Toronto Maple Leafs’ newcomer forward Nick Foligno was injured during Monday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens. During the second period, as he pulled up short in front of Canadiens’ goalie Jake Allen, it looked as if he tweaked “something.” Foligno headed to the Maple Leafs’ locker room in apparent discomfort and didn’t return for the remainder of the game. The only news we have is that the injury is “upper-body” related.
Sheldon Keefe Had No News About Foligno’s Status After the Game
When he spoke to the media immediately after the game last night, coach Keefe had no further information about Foligno’s injury. Thus far this morning, I’ve seen no further updates. The last word was that further news should be expected about Foligno’s status before this Thursday’s second game of the current Canadiens’ series. The two teams will meet again on Saturday.
Foligno’s Time with the Maple Leafs
The 33-year-old Sudbury, Ontario, native was brought to the Maple Leafs just prior to the trade deadline from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2021 NHL draft and a fourth-round selection in 2022. In the four games Foligno has played since joining his new Maple Leafs’ teammates, he’s registered four assists.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe has used Foligno on the team’s top line partnered with the high-scoring duo of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. Zach Hyman, the usual third partner on that line, is out with a knee sprain himself and has only begun skating in practice. Because Hyman is projected to miss a few more days, should Foligno not be able to play on Thursday it will be interesting to see who Matthews and Marner’s new line-mate will be.
The Old Prof (Jim Parsons, Sr.) taught for more than 40 years in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. He’s a Canadian boy, who has two degrees from the University of Kentucky and a doctorate from the University of Texas. He is now retired on Vancouver Island, where he lives with his family. His hobbies include playing with his hockey cards and simply being a sports fan – hockey, the Toronto Raptors, and CFL football (thinks Ricky Ray personifies how a professional athlete should act).
If you wonder why he doesn’t use his real name, it’s because his son – who’s also Jim Parsons – wrote for The Hockey Writers first and asked Jim Sr. to use another name so readers wouldn’t confuse their work.
Because Jim Sr. had worked in China, he adopted the Mandarin word for teacher (老師). The first character lǎo (老) means “old,” and the second character shī (師) means “teacher.” The literal translation of lǎoshī is “old teacher.” That became his pen name. Today, other than writing for The Hockey Writers, he teaches graduate students research design at several Canadian universities.
He looks forward to sharing his insights about the Toronto Maple Leafs and about how sports engages life more fully. His Twitter address is https://twitter.com/TheOldProf
