'He brings a lot of value': Flames getting the best out of Farabee after slow start

Joel Farabee described the first 31 games of his tenure with the Calgary Flames as “embarrassing.”

There’s been nothing remotely embarrassing about the next 31.

Farabee’s harsh assessment of his tough start in Calgary came during his end-of-season media availability at the conclusion of the Flames’ 2024-25 campaign. He’d been acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers at the end of January and had struggled to find his feet, scoring only three goals and adding three assists while seeing his ice time dwindle.

Since returning for Year 2, he’s been a completely new man.

“Last year, just the whole year, I felt like I couldn’t get to my game,” Farabee explained. “There were stretches where I felt good but also stretches where I really didn’t feel good. I think this year, I just feel really good. My role on the team is exactly how I see myself as a player.”

That role? It’s playing on the right wing next to Nazem Kadri and Yegor Sharangovich on what is the Flames’ top line. It’s playing an important role on a Flames’ penalty kill that’s killing off 82.7 per cent off the opponents’ opportunities with the man advantage, the eighth-best rate in the NHL.

And he’s putting up points, too. Farabee’s scored seven times and added eight assists, more than doubling his totals over the same number of games he played for the Flames last season.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say Farabee looks like a completely new player or, more accurately, a lot more like the guy who put up 50 points for the Flyers in 2023-24.

“I don’t think he’d be mad at me for saying I’ve seen him play for so many years and I know how good a player he is and that wasn’t him last year,” said Morgan Frost, who came to the Flames in the same deal with the Flyers that sent Jakob Pelletier and Andrei Kuzmenko the other way. “I’m really happy for him, I think he came in with the right mindset and I knew he had it in him.

“It was a tough transition for both of us. I feel like now, and I don’t want to say that I’m getting traded or anything, but if I did get moved it would be easier. That was the first time either of us had ever been traded, like, I played on the same junior team the whole time and was always with Philly and that first time you’re switching like that, especially mid-season, is shocking and tough.”

It can be awkward for players to talk about the challenges that come with being traded in the middle of a season because nobody wants to look like they’re making excuses.

But it’s a shock to the system and can mess with a player’s confidence as they try to find their place in a new locker room and learn a new system.

This year, when Farabee returned to training camp there was a whole new skip in his step.

“I think he came into this year a lot lighter,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “When a guy gets traded, a young guy for the first time, there’s a lot that goes through a guy’s head. He’s got to figure out a new team, a new city, where he fits in.

“Both Joel and Morgan got off to slower start for us and then things compound a little bit. Ice time gets pulled back a touch and then the player tends to beat themselves up a bit, too. He went home in the summer and came back rejuvenated and refreshed and I think he understands he brings a lot of value to our team and is a very important piece for us.”

There were, admittedly, a few frustrating moments early in the season as the Flames sputtered out of the gate and Farabee just couldn’t seem to find the back of the net. At one point, he felt like there was a dark cloud hanging over him and puck-luck just wasn’t on his side.

That’s flipped, though, especially since he’s solidified his place alongside the red-hot Kadri and Sharangovich, who is beginning to find his game, as well.

It’s a trio the Flames are relying on and since being put together on Nov. 18, they’ve combined for 30 points in 11 games.

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Things are clicking, and make no mistake, Farabee’s a big part of why.

“Playing with Sharky and Naz, they’re great linemates and I feel like the last 10 games we’ve really clicked and have kind of figured each other out,” Farabee said. “Confidence is a funny thing in hockey, it can mean a lot of things. For me, I’m really just going out there and playing.

“Last year, I was thinking about systems a lot and whether I was in the right spot and this year it’s just having a full summer to prepare and having a full camp, it’s helped me a lot. I’m doing less thinking and more just going out there and playing.”
daustin@postmedia.com

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