A Life of Competition: A Look into Liam Foudy’s Athletic Journey

Liam Foudy was born into sports.

His father, Sean Foudy, played football professionally for the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). His mother, France Gareau, anchored Canada to a silver medal in the 4x100 meter relay at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Sports were a way of life for the Scarborough, Ontario family, and Foudy laced up the skates for the first time at four years old.

“Growing up and having parents who are athletes, they kind of just throw you in every sport to find out what you’re good at,” Foudy said. “Hockey ended up being the one that I liked the most and I followed that up throughout growing up in Toronto.”

Two years after Foudy was born, his competitiveness turned up a notch when his brother, Jean-Luc Foudy, was born, planting the seed to a brotherly rivalry that fueled their drive to succeed.

“We were competitive right from the get-go,” Foudy said. “Just not wanting to lose to each other and me being the older brother, [I was] always trying to be hard on him. We definitely had a lot of good battles growing up and that really pushed us to succeed to where we are today.”

From their early days, the Foudy brothers held each other accountable and worked hard on the ice.

“It was just a commitment,” Foudy said. “We were never allowed to miss practice. Sometimes, as a kid, you don’t want to go to practice. You just want to play games, [but] my mom made sure that we never missed any of that.”

Practice makes permeance, and Foudy can attest to that. He played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the London Knights where he totaled 191 points (97G, 94A) in 230 games played. The left-handed forward also represented Team Canada and won the gold medal at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Foudy was selected 18^th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2018 NHL Draft. While he has played majority of his professional career in the American Hockey League (AHL), the 25-year-old has played 104 games in the National Hockey League (NHL), including a pair of games with the New York Islanders last season.

Before landing in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Foudy played for Cleveland Monsters (the Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate) and Milwaukee Admirals (the Nashville Predators AHL affiliate) at points between the 2020-21 and the 2023-24 seasons. The Canadian-born forward joined Bridgeport ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.

He has found success and consistency with the Bridgeport Islanders. Foudy finished third on the team with 45 points (20G, 25A) in his first season with the team and is second on the team with 17 goals this season.

“[I’m] just trying to use my speed as much as I can,” Foudy explained. “I feel like when I’m skating, moving my feet as much as I can, ... that’s when I can create some chances and try to finish on the opportunities.”

Building off that career-best 45-point season, Foudy signed a one-year, two-way deal that he signed to remain with the Isles. He has been focused on remaining consistent in the 2025-26 campaign.

“If you can be the most consistent player, usually things go a lot better for you,” Foudy said. “Knowing what I need to do day in and day out at the rink, and away from the rink as well, [so I] stay ready for every game that comes along.”

He has compiled another strong first half of the 2025-26 campaign and ranks third on the Islanders with 27 points (17G, 10A) in 37 games this season. Foudy recently had a 10-game point streak snapped and a hat-trick on Feb. 7 in a 5-1 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

The 26-year-old was instrumental in a season-long five-game win streak in January and Bridgeport’s 21 wins in their first season under Rocky Thompson has already surpassed last season’s win total.

“Team success is a big factor,” Foudy said. “Whenever the team is winning games, usually individual success follows that. [By] trusting what [Head Coach] Rocky [Thompson] and the coaching staff has laid out for us ... and believing that system, ... we can be the most successful that we can be.”