With his Old City house as new hub, Joel Farabee turning into team leader

Sometime in early 2022, Sean Couturier — fresh off season-ending back surgery — was watching his teammates play out the string from up in the press box, alongside Joel Farabee, who was recovering from a shoulder injury of his own.

Couturier mentioned in passing that he was just about ready to put his Old City property up for sale. Farabee’s ears immediately perked up.

A few conversations and a couple texts later, and the house had a new owner.

“The easiest real estate deal I’ve (ever) had to make,” Couturier cracked.

But when Couturier passed the place along to Farabee, he surely didn’t know that it would take on a new life as a meet-up spot for the younger members of the team especially. And in the process, it would allow Farabee to take on a larger leadership role — as both social planner and locker room exemplar.

“He’s really helping out some of these young guys in a big way – even if he doesn’t realize it,” Couturier noted.

The house as a new hub

After securing ownership of Couturier’s old residence, Farabee came to a rapid realization.

The place was too big.

Five bedrooms and a full basement? Sure, Farabee could afford it, due to his newly-signed six-year, $30 million contract extension. But could he fill it?

“Right when I bought the place, I moved in and I was like, this place is too big for me, it’s a little lonely,” Farabee remembered. “I need somebody.”

His first add? Tyson Foerster, who he nabbed early last summer, right after Farabee had suffered his neck injury and was returning to town to have it addressed.

“So he texted me and told me to pick him up at the airport,” Foerster recalled, as he was staying in team apartments in New Jersey at the time preparing for the 2022-23 season. “(When I did), he said, ‘Hey, you want to come and live with me for the summer?’”

Foerster relocated to Allentown in the fall as he officially began his professional career with the Phantoms. In the interim, Wade Allison became Farabee’s new roommate, taking up residence in the basement, and the two threw a team-wide Super Bowl party in February at the house.

But it was the summer of 2023 when Farabee’s place truly became a central hub for Flyers-related social activity.

Farabee made the decision to stay in the Philadelphia area once again, looking to have a big summer of strength gains after being forced to spend the previous offseason rehabbing his neck injury instead. It wasn’t necessarily with the goal of becoming team social chair.

But that’s more or less what happened.

Foerster — also looking to take advantage of the facilities in Voorhees over the summer — returned as roommate. But he wasn’t the only player in the area. Elliot Desnoyers was around. So was Bobby Brink. Egor Zamula was rehabilitating after his own end-of-season surgery. Emil Andrae and Helge Grans came over from Europe for development camp in July, along with a deluge of other organizational prospects. AHLers like Brendan Furry and Louis Belpedio popped in and out.

Sure, the Flyers had apartment facilities near the Training Center where most of the players in town could stay. But those were mostly for the week. On weekends, Farabee opened the doors of his very large residence to anyone who wanted to socialize in Philadelphia proper.

“He’d tell everybody – welcome to my house,” Zamula remembered. “Five or four times, I stayed with him. He (bought) good dinner for everybody. He asked me to stay here, sleep, you’re always welcome.

“You can come to my place – it’s your home too.”

Rather than watch all of the young players and prospects be forced to navigate an unfamiliar city alone, Farabee wanted to make sure they all felt welcome to hang after the work days were finished.

“There’s a lot of downtime in the summer, especially when you’re staying here, it can get really boring,” he explained. “I think, having a place in the city, there’s a lot more to do down there. I tried, any chance I’d get, to take the guys out and do whatever.”

Farabee may only be 23 years of age. But he’s already an NHL veteran, entering his fifth season in the league. For an established NHLer to place an emphasis upon taking care of young players in the organization — players who may not even be comfortable yet in the United States, let alone Philadelphia — it was a gesture that didn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated.

“Beezer, an older guy – well, not older guy, but almost (an) older guy — inviting us, making us welcome… for me, as a new guy, I felt he was very welcoming and took care of me,” Helge Grans noted.

The Farabee house quickly became the central hub. Some players would only be in town for a few days, a weekend, a couple weeks. But regardless of the length of their stay, they’d get the invite and access code for entry. They all could begin the night there, and they knew that if necessary, they could stay the night as well.

“Some players need to buy hotel rooms, but Beezer tells (them), come to me, don’t spend your money, stay with me,” Zamula remembered. “Big respect for him, he (allowed) the young guys to stay with him, not spend money for a hotel room every night.”

Farabee just wanted as large of a gang as possible to enjoy the Philadelphia summer.

“Tys was living with me full-time, but weekends, I’d try to get as many guys that I could fit in the house to come stay with me and spend the weekend there,” he said.

Farabee as locker room leader

He may have wanted his fellow Flyers organization-mates to enjoy their time in Philadelphia. But Farabee had stayed over the summer not to party, but to prepare.

Socializing was secondary to getting the necessary work done.

Farabee was fully aware that the 2023-24 season was going to be a huge one for him personally. After the 2022 neck surgery had spoiled his previous summer, Farabee by his own admission struggled for large portions of 2022-23, highlighted by a frustrating 26-game goal-less drought.

While Farabee did ultimately appear in all 82 games — an impressive achievement given the seriousness of his summer surgery — he managed just 39 points, and that was driven by a late surge (12 points in his final 15 games) long after the Flyers were out of legitimate playoff contention.

Head coach John Tortorella articulated through the media that Farabee would get a pass in his estimation for his disappointing season, due to the challenges resulting from his lack of a traditional offseason. But Tortorella wouldn’t be so charitable this time around, and Farabee surely knew it.

So instead of going back home for the summer, Farabee stayed once again — this time with the goal of doing what he couldn’t while rehabbing — take full advantage of the team’s facility and trainers to bulk up.

So far, the results are tough to deny. Farabee has three goals in his first five games, and his increased strength is obvious. Long so skinny that at the NHL level he was unable to take full advantage of his naturally-relentless playing style, now, Farabee is warding off bigger checkers with relative ease, and he’s even starting to be the one who imposes his will on physically undeveloped younger players, as opposed to the other way around.

Just a massive hit by Joel Farabee on Wyatt Johnston. Textbook. pic.twitter.com/5mndHwlMHH

— Ryan Quigley (@ryanquigz) October 22, 2023

The prospects who spent time at the Flyers’ facility over the summer took notice of Farabee’s diligent offseason approach. Farabee wasn’t just the person they looked to for an update on the weekend’s social plans; he was the veteran who they watched from afar in the gym, noting what it would take to make it as an NHLer.

“I think, especially just him staying all offseason here, and just putting in the work and staying with the younger guys and kind of leading the way, I think that plays a big part,” Tanner Laczynski noted during training camp. “They see a guy like Beez staying here all summer, when he can easily go home and do whatever he wants to do, I think it says a lot and shows a lot.”

Sure, Farabee would encourage everyone to be social during off days and relaxing nights. Phillies games, park hangouts, dinner reservations, and even just hanging on Farabee’s roof listening to music became commonplace. But at the facility, it was all business, and Farabee made a point to set a positive example while there.

“When he’s here when it’s development camp in the summer, and people see him – young guys watch him and he’s working out, and (spending) a full summer here in the Skate Zone,” Zamula noted. “Some young guys (were) learning that – (you shouldn’t just) hang out and do crazy shit in the summer. Work hard, and you’ll be in the NHL, or (have) more chances to be in the NHL.”

Farabee’s implicit summer message to his crew? It’s possible to both work hard, and have fun.

“We obviously worked out Monday through Friday, and then game on,” Farabee said with a slight smirk.

The core three: Farabee, Foerster, and Zamula

The summer group changed on a week-to-week and even day-to-day basis, as prospects came in and out of the area, some only in town for development camp, others stopping by for a few weeks of work before returning home.

But the core three held through the near-entirety of the summer: Farabee, Foerster, and Zamula.

Foerster, of course, was living with Farabee on the second floor. Zamula, on the other hand, stayed in the team apartments — but whenever he could, he would join up with his buddies.

“We’d go out with him pretty much every day off, me and Tyson and Joel,” Zamula recalled. “He’s pretty friendly to me, so he told me you can stay with me if we go out, I stay with him, and then in the morning, I go to my place.”

Zamula was already tight with Foerster. The two knew each other from past camps, but really bonded last season in Allentown. Foerster even learned a little Russian so that he could interact with his teammate in his native language every morning, and make him feel just a bit more welcome.

So with Foerster living in his house and Zamula spending the summer in the area, Farabee quickly invited Zamula into his burgeoning city crew. The two quickly connected over their battle in the 2018 U18 quarterfinals — held in Zamula’s hometown of Chelyabinsk — during which Farabee had scored what ultimately was the gamewinning (shorthanded) goal against Zamula’s Russia squad, knocking them out of the tournament.

“He’s still laughing at that. I’m still pretty mad at him,” Zamula said.

For Farabee’s part, he’s watched Zamula come out of his shell over the past few years, moving from hesitant English speaker to confident jokester.

“From where Z was when he first got here, English-wise, I felt like he was kinda scared to say some things, just because it wasn’t his first language, obviously,” Farabee noted. “But now, just the little remarks he makes, and his voice is so funny. He’s just a very casual, laid-back kind of guy, but yeah, he’s super funny.”

And along with Foerster, Farabee has worked to help Zamula feel comfortable in a new area, far away from his home country.

“If I need anything, he (helps) me with everything,” Zamula said. “If I need to go somewhere, or I’m asking where I can buy like good shoes, he texts me this address and I go to the mall or whatever. He’s always in a good mood too. I feel he has good energy.”

As for the Farabee-Foerster friendship, it’s one built on golf, fishing, video games, and constant activity — whether it be competing in the weight room or whatever contest Foerster suggests on that particular day.

“Honestly, Tys is like a little ADHD kid, he has to keep himself busy with games and stuff,” Farabee said. “I’m kinda a guy who likes to just lay on the couch and chill. But he keeps me going, we play pickleball. You name it, we probably did it.”

One might say that the trio is lucky that they’re all still with the big club as the regular season enters its third week, and appear to be in Philadelphia to stay. But it also speaks to their successful summer balancing act of preparing for the looming season and blowing off steam when necessary, with Foerster and Zamula’s spots in the opening night roster in particular a validation of the group’s hard-working but fun offseason approach.

“If I had to stay here all summer by myself, I would be (crying),” Zamula said with a goofy smile.

Farabee in particular made sure that wouldn’t be the case.

As group grows, Farabee grows as leader

Wade Allison may have had to relinquish his spot in Farabee’s basement at least for now, though Farabee is holding it for him in hopes that Allison earns his way back up to the big club at some point in 2023-24. But the new “Old City gang” is still getting bigger by the day.

Farabee and Foerster of course live together. Rasmus Ristolainen is in the area. And the building next door is chock-full of Flyers players as well — Farabee noted that all of Noah Cates, Sean Walker, Ryan Poehling and even skills coach Angelo Ricci live there.

“I could throw a football to it,” Farabee said.

Farabee has every intention of continuing his efforts to link his teammates together through the coming season. His house, in his mind, will remain the central hub it was during the summer, except now for the NHL team as a whole.

“I think it’s great. Even if we have an off day, and guys want to go get drinks in the city – even older guys – I’m like hey, come over my place before,” Farabee said. “I think it’s a good spot to have.”

The former owner appreciates it — both the way that Farabee is using his old estate, and the 23-year old’s clear effort to step up into a bigger leadership role away from the rink.

“The way he played the game, he played a mature game from the get-go,” Couturier noted. “But off the ice, I think he had room to grow, and he’s becoming a good man and a good leader. It’s exciting to see, we need more of that, we need a lot more of those young guys taking a step forward. It’s nice to see it.”

Farabee, for his part, does want to establish himself as a team leader. But he also is just aiming to build closer friendships with as many Flyers as he can.

“In a way, obviously I want to be a leader on this team, and I want to be someone that guys look up to,” he said. “But I don’t really think about it too much. I’m kinda one of those guys that I think anytime you can get the boys together, you try to do that, and I think it’s only gonna make the guys closer.”