NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Robby Fabbri was always hopeful to return when it all began but wasn’t sure if it would happen.
But there he was, wearing the Bluenote again after the St. Louis Blues selected the forward with their first-round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft.
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“When you leave, you never think you’re going to go back, right,” Fabbri said. “But I loved my time here, a lot of memories here, so just very excited to be back. I know my family is as well.”
The 29-year-old, who was just a baby-faced kid when he was here his first stint that ended with a trade to the Detroit Red Wings in 2019, was smiling from ear-to-ear in the locker room after a morning skate Thursday prior to the Blues (11-13-7) facing the Nashville Predators (11-14-4) at 7 p.m. (FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM). Fabbri will be in the lineup, playing on a third line with Pius Suter and Dalibor Dvorsky, with a feeling like no other.
“It’s going to be a long time,” Fabbri said. “You get that feeling when I’ve come back from my injuries (two major knee injuries in St. Louis) and a lot of things like that. This last little bit adversity-wise has been pretty up there, pretty tough compared to some injuries and stuff like that. To get back out here and to do it in a Blue Note again is going to be really exciting.”
Fabbri signed a one-year, two-way contract that will pay him $775,000 NHL, $300,000 AHL on Wednesday after playing three games with Charlotte of the American Hockey League with the Blues down five forwards (Jimmy Smuggerud, Jordan Kyrou, Nick Bjugstad, Nathan Walker and Alexey Toropchenko) due to various injuries.
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“It kind of just worked out pretty quick,” Fabbri said. “I was in Charlotte playing some games and some injuries were happening over here, but they were watching some games and it kind of just came about early in the week and we just finished it up. I’m glad it was quick and I’m glad it was here.”
It was a difficult summer for Fabbri, who was playing for a contract for the first time since he was drafted. Stints with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers on professional tryouts yielded no contract.
“My injuries have kind of prepped me for adversity like this,” Fabbri said. ‘This is obviously a different type of adversity. Any free agent loves to sign on July 1st and be done with it. That’s just now how it went for me, but at the end of the day, I’ve done it my whole career. I’ve had to come back and prove myself after every injury and after anything that’s ever happened. I think I’m prepped to do that. I’ve prepared to do that unintentionally my whole career. It was a difficult summer, but I just had my second daughter (Sophia) two weeks ago. So that distraction and my two-year-old right now (Mara), family means the most always. I’m just thankful for my wife and for them to be there for this.”
The transition should be seamless, considering Fabbri was part – albeit a smaller role at the time – of the Stanley Cup-winning Blues in 2019, and will play with teammates Brayden Schenn, Robert Thomas, Oskar Sundqvist, Colton Parayko and Jordan Binnington, as well as coaches Steve Ott and David Alexander on that roster.
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“He knows enough guys in this room, including trainers and coaches,” Schenn said. “He’s going to come here, I know he’s super excited to be here. He always wanted to come back here and have another crack at it. We’re excited to have him back and he’s equally, if not more excited, to be wearing a Bluenote again.
“I talked to him this morning on the way to the rink and it’s seamless. You go into a new team and you don’t know anyone or not many people here you know, but he feels right back at home again. When you have that mentality and mindset, the adjustment period isn’t as long and he’ll be able to hopefully come right in and make an impact for us. Just a great guy to be around too. He brings a lot of energy, will have a voice in the room, he’s not afraid to talk.”
Fabbri is now obviously more mature and a wiser player than his first stint in St. Louis.
“I’ve obviously grown up off the ice, but I think my game’s matured, just positionally and everything like that over the years, even with experience, learning the right way to play,” Fabbri said. “I probably had a little junior still in me when I was here in St. Louis early on. But I think my game’s matured a lot, being able to play on both sides of the puck, penalty kill, power play, all those types of things has evolved over the years.”
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Blues coach Jim Montgomery said on Wednesday Fabbri would be in the lineup, and his decision to start him playing with Suter and Dvorsky was almost a no-brainer.
“This guy has over 100 goals, has been known as an offensive player for a long time, so his speed, his smarts his tenacity in and around the net, his ability to finish should complement those two guys well,” Montgomery said.
Fabbri, who has 216 points (106 goals, 110 assists) in 442 NHL games, wore No. 15 when he was first with the Blues, then No. 14 with the Red Wings and last season when he played for the Anaheim Ducks, No. 13. He’ll wear No. 9 this time around with the Blues.
“I wore nine in junior,” Fabbri said before joking, “This is kind of just a fresh start, a new era of myself. Some guy by the name of Steve Ott had nine when I came in my first year, so that was kind of taken early on. I just wanted to kind of change it up and get a fresh start over here.”
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A fresh start and a fresh perspective.
“The transition is kind of seamless from the staff to the players, just a lot of familiar faces,” fabbri said. “It makes it easy for any player to come into a locker room. It’s just exciting to get back to work with these guys that you won a championship with.”
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The Blues will be going back to some familiar faces on Thursday on their blue line.
Montgomery is reuniting Cam Fowler with Parayko and Philip Broberg and Justin Faulk as the top four once again, a quartet that was instrumental in the team’s success last season that fueled their run to the playoffs.
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“Really, it’s just the familiarity like last year,” Montgomery said. “We were at our best when the pairings were like that. That’s a little bit of it, and it feels like our D-corps got a little stale in the last game, so just giving them a new outlook. You’ve got a different partner, maybe you get excited again, just fresh energy.”
And some of those things that need to look different that were detriments on Tuesday against the Boston Bruins?
“Our D-zone coverage, stopping in the D-zone, boxing out at the net front,” Montgomery said. ‘We didn’t do a good enough job last game, our habits got away from us. And then conversely playing to the goal line and being ready and having that mentality that, ‘we’re going to play the right way for 60 minutes and grind out a one-goal win.’”
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Blues Projected Lineup:
Jake Neighbours-Robert Thomas-Pavel Buchnevich
Dylan Holloway-Brayden Schenn-Mathieu Joseph
Pius Suter-Dalibor Dvorsky-Robby Fabbri
Hugh McGing-Oskar Sundqvist-Aleksanteri Kaskimaki
Cam Fowler-Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg-Justin Faulk
Tyler Tucker-Logan Mailloux
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Matt Luff and Matthew Kessel. Jordan Kyrou (lower body), Jimmy Snuggerud (wrist), Alexey Toropchenko (leg burns), Nathan Walker (upper body) and Nick Bjugstad (upper body) are all out.
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Predators Projected Lineup:
Steven Stamkos-Ryan O’Reilly-Luke Evangelista
Filip Forsberg-Fedor Svechkov-Matthew Wood
Michael Bunting-Erik Haula-Jonathan Marchessault
Reid Schaefer-Michael McCarron
Nicolas Hague-Roman Josi
Brady Skjei-Nick Perbix
Spencer Stastney-Nick Blankenburg
Adam Wilsby
Juuse Saros will start in goal; Justus Annunen will be the backup.
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Healthy scratches include Tyson Jost. Ozzy Wiesblatt (upper body), Cole Smith (lower body) and Justin Barron (lower body) are out.
Blues Make Official Signing of Dillon Dube To AHL Professional Tryout
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