Wild's new leadership core blends family with community

Some people are born leaders. In the case of Wild forward Marcus Foligno, it's more like he was born to be a leader.
Leadership qualities are strong in the Foligno bloodlines. His dad was an NHL captain for the Buffalo Sabres. His brother was a long-time captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Now, Marcus will join them with the Wild after he was officially named an alternate captain in Minnesota on Saturday.

Joining Foligno and Wild captain Jared Spurgeon will be defenseman Matt Dumba, the 2020 King Clancy Award winner and 2021 Bill Masterton Award finalist.
Together, the trio will make up a leadership core that has been entirely remade over the past year and help chart a new course forward for the Wild, as the team sits on the precipice of a new era on the ice.

Their different life perspectives as well as their draft and development experiences offer the franchise and the players in the room a fresh outlook, and should provide fertile ground for other young leaders to step us as well.
"We've had some talks before, just about where we see the direction of this team going and what we want it to feel like," Spurgeon said. "We want to make sure it's welcoming, and at the same time, demand a lot out of each other so that we get to that end goal of what we all want here, which is to win a Stanley Cup."
It seemed like just a matter of time before Marcus Foligno would wear a letter for an NHL team. Entering his fifth season in Minnesota after six in Buffalo, Foligno had already become a vocal leader in the dressing room even without a defined leadership role on the team.
Often the first player to don a letter when one of the other captains missed a game in recent seasons, Foligno's now permanent 'A' is well-earned.
While his on-ice demeanor and willingness to stand up for teammates if necessary is known, Foligno's leadership style is rooted in - perhaps not surprisingly - a family approach.

"I think something I've always just taken is trying to get to know your teammates and make it feel like a family," Foligno said. "So that's the biggest thing I think as a leader you want to do and you want to make it feel inviting and make sure everyone has confidence and can be themselves. So that's the only way you're going to make a team better and have it gel better."
Spurgeon said he doesn't expect much to change about Foligno's approach because he understood his role as a leader even before earning a letter.
"Just the presence he has and the energy he brings to games," Spurgeon said. "The insight he has on the game, he's very knowledgable. He knows the situations, but he's also very welcoming to young guys as well."
Dumba, selected by the Wild with the seventh overall selection in the 2012 NHL Draft, is entering his ninth season with the club but is still just 27 years old.
Over the past couple of years, Spurgeon said he has noticed a maturity about Dumba's game on the ice, and a willingness to speak up more off of it.
That was highlighted by his speech in support of racial equality to a worldwide audience before the re-start of the NHL playoffs last August in the Edmonton bubble, as well as his role in helping to found the Hockey Diversity Alliance, an organization whose purpose is to eradicate systemic racism and intolerance in hockey.

"You could see it before that too, but that was definitely a defining moment," Spurgeon said. "Everyone was watching that, and us as a team, we were very supportive of the speech. That's not easy with TV, and a big audience watching you.
"I think that gave him the confidence to speak out more but he was already coming out of his shell more with the way he was talking in the room and the stuff he's been doing for us on and off the ice."
While Foligno brings a family-oriented style, Dumba has a very community-focused way of being a leader.
In addition to his work for racial equality, Dumba has been a mainstay in the Twin Cities community for years for his work with ACES (Athletes Committed to Educating Students), an organization designed to help bridge the academic opportunity gap in Minnesota.

He also launched a fundraiser last summer, "Rebuild Minnesota," which assisted in the rebuilding of Lake Street in Minneapolis following unrest in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd.
Dumba, the Wild and the NHL together donated $200,000 in support of the Lake Street Council, which to date, has raised more than $5 million in support of more than 300 small businesses and non-profits on and around Lake Street in Minneapolis.
"This is home for me now, so it means a lot and the people here have been nothing but awesome for me," Dumba said. "I'm really appreciative of that and that's why I am in the community doing the things I want to because I'm passionate about it. I love this state, so to represent them in this fashion I think me and Marcus both are going to be putting our best foot forward and doing whatever it takes to win and to create a healthy environment here."
Photo by Brandon McCauley