Should Bobby Farnham earn suspension for retaliation vs. Blues? (Video)
Bobby Farnham has earned some love from New Jersey Devils fans for being an energy line player, throwing his body around and chipping in an unexpected amount of offense. He plays with emotion … but on Tuesday night at the St. Louis Blues, that emotion may have gotten the best of him.
Farnham took a big hit from Kevin Shattenkirk of the Blues while on the forecheck in the third period. He got up, and then decided to take a run at the nearest blue jersey. That ended up being Dmitrij Jaskin, who was pulverized by Farnham on an egregious bit of interference in front of the referee.
The Blues jumped Farnham, and chaos ensued – including a fight between Ryan Reaves and Jordin Tootoo in which Tootoo was dropped with a punch, and then Reaves hit him again while he was down.
Farnham was hit with a major for interference and a misconduct. The Blues would win the game, 5-2. Jaskin played one more 36-second shift at the end of the game.
Could this lead to a suspension? Fire and Ice’s Tom Gulitti asked Devils coach John Hynes and Farnham:
The NHL Department of Player Safety has factored in “heat of the moment” game situations into ruling in the past – not to exonerate a player, but as context for punishment – and Farnham was obviously not of sound mind after that hit.
Should Farnham earn a suspension for this?
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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