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King of Kings Gyros customers contribute hundreds of notes/reviews to growing collection at Public Square restaurant in Wilkes-Barre

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Pre-K class celebrates Johnny Appleseed Day

<p>Before the start of the 2012-13 season, Bobby Farnham found himself making the long drive to Wheeling after he was cut from the Hamilton Bulldogs training camp.</p><p>Three years later, Farnham made another drive, but this one had a different destination as he left one NHL team for another.</p><p>Farnham was claimed off waivers by the New Jersey Devils on Monday, re-uniting him with former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach John Hynes and former Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero. The claim brought an optimistic end to a process that Farnham said was filled with uncertainty after Pittsburgh placed Farnham on waivers on Sunday.</p><p>&#8220;It was nerve-wracking,&#8221; Farnham said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a real uneasy feeling being on waivers thinking of all the possibilities. I just stayed put and waited.&#8221;</p><p>While Farnham joins Hynes in New Jersey, he leaves behind fan bases in both Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre where his physical style of play brought enormous popularity.</p><p>While it is comforting going to a place where the coach and system are familiar, Farnham acknowledged the hardest part is bidding farewell to the fans.</p><p>&#8220;The best fans in the AHL are in Wilkes-Barre. They&#8217;re unbelievable and I&#8217;ll definitely miss it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I can&#8217;t thank them enough and Northeastern Pennsylvania will always be a big part of me.&#8221;</p><p>In three seasons with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Farnham appeared in 191 regular season games and amassed 666 penalty minutes.</p><p>His favorite Wilkes-Barre/Scranton memory?</p><p>&#8220;It will always be the Zach Sill goal against St. John&#8217;s in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals (2014). I was on the bench and Hynes subbed Tom Kostopoulos for me and that&#8217;s probably why we got the goal.&#8221;</p><p>Farnham said the fact that he&#8217;s switching NHL teams while a few years ago he got cut from an AHL team is &#8220;surreal.&#8221; In New Jersey, he&#8217;ll be joining a Devils squad that won its last four games and earned a point in its last five contests. Farnham said joining a club in the middle of a hot streak helps the transition, and he isn&#8217;t planning on changing his style of play.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll always play the same way. There are things I can get better at and I&#8217;ll work to improve, but I&#8217;ll bring my style to help the team win,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Better yet, the Devils play Pittsburgh on Nov. 14 - a date that Farnham has circled on the schedule.</p><p>&#8220;I noticed that right away. It&#8217;s only a couple of weeks off so that&#8217;s going to be fun,&#8221; he said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bobby Farnham talks with 4 year-old Rocco Yazwinsky after practice at the Toyota Pavillion Hockey Rink last year. The fan favorite was claimed off waivers by New Jersey on Monday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL120714sportingpens4.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bobby Farnham talks with 4 year-old Rocco Yazwinsky after practice at the Toyota Pavillion Hockey Rink last year. The fan favorite was claimed off waivers by New Jersey on Monday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger file photo |Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Bobby Farnham claimed off waivers by New Jersey Devils