Devils' Farnham suspended four games for hit
Bobby Farnham will miss the next four New Jersey Devils games. (USATSI)
The New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues had a rough third period Tuesday night, and it all started because Devils forward Bobby Farnham was unhappy about being checked.
In response to a clean, legal hit from Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, Farnham immediately jumped to his feet and took out his anger on the first Blues player who came into his line of vision. Unfortunately for Blues forward Dmitrij Jaskin, that player just happened to be him.
Farnham earned a five-minute major for interference and a 10-minute misconduct.
His punishment did not end there.
On Wednesday, the NHL suspended Farnham four games for his actions.
Here is the NHL’s explanation of the play, which the league called a “violent, predatory hit.”
The league notes that Farnham’s hit came a full second after Jaskin had already moved the puck along to a teammate, well after the legal timeframe for a player to finish his check. The league usually views anything more than 0.6 seconds to be a late hit.
More from the NHL’s suspension video:
“This is not a hockey play in which Farnham is finishing a check just after an opponent has moved the puck. This is a calculated decision by a player seeking retribution against the opposing team, and choosing to do so in an illegal and violent manner.”
Given past decisions from the NHL’s department of player safety, the four-game suspension is pretty harsh for a first offense that doesn’t involve a hit to the head. But that was also a pretty senseless play on Farnham’s part.
Farnham, who has only appeared in 38 games in the NHL over the past two seasons, had not been fined or suspended prior to this incident. He does, however, have 73 penalty minutes in those 38 games while mostly getting limited ice-time when he has been in the lineup.
Acquired on waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier in the season, Farnham has been a surprisingly productive player for the Devils with seven goals and one assist in his first 24 games with the team. Only four players on the team (Kyle Palmieri, Adam Henrik, Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak) have more goals than him this season.
What makes the goal total even more stunning is the fact he never scored more than eight goals in a single season during his NCAA playing days at Brown University.
During his professional career before this season he scored just 20 goals in 206 games between the ECHL and AHL and never scored more than seven in a single season.
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