For Nick Foligno, Friday morning didn't feel like reality.
One night prior, the Columbus Blue Jackets had lost 5-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins to see their season come to an end. And the Blue Jackets' captain wasn't on the ice for it as a late scratch for Game 5 because of a foot injury.
Foligno first hurt the foot when he blocked a shot in Game 3. As Game 4 went along, he started to see his level of play wane.
"As Game 4 went on, I was just getting worse and worse," Foligno said today. "You laugh about it now, but even (head coach John Tortorella) came up to me (and said), 'If you play like you did last game, you can't play.'"
And that's exactly what happened, with Foligno exiting the lineup in favor of Scott Hartnell for the good of the team. The captain knew he was unable to match the Penguins' speed on just one good foot, making him of little use use, even if it was a difficult decision to make.
"For the good of the team I think I had to come out, which is awful because you feel like you're hanging your team out to dry in the most important game of the year, but I wasn't going to help us," Foligno said. "That was really hard for me to wake up the next day. You have some guilt, You have a lot of things you're thinking about, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to be a good teammate (by playing)."
So ended what had been a bit of a redemption season for Foligno. With 31 goals and 73 points in 2014-15, he became the face of the franchise and the team's full-time captain, but the ensuing campaign was nothing short of a disaster. The Blue Jackets lost the first eight games of his tenure as captain and fired head coach Todd Richards in favor of bringing in fiery NHL veteran John Tortorella.
Tortorella famously wondered if Foligno had what it took to wear the "C" as his numbers plummeted to just 12 goals and 25 helpers in 72 games for a team that finished near the bottom of the NHL standings. This year, of course, just about everything was the opposite, including Foligno's play, which included 26 goals, 25 assists and positive possession numbers.
Now, the key is to be even better a year from now, both for the player and a team that finished fourth in the NHL in points.
"It's hard to reflect right now because I think the wounds are still there that you haven't finished the playoffs the way you wanted," he said. "Especially for how well we thought we played, it still stings, but you start to reflect a little bit here and I'm really proud of what we've done, what we've accomplished.
"What's nice is we have accomplished so much but the job is still very far from being done. We have a long way to go, and that excites me. There's work to be put in. Guys realize we fell short of our goal, which is the Stanley Cup."
If there was one united message among Blue Jackets players and coaches as the team went through exit day interviews Saturday, it was that even a season that netted the most points in franchise history wasn't good enough.
The five-game loss to the Penguins in the postseason showed how far the Blue Jackets have to go to reach the rarefied air of the game's best and most consistent teams, but there is also now a feeling that getting to that summit is possible.
"I think we've raised the expectations in this organization, and it's been a fun ride but we know that we're a team that the Stanley Cup is our goal," Foligno said. "It's pretty exciting to say that realistically now. Everyone says it, but realistically in that room, the Stanley Cup is a possibility. It's exciting to know that going into the offseason. I think that's going to excite guys."
