Blue Jackets' Foligno discusses All-Star captaincy

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno, who with Chicago Blackhawks forward Jonathan Toews were named team captains for the 2015 NHL All-Star Weekend on Jan. 24-25, joined NHL Live to discuss the captaincy and the event.

"It's a great honor," Foligno said. "I was pretty surprised by the news. I was just thrilled to be an All-Star and to find out I was the captain of the team was pretty special and something I'll cherish forever, especially being in the town of Columbus. Being able to be in front of our fans it's going to be an awesome weekend."

Toews' Blackhawks teammate, Patrick Kane, and Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty were named alternate captains of Team Foligno. Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf and New York Rangers forward Rick Nash will be alternate captains on Team Toews. Captains and alternate captains were chosen by NHL Hockey Operations in consultation with players selected as 2015 NHL All-Stars.

Foligno and Toews will choose their teams during the NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft on Jan. 23. Forward Ryan Johansen and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky have been lobbying for their Blue Jackets teammate to pick them for Team Foligno.

"I'll have a hard task of picking who's who when it comes time," Foligno said. "If I can have anything I'd love to keep those guys with me, so I'll do my best. I have to convince my alternate guys to allow me to take them.

"You're going to have to sit down and do some mock drafts, I'm sure, just to figure it out. The good news is I don't think you can have a bad pick in this draft, so it's going to be a lot of fun and I'm really looking forward to meeting a lot of the guys."

In his eighth NHL season and third in Columbus, Foligno leads the Blue Jackets with a career-high 18 goals and 40 points. His nine power-play goals are tied for third in the League and his 20 power-play points rank second.

"It's been a combination of a lot of things," Foligno said. "Maturing as a player … as you get older you can draw on past experiences. And also the role I was given here. I've worked hard for it and earned it and ran with it. With all the injuries we had the early part of the year, it allowed me to get my confidence and play a lot of minutes and try not to look back. It's amazing what confidence can do for you."