Bobby Farnham
Robert T. Farnham | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 21, 1989 |
| Occupation | Professional ice hockey player (retired) |
| Known for | Playing for Pittsburgh Penguins, New Jersey Devils, Montreal Canadiens, Belfast Giants |
Robert T. Farnham (born January 21, 1989) is a retired American professional ice hockey left winger who most recently played for the Belfast Giants in the British Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). His previous NHL experience includes time with the Pittsburgh Penguins, New Jersey Devils, and Montreal Canadiens.
Early life
Born to Bob and Glorianne Farnham, Robert comes from a family with a strong athletic background. His father competed in football at Brown Bears football and professionally in the Canadian Football League with the Toronto Argonauts. On his mother's side, he is connected to the Demoulas family, proprietors of the Market Basket supermarket chain. Additionally, several family members played football at collegiate and professional levels, including his cousin Buddy Farnham, who had a brief stint with the New England Patriots.
High school
Farnham launched his high school hockey journey at Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts, where he played a pivotal role in securing back-to-back ISL Division II Championships. His performance earned him accolades such as Hockey Night in Boston Sophomore MVP and Eagle-Tribune Player of the Year. For his final two years, he transferred to Phillips Academy in Andover, serving as co-captain during the 2007–08 season while tallying 21 goals and 30 assists. Beyond hockey, Farnham also distinguished himself in baseball, achieving batting averages of .364 as a junior and .433 as a senior, helping his team win consecutive NE Prep Championships.
Brown University
Between 2008 and 2012, Farnham competed in NCAA Division I hockey at Brown University, amassing 23 goals, 31 assists, and 54 points over 129 games while accumulating 128 penalty minutes. He consistently earned recognition on the ECAC Hockey All-Academic team from 2009 through 2012 and held the position of alternate captain during his senior year. Farnham graduated with a degree focused on Commerce, Organizations and Entrepreneurship.
Professional
Facing modest offensive output during his collegiate career, Farnham's agent recommended adopting the role of an enforcer to extend his professional prospects. Throughout this period, he engaged in approximately 40 to 50 fights, enduring numerous injuries that required around 100 stitches. On March 7, 2012, he signed an amateur tryout contract with the Providence Bruins of the AHL, followed by a similar agreement with the Worcester Sharks on April 12, 2012.
Farnham started the 2012-13 season with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL, where he recorded three goals, one assist, and accumulated 46 penalty minutes across nine games. He then secured a professional tryout contract with the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on November 11, 2012. After contributing two assists and logging 51 penalty minutes over eleven games, he earned an AHL contract. He completed that season with 11 points and led all AHL rookies by amassing a league-high 274 penalty minutes in 65 contests.
On July 5, 2013, Farnham signed a one-year two-way contract with the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. He made his NHL debut on December 11, 2014, appearing in eleven games during that season for Pittsburgh. Concurrently, he matched personal bests by scoring seven goals and seven assists for a total of fourteen points over sixty-four games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
The Penguins re-signed him on July 13, 2015, to another one-year two-way contract valued at $575,000. Farnham earned a spot on the opening night roster for the 2015–16 NHL season, but after three games was placed on waivers. The New Jersey Devils claimed him on October 26, 2015; he made an immediate impact by recording both a goal and an assist in his first game.
On January 14, 2016, Farnham received a four-game suspension from the NHL due to an illegal hit on St. Louis Blues forward Dmitrij Jaskin. The incident triggered retaliatory actions involving several players during the game.
As a free agent in July 2016, Farnham signed a one-year two-way contract with the Montreal Canadiens. Throughout the 2016–17 NHL season, he appeared in three NHL games while spending most of his time with their AHL affiliate St. John's IceCaps, where he tallied eleven goals and twenty-eight points over seventy-one games.
Farnham attended the New York Rangers training camp on a professional tryout contract starting August 22, 2017; however, he was released prior to the season's commencement. Subsequently, on October 24 of that year, he signed a professional tryout deal with the Springfield Thunderbirds of the AHL.
On August 3, 2019, it was announced that Farnham had joined British EIHL club Belfast Giants.
In 2022, Farnham became part of Team Trottier competing in the three-on-three format league known as 3ICE, while also enrolling at Harvard Business School.
Career statistics
"|2015–16" "|New Jersey Devils" "|NHL" "|50" "|8" "|2" "|10" "|92" "|—" "|—" "|—" "|—" "|—" "|2016–17 AHL season" "|St. John's IceCaps" "|AHL" "|71" "|11" "|17" "|28" "|137" "|4" "|0" "|0" "|0" "|2" "|2016–17 NHL season " "|Montreal Canadiens " "|NHL " "|3 " "|0 " "# | 0 " "# | 0 " "# |17 " "# | — " "# | — " "# | — " "# | — " "# | — " "|2017–18 AHL season " "|Springfield Thunderbirds " "|AHL " "|69 " "|11 " "|10 " "|21 " "|123 " "# | — " "# | — " "# | — " "# | — " "# | — " "|2018–19 AHL season " "|Springfield Thunderbirds " "|AHL " "|67 " "|4 " "|13 " "|17 " "|112 " "# | — " "# | — " "# | — " "# | — " "# | — " ("|2019–20 EIHL season") ("|Belfast Giants") ("|EIHL") ("|48") ("|15") ("|17") ("|32") ("|79") ("# | — ") ("# | — ") ("# | — ") ("# | — ") ("# | — ") "! colspan=\"3\" | NHL totals " "! 67 " "! 8 " "! 2 " "! 10 " "! 138 " "! — " "! — " "! — " "! — " "! — "| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2008–09 | Brown University | ECAC | 31 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Brown University | ECAC | 36 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Brown University | ECAC | 31 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 39 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Brown University | ECAC | 31 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 51 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Providence Bruins | AHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Worcester Sharks | AHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "2012–13 ECHL season" | "Wheeling Nailers" | "ECHL" | "9" | "3" | "1" | "4" | "46" | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | ||
| "2012–13 AHL season" | "Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins" | "AHL" | "65" | "3" | "8" | "11" | "274" | "6" | "0" | "0" | "0" | "4" | ||
| "2013–14 AHL season" | "Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins" | "AHL" | "64" | "7" | "7" | "14" | "166" | "12" | "0" | "0" | "0" | "30" | ||
| "2014–15 AHL season" | "Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins" | "AHL" | "62" | "7" | "7" | "14" | "226" | "8" | "0" | "0" | "0" | "14" | ||
| "2014–15 NHL season" | "Pittsburgh Penguins" | "National Hockey League (NHL)" | "11" | "0" | "0" | "0" | "24" | "—" | "—" | "—"
| ||||
| "2015–16 NHL season" | "Pittsburgh Penguins" | "NHL" | "3" | "0"
| ||||||||||
Awards and distinctions
| Honor | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Collegiate | ||
| ECAC All-Academic Team | 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 | |
| Ivy League Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award | 2012 | |
| 3ICE | ||
| Patrick Cup Champion | 2022 | |