Philadelphia Flyers: Joel Farabee’s 3-game suspension was undeserved

Already down several players due to injuries, the Philadelphia Flyers will now also be without rookie Joel Farabee for three games after he was incorrectly suspended by the NHL.

There is no sugarcoating how ill-advised it was for Joel Farabee of the Philadelphia Flyers to deliver a late hit to Mathieu Perreault of the Winnipeg Jets during the Flyers’ ugly 7-3 loss on Sunday.

It was a case of a young player letting his emotions getting the best of him and delivering a reckless, undisciplined hit, one that was deserving of a penalty.

More from Philadelphia Flyers

• How to Claim $3,000+ In Pennsylvania Sportsbook Bonuses Today! 
• DraftKings Pennsylvania Promo Will Give You $200 Bonus GUARANTEED for Betting Just $5
• Flyers/Avalanche: What a difference three years makes
• Surprise, the Philadelphia Flyers are struggling again
• Philadelphia Flyers: The organization must embrace the tank this season

But a five-minute major, a game misconduct and a subsequent three-game suspension?

Sorry, but the NHL blew it.

Exhibit A of why this was a bad decision comes courtesy of last week’s Flyers game versus the Ottawa Senators, when Travis Konecny was K.O.’ed courtesy of a headshot by Ottawa hoodlum Mark Borowiecki.

I’ve already laid out the case as to why the NHL blew that decision, and here we are just over a week later watching them screw things up on the opposite end of the spectrum.

You can watch the explanation of the suspension here, as the NHL’s Department of Player Safety has issued one of their usual videos. My favorite part comes at the 20-second mark when it talks about how “Farabee was knocked to the ice”. They must have deemed this to sound better for their purposes than “Farabee gets cross-checked to the ice in a call that the officials clearly missed”.

Hey, all I’m saying is, if they whistle Winnipeg for a cross-check there, the rest of the play doesn’t happen. Farabee doesn’t get up seeing red, and Perreault doesn’t get hurt. It’s The Butterfly Effect on full display.

Alternate realities aside, it really was a dumb play by Farabee. However, you’d think that maybe the NHL wouldn’t be overly harsh against a young player with no established history. But they’ve decided to make an example of him for some reason even after letting repeat offender Borowiecki off scot free.

It also bears mentioning that Farabee only got suspended for one fewer game than Robert Bortuzzo of the St. Louis Blues did last month. Bortuzzo, also a repeat offender, delivered a vicious cross-check to the ribs of Viktor Arvidsson of the Nashville Predators, causing an injury that still has Arvidsson sidelined. Bortuzzo got four games despite his history.

Maybe I’m just extra bitter about the Farabee suspension because of the Flyers’ rapidly depleting forward group. His absence, even for three games, is big.

I hope that Farabee learned a lesson from this, though. It’s a different league nowadays, and you have to be careful.

You also can never rely on the NHL to get anything right, so don’t even give them a chance to mess things up.