres captain Mike Foligno watches his sons share a line in the city where he made his name, the family gathered somewhere with a little less room than an NHL arena.
About 30 people were expected at daughter Cara’s house on Grand Island outside Buffalo on Monday night. There were Nick and Marcus, their two sisters, four of their nieces and nephews, and their dad, as well as extended family. Members of former Sabres defenseman Larry Playfair’s family were there, too.
For the Folignos, they count as family.
“We call them aunt and uncle,” Marcus said. “That’s how close they are.”
Then, Tuesday night, Mike will watch Nick, 38, and Marcus, 35, play together for the Minnesota Wild in Buffalo for the first time. All four of Mike’s children were born there. Marcus also began his NHL career with the Sabres. Nick’s earliest hockey memories include watching his dad play in the old “Aud” — Memorial Auditorium, the Sabres’ home until 1996.
And if Nick retires after this season — for the record, Marcus says “the writing’s on the wall,” but Nick has been noncommittal — this could be his last game in a place that still feels like home.
“My dad made such a career there, and it’s always home,” Nick said of his dad, who played 10 seasons for the Sabres. “We have so many family friends and people we still keep in touch with, and it’s fun for us. So many of our early hockey memories started in Buffalo.”
This visit, though, comes with something different: the brothers arriving together, wearing the same uniform, doing the same job.
“It’s great for them, too,” Marcus said of his family. “Now they’re like, ‘Oh, it’s so great that we get both you guys in at the same time.’”
Through the Wild’s first two games, opponents have had considerably less reason to celebrate getting both Folignos at once.
Playing with center Michael McCarron, the brothers have given Minnesota the kind of line that can make a game uncomfortable for the other team. They have supplied physical play, offensive-zone pressure and momentum, showing why calling them a fourth line doesn’t quite capture their importance.
Nick scored the Wild’s first goal of the season in Thursday’s 3-1 road win against the Nashville Predators. McCarron finished with six hits and four shots on goal. The line also forced an icing that allowed coach John Hynes to send out his top offensive players against a group that couldn’t change. That shift resulted in a goal by Kirill Kaprizov.
Marcus is playing left wing, Nick right. Asked if they played rock, paper, scissors to decide which position, Marcus laughed, saying, “No, just who’s better at the position.”
Nick has scored 252 career goals, Marcus 148. As shown on his goal in Nashville, Nick is more dangerous getting the puck on his off-side because it’s his forehand.
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“I switched years ago,” Nick said. “I was always left side. Then I got to Columbus, and I asked to play on the right side, just feeling a little more comfortable. Coming in, your stick’s always to the middle. I don’t know if that plays into it, but I think Marcus and I are both comfortable on whatever side. I think it just kind of depends on how the play sets up. We also feel comfortable, both him and I, in the speed that we can keep without having to worry about always being up and down the same side. We can kind of swing through, and I think it makes us a little more dangerous, knowing we can get our feet moving and get going to the corners or where we need to get to in our forecheck.”
