Sticking up for a teammate after a questionable hit has been a Flyers tradition going all the way back to the rambunctious days of the Broad Street Bullies.
Even today, it’s still about as Philadelphia as a cheesesteak.
Take Thursday night’s Flyers-Florida game for example.
Throughout the game, Joel Farabee had watched Florida forward Sam Bennett take liberties all over the place, including a “vicious” elbow thrown at Travis Konecny in the first period and a questionable in-the-back hit on Travis Sanheim in the third.
Farabee is not exactly the second coming of Dave Schultz but he jumped into action against Bennett and wound up with a double-minor penalty for cross-checking and roughing.
Only problem: The score was tied 5-5 at the time and just 2:28 left in the game. Sam Reinhart then scored a power-play goal just 29 seconds later and that’s all she wrote.
At Friday’s practice at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, N.J., coach John Tortorella said he didn’t have a problem with Farabee sticking up for his teammates. It’s just that the timing was a little off.
Farabee indicated he got the message and would try to be a little more prudent in picking his spots for retaliation from now on.
“I think our whole team makes it a point to stick up for each other,” Farabee said. “That (Florida) is a team we actually try to mimic their playing style. At this point in my career, I’ll never back down from a situation like that, where a teammate gets cheap-shotted.
“I ended up costing us the game. But at the same time that’s my mindset, sticking up for my teammates the best I can.”
Farabee has had an off year so far, with just three goals in 24 games. But Tortorella continues to praise his overall game despite an overall minus-11 number.
“Those are tough spots,” Tortorella said of Farabee’s decision to go after Bennett when he did. “We talk about that all the time, as far as ganging up when you need to. I think there needs to be a little more patience sometimes in that type of situation in a game.”
The Flyers have been particularly protective of Matvei Michkov in his rookie year. For this season, he’s been a key breadwinner. Also, Konecny and Sanheim are probably the team’s two most valuable players at their positions right now.
Some see Farabee, 24, as one of the leaders of the team’s younger generation of players. Veterans such as Sanheim, Scott Laughton and Konecny are the clear team leaders but Farabee isn’t far behind.
“Joel’s played very well this year,” Tortorella pointed out. “He just can’t score. He’s ended up with chances, he’s made some really good plays. I don’t consider him a young guy here anymore. He’s a guy who needs to help out in that (leadership).
“I know he’s helped some young guys, they’ve come in here, he’s had them at his house. That’s an important part of his role.”
Tortorella said Farabee taking matters into his own hands is “a very important part of who we are in situational play. That’s a big part of who Joel is. He leads by example. I think he’s had a good year, his numbers don’t prove it but he’s been doing a lot of good things for us.”
>Ersson’s status clarified
On Wednesday, Tortorella gave the impression goaltender Samuel Ersson was available to play in the Florida game.
As it turns out, Ersson had not been medically cleared or taken off injured reserve. He did not dress for the game and remains on IR.
On Friday, the coach admitted the wording of his message might have been a little off.
“I don’t know how I worded it but Sam’s still on IR,” Tortorella said. “We have a plan for Sam (who’s been practicing for a week) and we’re going to follow through with it.
“That’s probably my fault. There’s an absolute plan for what we’re going to do with Sam.”
Tortorella was asked why he pulled starting goaltender Ivan Fedotov and inserted Aleksei Kolosov after one period in the Florida game.
“I didn’t think he (Fedotov) looked sharp at all,” the coach said.
>Bad penalty by Brink
Bobby Brink was called for interference late in the third period against the Panthers and it cost the Flyers not only a potential power play but allowed Florida to score a goal and tie the game at 5-5.
Probably not the smartest of plays.
“Hard lesson,” Tortorella said. “A young player, Bobby has to understand the situation. He got away with it once. Then the same exact play happens and he does the same thing. There has to be a little common sense that comes into play.
“That basically got the ball rolling to us self-destructing.”
