Two Flyers Suddenly Begin Playing Well After Being Involved in Trade Rumours
Back before Chuck Fletcher was relieved of his duties and even before the trade deadline, a report surfaced saying that Joel Farabee had told his agent he wanted to request a trade out of Philadelphia due to issues with John Tortorella and the way his ice time had been handled throughout the season. Farabee, who had off-season neck disk replacement surgery, has struggled for a large part of the season mainly due to the fact he wasn't as well conditioned as he could have been had he not been injured and had been able to do a full off-season of proper training. When the reports initially surfaced, Flyers fans were a bit stunned that a young player that hadn't been in any rumors ever suddenly wanted out. However, Farabee was quick to reassure them that the report was a twisted misunderstanding. He almost immediately came out to the Philadelphia media and quickly denied the reports saying his agent completely misunderstood what he said and he was not, in fact, requesting a trade.
For his part, John Tortorella came out and told the media he thought the player's agent should "shut up". He made it abundantly clear that he was well aware Farabee was "behind" where he should be because of the off-season surgery and the lack of training, and he was absolutely not giving up on the youngster yet.
Farabee was then benched twice in the middle of games within a short two week stretch as Tortorella attempted to get his message across and get the forward playing the way he wanted him to, and help him take a step toward righting his game for the future. The benchings, of course, sent the media into a frenzy, saying the player wasn't getting the message the coach was sending and it was going to result in poor things between the two for the future; maybe even leading to the trade request that was previously and quickly denied.
Since the benchings in short succession Farabee has played much better. After going 26 games without a goal, the young forward finally found the back of the net against the Buffalo Sabres. He apparently enjoyed the feeling so much he continued to find the back the net in the following three games to put himself on a 4-game career-high goal scoring streak. What's even better is that three of the four goals was a different variety. He scored on the backhand against Buffalo, used a wrist shot against Carolina and Florida and his goal against Minnesota was a deflection. So after 26 games of nothing, and trade rumors he couldn't just ignore, he's slowly refinding his game and doing so in various ways.
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Another player who has recently found himself in trade rumors, for a widely different reason than Farabee, is goaltender Carter Hart. After Fletcher was sent packing and Danny Briere took over and it was made official and clear that the Flyers are in a rebuilding phase, reports began to come out saying Hart was not on board for playing for the Flyers through a rebuild.
Unlike Farabee, Hart has not come out to confirm or deny the rumors/reports, but it's worth noting that his chosen playing position says the reports are probably true. He's already 24, he plays the toughest position to master in hockey, and it's also probably the position with the shortest "life-span". Some skaters can hang in there and play at lesser degrees until there closer to 40 years old; some stick to it a bit longer, but very few goalies are able to play into the 40's or beyond just due to the nature and physical toll the position takes on the body. Not to mention, unlike skaters, there are far less goalie positions on a team. When a goalie "falls off" they may get shifted back to the backup positioning, but if they truly fall off they could find themselves without a job all together.
Rebuilds do not have to take 10 years, but the fact is they absolutely can if they're not done properly or if 'high end talent' is not drafted or developed properly. The fear, especially with the Flyers is that it could very well take that long because they themselves have admitted they do not have the high-end talent needed to fix it, and unless they find a miracle in the next couple drafts and win at least one of the lotteries in the next couple opportunities, they're going to have to hope they find a diamond in the rough or that one or more of their top-5 or top-10 picks over exceeds their projected ceilings. It's not out of the realm of possibility, but this is Philadelphia, so it's also not likely based on this team's history.
So while some Flyers fans may struggle to fully understand why the goalie doesn't want to stick around, it's rather fair for Hart to tell the team he's not sure he has 10-15 years left to play at the highest level at his chosen position, and because nobody can truly know how long this rebuild will take he doesn't wanna be here to see it all the way through because he wants the chance to play for the cup while he's still capable of playing at his highest level.
Of course, with that said, despite reports, nobody has any idea what conversations - if any - Hart has had behind the scenes, and despite all the "will he stay or will he go" talk that has surrounded the goaltender, it hasn't effected his game in the slightest. Despite the team's lack of all-around talent, he has played well all season. In fact, it's probably fair to say that between him and Sam Ersson, that at least 15 of the 25 wins the Flyers currently own are due to Hart and (to a slightly lesser degree only due to how few games he's played) Ersson standing on their heads to secure wins. That doesn't even mention the "loser points" the team acquired from losing in overtime, which they more often than not only got to because of good goaltending.
I'd say it's a good bet that if not for the goalies, the Flyers are probably much closer to the Blackhawks and Columbus in the standings; which would of course, put them into the heart of the Bedard sweepstakes, so I guess the good goaltending kind of killed those hopes a bit(there's still a chance, but it's not a great one), but you can't truly blame the goaltenders for playing at their best. After all, that's what all teams ask their goalies to do.
Players finding a way to play at their best despite rumors and turmoil surrounding the team shows that they're not only talented, but also mentally tough and professional. Despite the reports we still don't officially know where Hart, or Farbee, will be next season. That decision rests squarely on Danny Briere's shoulders, so we'll have to wait and see. But the fact both have been able to seemingly ignore rumors and continue to play their game despite the whispers around them is impressive and whether they're with the Flyers or another team in the future it's surely something a front office takes notice to.
| POLL | ||
24 MARS | 59 ANSWERS Two Flyers Suddenly Begin Playing Well After Being Involved in Trade Rumours Are you impressed with the two players ability to block out the noise and play their game? | ||
| Yes | 23 | 39 % |
| No | 14 | 23.7 % |
| Should I be? | 13 | 22 % |
| I don't have an opinion | 9 | 15.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
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