ST. PAUL, Minn — The motivation for the “Foligno Faceoff” is an important one that hits home for Marcus and Nick Foligno.
The two brothers are raising money for breast cancer research through the V Foundation, in collaboration with the NHL and NHLPA. Marcus, the Minnesota Wild winger, and Nick, the Chicago Blackhawks captain, lost their mother Janis to breast cancer 16 years ago and started a foundation in her name.
But besides the sentimental, there’s another added benefit to this charity contest: adding stakes to a stale rivalry.
“We thought it’d be an awesome idea to have a little fun with our game because, to be honest with you, playing against Marcus now as we’ve gotten older is kind of losing its luster,” Nick told The Athletic. “We both want each other to do well. We’re at the age now where, beating each other for points, we both realized we haven’t won and we’re both cheering for each other. It’s nice to have something else to kind of play for. Instead of one of us leaving really angry after a game, it’s a nice way to kind of spice things up a little bit, and we’re doing it for a great cause.”
Putting a sibling rivalry to good use — introducing the #FolignoFaceOff!
Support Team Marcus or Team Nick by donating $17 — or any amount you can — to fund breast cancer research through the V Foundation and #HockeyFightsCancer. 100% of your donation will go directly to… pic.twitter.com/r4YPkxEL7w
— The V Foundation for Cancer Research (@TheVFoundation) November 20, 2025
When the NHLPA approached the brothers about getting involved, it was a no-brainer.
The idea is a simple one. Fans can pick sides and donate money through either Marcus or Nick’s page, with 100 percent of the money going to cancer research. Every donor is entered to win a Hockey Fights Cancer jersey signed by both brothers, plus a puck signed from their team’s Foligno.
The Foligno brothers announced the initiative on ESPN Thursday with their typical witty banter. What’s going to be fun for the two is deciding their side bet on the contest.
“We’re going to do a challenge, whoever loses has to do a consequence,” Marcus told The Athletic. “Maybe, like, I’ll wear a Foligno Faceoff shirt of Nick at Thanksgiving dinner. Or maybe I’d have to stand on the corner of the road with a sign that says, ‘Honk for breast cancer research.’”
“Hopefully the first one will be a Thanksgiving toast to the other, so that’ll be pretty funny,” Nick said. “Then maybe even have the fans vote on one, get more involvement that way.”
The first Wild-Hawks game of the season comes Wednesday in Chicago. Unfortunately, Nick isn’t expected to play due to an injury.
Marcus said the Janis Foligno Foundation is soon going to donate $110,000, helping a lot in their hometown of Sudbury, Ontario. They should raise a ton more through this “Foligno Faceoff” as well.
Marcus and Nick Foligno’s late mother isn’t with us, but the memories are piled up.
“That was her happiest moments … When we were all together.”
The Foligno brothers think about their mom often and Mother’s Day will always hit them hard.https://t.co/rhUaHxGThD
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) May 12, 2023
And they’re both still rooting for each other on the ice, including for each of them to snap their goal drought. Marcus has no goals in 22 games, with Nick shut out in his first 15.
“Oh my God,” Nick said, laughing. “Both him and I, I don’t know what’s going on this year. We’re saving them for when they matter, I guess. But it’s crazy. I wouldn’t have guessed we’d be donuts right now at the start of the year. It’s a funny game, sometimes. Analytics. So I said, ‘Marcus, we’re due for like 20 goals down the stretch, we’ll be the hottest players in the league.”
Pro volleyball coming to GCA
Wild owner Craig Leipold announced last week that he has purchased and is placing a Major League Volleyball expansion team at Grand Casino Arena starting in January 2027. Leipold has a number of minority investors, including Tim Connelly, the president of basketball operations of the Timberwolves, and Matt Mithun, part owner of MLS’ Minnesota United.
The name, logo and color scheme will be announced sometime next year.
“We’ve been working on an opportunity to get involved in women’s sports for a couple years now,” Leipold said. “This opportunity is one that we have spent a lot of time and due diligence looking at, which is the best opportunity for us.”
Matt Mithun, Craig Leipold and Scott Gorsline announce the purchase of an MLV expansion franchise. (Bruce Kluckhohn / Minnesota Wild)
Leipold was also approached by League One Volleyball, but they have a PWHL model where the league owns and operates all the teams. Because the Wild feel they know their market better and have more of an expertise selling tickets and finding corporate sponsors, they felt MLV was a better fit so they can operate the franchise.
LOV jumped ahead of the Wild’s planned presser last week and announced on X its intention to place its own expansion team in the Twin Cities in 2027. No details, such as a venue, were announced.
That development clearly created awkwardness as Leipold said during the presser that the Wild never envisioned two pro volleyball leagues coming to the Twin Cities and indicated doubt that two can work.
“I have to question whether it’s appropriate to put two teams in one market like this,” Leipold said. “There is two in Atlanta, and there’s two in Omaha, Nebraska.”
Added Scott Gorsline, president of the Grand Rapids Rise and co-chair of the MLV board of directors, “I would say it’s definitely not ideal to be going head-to-head in new markets. But I would also say this group, this arena, you can’t really, in my opinion, compete with what they offer. These guys will do what they do and do it the right way and let the chips fall where they may.”
MLV officials say teams average about 4,000 fans per game, with Omaha drawing around 10,000. Minnesota will be aiming for around 8,000 a game, with ticket deposits being accepted at mlvminnesota.com. There are currently eight teams in the league, with plans to expand to 11 by 2027.
“We will likely have weekends where we’ll have afternoon volleyball and maybe (evening) hockey games,” Leipold said. “It’s being done in other markets. It can happen.”
Sarah Wilhite-Parsons, the former Gophers star from Eden Prairie and player for the Omaha Supernovas, said it was surreal that “a professional team is coming to my hometown.”
Leipold said — followed by a big laugh — that he didn’t want to already get thrown out of the league for tampering, “but you’re the kind of player that we want to have on our team.”
The Goligoski effect
A couple weeks ago, Zeev Buium was sitting at his locker room stall at TRIA Rink with a laptop and a helpful teacher: Alex Goligoski.
Goligoski, the retired NHL defenseman, is in his first year as Wild player development advisor, and has already played a big role in tutoring the team’s young defensemen like David Jiricek, Daemon Hunt and Buium.
“It’s just the little things — I love it,” Buium said. “He’s a great player, and he just gets it. Being a young guy trying to find your wings. When you watch little things, good and bad, small plays that can eventually end up in something big.”
On this day, Goligoski was talking with Buium on a few things, including box-outs. He told the top prospect that when an opponent goes from low to high, don’t extend too high because they’ll stop and go around you.
“The biggest thing is he’s trying to instill confidence in us,” Buium said. “Make us feel good about our game. If you’re confident, everything is better. You play with like, a beat. You play different, you skate different. (Goligoski) gets it. He’s played at this time, this era. He gets the things you can and can’t do. He sees the things you want to try. And going into that Carolina game and the Islanders game (on the road), I really found that confidence, like ‘I can do what I did at Denver. I can do it here.’”
Yurov having a blast making the NHL circuit
Shooting the breeze with Buium on Friday in Pittsburgh, the young defenseman said he had previously been to Pittsburgh for a USHL showcase but never played at the Penguins’ home arena. He said the biggest blast so far this season was getting to go to new cities and play in new arenas for the first time.
Danila Yurov, who hails from Russia, echoed that sentiment, saying, “Everything is new to me.”
One of his biggest thrills so far this season was getting to play recently against the Anaheim Ducks’ Chris Kreider. Yurov worked out this offseason with several NHLers at the Prentiss Hockey Performance center in Stamford, Conn., and one player that took Yurov under his wing was Kreider, the NHL veteran and former New York Rangers star.
Kreider is the king of that gym and would teach Yurov workouts and take him aside on the ice during skates.
At one point in the second period, Kreider and Yurov shared a couple words before Yurov skated away laughing. Earlier in the game, Yurov was clipped under his right eye by a high-stick from Mason McTavish. Asked what Kreider said to him, Yurov said, laughing, “He asked about my eye, and then said a couple funny Russian words to me.”
Coach John Hynes, by the way, is liking what he has seen from Yurov between Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello since the injuries to Marco Rossi and Ryan Hartman. He likes that he doesn’t see a change in his game. Yurov scored his third goal of the season Sunday in Winnipeg, although it came on a partial change where he was skating with Foligno and Yakov Trenin.
DANILAAAAAA pic.twitter.com/rcMDTH8rU1
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) November 24, 2025
“I thought he continued just playing the way that he’s played,” Hynes said. “He continues to play a good two-way game. He made a good play on (Brock Faber’s) goal (against Carolina), he’s very good on breakouts, breakout support. He can fit well with those guys, too, because he can transport the puck. … What I do see is he continues to get more comfortable.”
