Joel Farabee likes the Philadelphia Eagles by a touchdown on Super Bowl Sunday.
Put on the spot for a prediction, the Calgary Flames winger mulls it over for a second and then offers up a score of 24-17.
This is, it should be noted, a biased opinion.
“It’s going to be a good one, but I don’t think the Chiefs can stop Saquon (Barkley),” said Farabee, who was born and raised in Syracuse, N.Y., with a wide smile. “My dad is actually from Philly, so I grew up a Philly sports fan. So I’m rooting for the Birds, for sure.
“I’m pretty diehard, I would say, especially after playing in Philly for six years and getting to be right there. Obviously when they’re good, it’s easy to say you’re a diehard. But I’ve been riding with them for a while, so I’ll be pumped to watch.”
This past week and change has brought a wild ride for Farabee and his close buddy Morgan Frost, who joined the Flames in the same blockbuster trade.
New city.
New sweater.
A bunch of new systems to learn and new names to remember.
Farabee isn’t just riding with the Eagles these days. Without wheels, he and Frost are also riding with fellow Flames forward Matt Coronato, who has become their unofficial Uber to the rink.
“It was just a whirlwind getting out here and getting right into the games,” Farabee said, recapping his recent change-of-address. “But I think it’s been great, honestly. The guys have been awesome, just taking care of us and making sure we know where meetings are, where to be, things like that. Matty Coronato has been awesome. He’s been driving us around, so we’ve been hanging out with him quite a bit and that’s been great.”
Word is, the sure-handed Coronato has handled the slippery roads like a wily veteran.
Frost also praised his punctuality.
So … five stars?
“We’ll go 4.8,” Frost quipped. “Just because. I can’t give him a five-star.”
You wouldn’t call it a five-star start for the two newest Flames, either, although they deserve a solid rating for their four appearances so far. They’ve each buried a goal. On the flip-side, they’ve only been able to celebrate one victory.
While Frost will tell you that he needs to trim the turnovers and Farabee was demoted Thursday from his spot on the top line, any evaluation must take into account that these dudes haven’t had any time to catch their breath. As Flames head coach Ryan Huska reminded, these former Flyers actually suited up for four games in a five-night span around the trade — in New Jersey, then Philly, then Calgary and Seattle.
“Right now, we’re just trying to get them to feel as comfortable as possible around the team,” Huska said. “One thing, at times, that I even forget is that they played back-to-before … and then they flew all day and then they had another back-to-back, with a tougher travel situation. You don’t see that in the NHL.
“These guys have come into a new team, and emotionally that’s a hard thing to do, as well. So I give them both a lot of credit for how they have played for us so far and I do think the longer they’re here, the more comfortable they get around here, they’re going to be really good players for us.”
Believe it or not, Friday marked just one week since Farabee and Frost boarded a charter flight from Philadelphia to Calgary to join their new crew.
By contrast, Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier just finally arrived in the City of Brotherly Love. They’d been skating with the WHL’s Hitmen as they waited on work visas.
“You say it’s been a week, but it also feels like it was, like, three days ago,” Frost said after Friday’s off-ice workout at the Saddledome “But at the same time, Beezer and I were joking yesterday that it feels like we’ve already been here for, like, two-and-half weeks. So I don’t know, there’s a lot going on in our heads.
“But it was kind of nice to rip the band-aid off and get in and play hockey.”
It helps that there is some R n’ R coming.
After Saturday’s matchup against the Seattle Kraken, the Flames will split for vacation as the NHL pushes pause for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
While most of their new pals are booked at beach resorts, Farabee and Frost have packing to do.
Starting Monday, that is.
Farabee has Sunday blocked off to holler at the TV, to hope Barkley can prove his prediction right by running roughshod and that Philadelphia’s defence can hold its own against Patrick Mahomes & Co.
“I think him and I will be watching together somewhere,” said Frost, who hails from Aurora, Ont., of the NFL’s championship showdown. “I’m pretty indifferent — I don’t really have a team in football — but it would be cool to see the Eagles win it.”