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Exit Interview: Joel Farabee confident and ready to get even better after 20-goal season

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Joel Farabee, Philadelphia Flyerserview

Joel Farabee was one of the few bright spots for the Philadelphia Flyers this season. He led the team with 20 goals and was fifth in points with 38 in 55 games. At just 21 years old, he was named the team’s most-improved player for his stellar sophomore season.

The Flyers missed the playoffs and closed out their season earlier than expected this year. They finished the season with a win on Monday, May 10th, then held their end-of-season media availability on Tuesday.

Alain Vigneault and Chuck Fletcher both spoke about the big picture and larger issues plaguing this Flyers team. After that, the players took to the podium for their exit interviews.

This week, we’ll be going through those exit interviews (alphabetically) with full transcripts and quotes. We’ll dig into any interesting tidbits at the end.

Joel Farabee Exit Interview

How much does the taste of NHL success fuel you for this offseason? Will you go back home in the offseason?

Yeah, definitely. I plan to work out in Syracuse, skate there like I normally do. Should be set up for a pretty good summer. After this year for me, I think I have a good grasp on some things I need to work on. And I’m excited again to try and get a little bit stronger, a little bit bigger this summer, like I did last year, and just keep trying to get better.

Beyond reaching 20 goals, what else can you take away from this season?

Yeah, I think I figured out a lot about my game in the NHL and the things I need to do to be consistent because I definitely think I found a lot of confidence this year. So hopefully, I can just build that. I think for me, one of the big things I want to focus on is just keeping it consistent. Try not to have those 10-15 game stretches where things are going bad. So hopefully with that, I have a little bit better year. And I think this season will definitely help me feel good heading into next year.

Alain Vigneault said a few moments ago that some of the young guys aside from yourself did not perform up to expectation, is there any advice you can give to the guys that perhaps are sort of in that gray area here and need to take a step forward?

I think everyone was affected differently this year. It’s a tough year and I can speak from experience. When things aren’t going great, sometimes it’s been really hard to find your game and stuff like that. I have a lot of faith in my teammates here. I think we have a really good group. We have a lot of good young guys. I think this summer will be really useful. It’s kind of a normal summer and we’ll be heading into a more normal camp and a more normal season. So hopefully with that, guys are ready. And I’m pretty confident that all the young guys are going to take a step forward for next year.

Why were you able to sort of avoid the pitfall that so many of your young teammates weren’t able to?

I don’t know if there’s one thing that makes a difference. I came into this year, I felt really confident about my game and I tried to just continue that throughout the season. Try to make plays and not do too much. Try and play with the puck and not get rid of it too much. Like I said earlier, I think this summer is gonna be really big for a lot of guys. And we’re gonna need a big summer for our team to have success next year.

What is the dynamic like when you have the mix of younger players and veterans?

The core that we have and the leaders that we have in the room are really good. I think Jake, G, and Coots, they’re just such great leaders. They really pushed all the young guys every day. I know the season obviously didn’t go the way we expected but I think the leadership’s there. I think we’re working hard. We’re working smart. And I’m really confident that next year, we’re really going to figure things out. I know that we have such a good team here and such a good group of guys. You saw glimpses of it a little bit this year, when we got rolling, we were a tough team to beat. Hopefully, we can keep that momentum, kick it off early and keep that throughout next year.

Did you get a chance to talk to your folks or any friends about reaching 20 goals?

Yeah, I definitely got to talk to my family yesterday and talked to a couple friends from home. I just think it’s really cool. I never really expected a season like this. I had high expectations for myself, but I never thought about scoring 20 goals this year. So definitely, definitely happy with that. I have a lot of great support from friends and family. So that’s really nice.

What do you think AV meant when he said that you still have a lot more to give?

Yeah, I think everyone has room to improve. Back to what I said earlier, I think just trying to find that consistency throughout the whole season. Obviously, not every game, you’re gonna have it, but I think for me, I try not to have those 10 games slumps, those 15 game slumps. If I can eliminate that and kind of bring it a little bit more every night. I think I can really, really help the team a bit more.


Joel Farabee built on an already strong rookie season by taking a big step forward this year. He was confident coming into training camp and it showed.

It’s good to see Farabee comment on the leadership in the locker room. The optimism is there, but the Flyers have to show it next season.

Transcript via Philadelphia Flyers


Flyers Exit Interviews

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Has Brian Elliott played his last game with the Flyers?

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Ryan is a proud graduate of Monmouth University. He has covered the Philadelphia Flyers for the better part of a decade at various outlets, including Sons of Penn and Broad Street Hockey. Ryan has also worked for NHL.com and NBC Sports Regional Networks. Whether it's a GIF, quick stat, analysis, or long-form column, he's got you covered.

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