CLEVELAND — Columbus Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno sure knows how to get a crowd to its feet.
Whether it is dropping the gloves to fight for a teammate, scoring goals, helping kill penalties or showing support for the other teams in Columbus and Ohio, Foligno is a fan favorite who ingratiated himself to Ohio State Buckeyes fans a little bit more Friday night.
One of the three stars of the Blue Jackets’ 5-2 victory over their Metropolitan Division rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins after scoring two goals in front of the home fans at Nationwide Arena, Foligno skated out onto the ice to toss a stick to a lucky fan while wearing an Ohio State football helmet on the eve of “The Game” against the Michigan Wolverines.
After tossing the stick over the boards, Foligno repeatedly pointed to the helmet before pumping his fist into the air several times and heading back to the dressing room.
The Blue Jackets’ Twitter account had a little fun with the moment, saying, “GIVE THIS MAN EVERY KEY TO THE CITY! ALL OF THEM!”
This year, the Buckeyes (11-0) come into “The Game” as the No. 1 team in the country, according to the latest College Football Playoff rankings, while Michigan is the 13th ranked team in America heading into their “Senior Day” matchup with Ohio State.
Michigan leads the all-time series, 58-50-6, as well as the games played in Ann Arbor, 31-23-4, but Ohio State is on a seven-game winning streak against the Wolverines, including last year’s 62-39 victory at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
Ohio State already has clinched the Big 10 East Division title and will play in the Big 10 Championship Game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Saturday, December 7, but that is of little consequence to the Buckeyes, who know what this game means to fans.
“In recruiting, we talk to them right from the get-go,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said in his press conference earlier this week. “That’s one of the reasons why some people come to school here, for the rivalry. We make such a big deal of it.
“When you walk in the building, it’s all over the place. We talk about it all the time, talk about it in recruiting in all areas, strength and conditioning, football, other areas. It’s something that you just ingrain. The more these guys are in the program, the more they get it. We still have a huge majority of our guys from the area. They get it. They talk to the guys about that.”
