Marcus Foligno surprised with King Clancy Trophy by brother at hospital

Marcus Foligno walked into the Masonic Cancer Center in Minneapolis with his wife and kids expecting to tour the hospital, and walked out with the King Clancy Memorial Trophy.

"I wanted to be here and be a part of this," said brother Nick Foligno, also a forward with the Wild. "Just thrilled for Marcus and it kind of all came together. He's expecting to go on a hospital tour and we are going to show this (trophy) to him after and I think he's going to be really excited about it."

The King Clancy is presented "to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community."

Nominees were selected by their respective NHL teams and the winner was chosen by a selection committee consisting of Commissioner Gary Bettman as well as former winners of the trophy and the historic NHL Foundation Player Award.

This season, the Minnesota forward and his brother Nick teamed with the National Hockey League, National Hockey League Player's Association (NHLPA), the Wild, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the V Foundation for Cancer Research to create the Foligno Face-Off, which raised funds for breast cancer research in honor of their mother, Janis Foligno, who died from breast cancer in 2009.

"When I first met Marcus, it was in 2018," Dr. Christopher Pennell said. "He and about half a dozen of his Minnesota Wild colleagues came to the Masonic Children's hospital at the cancer ward. And Marcus started to talk to me about research. I didn't know his mother had passed away from breast cancer.

"I must have said about a half dozen times how happy I was that he was receiving the award because I couldn't imagine somebody else. He is the prototypical individual to get this award and I'm so happy he was recognized for it."

The Foligno Face-Off started when Nick was playing for the Blackhawks. Fans were asked to choose between Team Nick and Team Marcus, and to donate $17 (their jersey numbers at the time), or any amount of money, to the cause through the V Foundation's website. When Nick was traded to the Wild on March 6, he changed his number to 71, and fans were asked to donate at least $71.

The initiative has raised more than $200,000 to fund breast cancer research across North America.

After the hospital visit, Marcus and his family entered a room where Nick and the trophy were waiting.

"I don't know if my daughters knew because they would definitely not have been able to keep a secret so my wife did a pretty good job of hiding this and to see my brother here obviously with the trophy was really special," Marcus said.

"Honestly, I had no idea. ... (My wife) played it off pretty cool so it made me think that there was nothing going on today."Marcus' wife Natascia said she was asked to present the award but knew there was a better person to do that.

"(Nick) jokingly said, he was like, 'I don't feel like I should be the one giving him the award," she said. "Do you think you want to do it?' And I was like, 'There was not a thought that crossed my mind that I wanted to give him this award.' I was like, 'You guys were a tandem in this.' They just have such a special relationship, those two."

Nick is no stranger to the award, having won it while with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2016-17.

"(Our mom) lost her battle with breast cancer," he said. "We knew we wanted to do something for her and make sure her name carried on so we started the Jannice Foligno Foundation in her honor."

As the winner, Marcus Foligno received a $25,000 donation to benefit a charity or charities of his choice.

"It's cool to be on the same trophy as your brother," Marcus said.

"Just to be even recognized amongst the Twin Cities is good enough for me but just elated and excited that I was able to win this award. It's a true testament to our fans here, the people in the Twin Cities, the people in the hockey world, community and our organization. It's a huge honor. Just very humbling."