When the puck is dropped between the Chicago Blackhawks and Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 18, Nick Foligno will have officially played in his 1,200th career regular-season game.
📰 ➡︎ https://t.co/ksOtn4hSHH
🔴 Nick Foligno is set to play his 1,200th NHL game, becoming the 133rd player in league history to hit the milestone. He made his debut on Oct. 3, 2007, with the Ottawa Senators. pic.twitter.com/pjOvASRuep
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 18, 2025
Foligno becomes just the 133rd player in the 107-year history of the NHL to reach the 1,200-game mark. Only 10 active players have played more than Foligno, including Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Anze Kopitar and Patrick Kane.
It’s been a season of respectable production for the Blackhawks’ captain, with Foligno scoring 11 goals and adding eight assists for 19 points through 44 games so far. Now in his second season in Chicago, the 37-year-old forward has 28 goals and 28 assists for 56 points in 118 games with the club.
Related: Blackhawks Name Nick Foligno 35th Captain in Franchise History
Before the 2024-25 season got underway, the Blackhawks named Foligno the 35th captain in franchise history, and the first since Jonathan Toews served as captain between 2008 and 2023.
“I am beyond honored to serve as captain for this storied franchise and its incredible fans, especially during such a pivotal time toward the team’s future,” Foligno said when the news was announced.
It wasn’t the first time Foligno wore the “C” for an NHL franchise, as he had served as captain for the Columbus Blue Jackets between 2015 and 2021, leading them to four consecutive berths in the Stanley Cup Playoffs between 2016 and 2020.
Foligno, taken 28th overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators, has enjoyed a successful professional career. Going into Saturday’s game against the Golden Knights, Foligno has recorded 243 goals, 338 assists, 581 points and 954 penalty minutes with the Blackhawks, Senators, Blue Jackets, Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs.
He’s also played 68 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, scoring 10 goals and 17 assists for 27 points. His best run came in 2020, when he led the Blue Jackets to the second round, scoring two goals and four assists for six points.
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Going into their game against Vegas, the Blackhawks are 14-28-3 with 31 points, last in the Central Division, Western Conference and the entire league. The team has a minus-40 goal differential, have lost four straight and are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games. In fact, since Dec. 21, Chicago has lost 10 of their last 12 games.
Forward Connor Bedard leads the team in points with 40, scoring 13 goals and recording a team-leading 27 assists. The next highest point producer is Teuvo Teravainen, who re-joined the Blackhawks in the offseason. He currently has 31 points, with 10 goals and 21 assists.
Forward Ryan Donato, a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA) who is starting to get some attention on the trade market, also has 24 points, with 13 goals and 11 assists. Fellow pending UFA Taylor Hall has eight goals and 14 assists for 22 points.
On the blue line, Alex Vlasic has two goals and 15 assists for a team-leading 17 points. Meanwhile, Seth Jones, who missed 16 games with injury, has three goals and 13 assists for 16 points in 29 contests.
After their game against Vegas, the Blackhawks continue their four-game homestand, facing the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 20, the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 24 and the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 26.
