Cal and Nolan Foote made a request coming into training camp: They wanted to room together. The Lightning shot that down, just in case of any brotherly squabbles.
The Lightning's last two first-round picks (Cal in 2017, Nolan in 2019) will share something better than a hotel room Wednesday night. They'll share a NHL bench.
Nolan will make his first appearance with the Lightning in Wednesday's preseason game in Carolina. Cal was a late addition to the roster, giving them a chance to play a NHL game together.
"It's crazy," Cal said. "I'm very excited for him. Him my family and I have been waiting for this, and I'm excited to get to be there."
Cal wasn't originally slated to play in Wednesday's game. He mentioned to a few other players that maybe he'd try to come along on the trip to see Nolan play. Then he got word of a change to the roster and now he'll be on the roster with him.
When rookie camp first started two weeks ago, seeing Nolan across the dressing room didn't seem quite real to Cal. This was something they'd dreamed about since they were kids but didn't really think would happen.
They joked about the possibility going into the June draft. Cal had been in the Lightning organization for two years and wouldn't it be cool if they drafted his little brother as well?
When it actually happened, when the Lightning drafted Nolan on Jun 21, that didn't seem quite real either.
"We were just so happy," Nolan said. "We were just like 'there's no way this just happened.' "
The brothers, almost exactly two years apart in age, have always been close. They played together growing up and in juniors with Kelowna of the Western Hockey League. When Cal played for Syracuse last year, they talked in some form (text, Snapchat, FaceTime) every day.
Of course, there were some fights growing up _ Cal, the bigger older brother, always won _ though, Nolan insists that wouldn't have been an issue sharing a room now. Most of their battles in recent years have been on the ice.
With Nolan at forward and Cal on defense, working out against each other was a natural fit. Even when rookie camp started, and drills didn't have too much oomf behind them, Cal and Nolan kicked it up a notch when they paired up.
There's always an extra jab for a brother.
Nolan is odd-man out in the Foote family. Despite a father and brother at the blue line _ Adam played 19 years of defenseman in the NHL, most with Colorado _ Nolan naturally gravitated toward forward.
He said it was neither a matter of intentionally doing the opposite nor his brother having requested someone play opposite him in the driveway.
"I just love scoring goals," Nolan said. "I just loved being on offense, always having the puck on my stick, shooting."
Nolan is also the only lefty in a family of righties, as Cal was quick to point out.
Cal was able to give Nolan an idea of what to expect from training camp and the coaches, but he also wants to give Nolan space to do his own thing.
Nolan enjoys sharing this experience and playing with Cal. At the same time, he's been identified as Cal's brother and/or Adam's son his whole life. He wants to make a mark as his own player.
"Watching him go through the draft process, I wanted to follow in the same footsteps," Nolan said. "Now I feel like it's time to go our own paths. I'm a forward, he's a defenseman, so build our own way."
