Nick Foligno may not wear a captain's letter for the Bruins, but it's clear that the veteran and former Blue Jackets captain is one of the team's leaders.
The latest example of that came Tuesday, when Jeremy Swayman shared a story highlighting the generosity of Foligno and his wife, Janelle.
Swayman, who has been out since suffering a knee injury on Nov. 1, was asked by a reporter about Foligno filling in for him on some postgame celebrations with Linus Ullmark. Swayman and Ullmark, of course, have celebrated wins with their patented hugs since last season.
Swayman took his answer in a different direction, though.
"I've got so many good things to say about that guy," Swayman said of Foligno. "Some things probably a lot of people don't know. I was on the train back to Boston from New York the next day [after the injury] and he texted me asking for my address. He said, 'My wife made you a ton of food and she's gonna drop it off.'
"I couldn't believe it. When I got home, there was this huge bag with like a gallon and a half of homemade chicken soup, 30 turkey meatballs, a bunch of peppers and cookies and stuff. It brought me to tears almost. It was really amazing. The character that he has, it's something I'm gonna remember and definitely pass along my whole career, because I'll never forget that."
Swayman returned to practice on Tuesday for the first time since the injury, which turned out to be not as serious as many had initially feared. The second-year goalie credited the Penguins' medical team for "treating me as their own" on-site in Pittsburgh, and then Scotty Waugh (the Bruins' manager of player rehabilitation) and his team for taking over from there.
"You don't want to think about [it possibly being more serious]," Swayman said. "I've never been carried off the ice before, and I never want to again. I was feeling it out right when I got off the ice, and being able to put weight on it was definitely a positive. Again, I just let the Pittsburgh staff take over, their docs and stuff, and listened to what they had to say. I was really, really fortunate to be in the position I am."
Boston coach Jim Montgomery said Swayman is "ahead of schedule" and "starting to check boxes" as he works towards a return to game action. He said he wasn't sure if Thursday against Philadelphia or Saturday against Chicago was realistic, but he didn't rule it out either and said they'll have to see how Swayman feels on Wednesday.
Swayman said he wants to be game-ready as soon as possible, but that he's going to keep following whatever the medical staff tells him.
"I'm gonna do everything I can to be game-ready, but I trust the medical staff here and Scotty Waugh," Swayman said. "Everything he says, I'm doing to the best of my ability. I'm gonna do everything I can to get back as soon as possible in a game."
Montgomery said it may not be a straight rotation between Swayman and the red-hot Ullmark once Swayman returns, but that he does want to lessen Ullmark's load a bit.
"Linus has been playing too many games," Montgomery said. "I think he leads the league in games played. We want to get Sway back as soon as possible. I can't say it's a rotation we're gonna get back to, but getting more of a split, rotation going."
