Fabbri

[Spektre]

Yes, it takes luck to win a Cup.

But the Blues were the best team in the league for 1/2 of last season. The roster Armstrong put together demonstrated exactly what his vision for the team was. A defense first, skill and production spread all down the line-up group that doesn’t rely on superstar power.

I’m not saying Armstrong or the coaching staff are immune to criticism. But you seem to be suggesting he doesn’t have a demonstrably successful vision for the team. The last 3/4th of a season (last year and the start of this one), independent of the playoffs, show that he does.

I don't have to have an opinion on Armstrong's confusing vision of what he would like the roster to be. His own words prove it. Do you really need me to bring up Army's quotes after each of the last 5 years to prove (at least publicly) that this vision you seem to think Army has, doesn't exist or is at the very least contradictory????

 

[Stlblue50]

I was really expecting a bounce back year from Fabbri or at the very least be given a legitimate opportunity. I refuse to believe Fabbri's rookie campaign was a fluke. I always felt if his health wasn't an issue he would regain top 6 form. I still think he's on that course and it sucks it's not with the Blues. I will continue to hope he does good in Detroit because it seems he just wasn't given an opportunity here. It's the way it goes. If he has a solid career he'll join a long list of players that have left the Blues organization and find success.

I’m with you here for the most part. I was really looking forward to seeing what Fabbri could do with more minutes and fully recovered (as much as he could be) from his surgeries. I didn’t expect rookie year Fabbri but the fact that he still has very good speed gave me hope.

We will never know for sure why he was traded. It was most likely a combination of Fabbri complaining or being a “downer” and the Blues staff/army not liking his attitude.

It’s tough to see right now because he’s playing very well in Detroit and our injuries are pilling up. There is no question that he would have gotten a good look at top 6 minutes if he was still on the team.

 

[WeWentBlues]

We

I’m with you here for the most part. I was really looking forward to seeing what Fabbri could do with more minutes and fully recovered (as much as he could be) from his surgeries. I didn’t expect rookie year Fabbri but the fact that he still has very good speed gave me hope.

We will never know for sure why he was traded. It was most likely a combination of Fabbri complaining or being a “downer” and the Blues staff/army not liking his attitude.

It’s tough to see right now because he’s playing very well in Detroit and our injuries are pilling up. There is no question that he would have gotten a good look at top 6 minutes if he was still on the team.

We know why he was traded. Armstrong did him a favor. Berube wasn't going to give him minutes.

 

[Stlblue50]

We

We know why he was traded. Armstrong did him a favor. Berube wasn't going to give him minutes.

That’s what Armstrong said in the media. He didn’t want anyone to speculate on there being any issues that I mentioned. It could have been that simple but I’m not buying the Berube didn’t like his style of game. Hitting and working hard on the forcheck was part of Fabbri’s game

 

[AjaxManifesto]

The SS Fabbri has sailed.

Maybe he will come back to us like DP57.

But if I could only get one guy back it would be Maroon.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

I don't understand this narrative that Fabbri couldn't play in Berube's system. Fabbri excelled under Hitchcock, who was even more of a defensive minded/chip-chase-forecheck (Or NORTH/SOUTH if you prefer that nomenclature) kind of a coach then Berube is. He had 15 points in 20 playoff games under Hitchcock! If you can gain the trust of Hitchcock, I think you can gain the trust of damn near any coach who plays a defensive oriented system. He also wasn't a one hit wonder, he put up 29 points in 51 games before injuring his knee the first time.

Berube had made it -very- clear through usage patterns that Sanford > Fabbri. I personally didn't see that being the case. Sanford has gotten a ton of minutes with O'Rielly/Perron, including PP time. Fabbri did not get the same opportunity. We can go down the path of the whole chicken/egg thing, gotta earn it vs. put in a position to succeed, but frankly, I think the answer is pretty obvious now that Fabbri is getting a similar usage in Detroit as Sanford is getting here. The rub of it all is that had we waited another two weeks, all these injuries would have damn near forced Berube to play Fabbri with the kind of usage he's getting in Detroit, thus answering the question once and for all.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I don't have to have an opinion on Armstrong's confusing vision of what he would like the roster to be. His own words prove it. Do you really need me to bring up Army's quotes after each of the last 5 years to prove (at least publicly) that this vision you seem to think Army has, doesn't exist or is at the very least contradictory????

I think you are putting too much weight on this spontaneous comments in interviews, which may or may not be geared toward revealing his true thoughts depending on who he thinks is going to hear it.

But look at what he did:
Trade for Schenn
Trade for ROR
Not resign Backes (or Brouwer, ha ha)
Hold onto Thomas and Kyrou when there was a lot of pressure to include one to get ROR

I think if you see his actual actions rather than the words, the plan is more clear. I agree that he has said some things that are contradictory or maybe its possible his views have developed or changed with the past 5 years. There was lip service to team speed. But looking at the teams that are predicated on speed (usually sacrificing size) they're not the real Cup contenders. The Blues' huge defense is probably its more distinctive trait, and that is certainly an Armstrong principle.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I don't understand this narrative that Fabbri couldn't play in Berube's system. Fabbri excelled under Hitchcock, who was even more of a defensive minded/chip-chase-forecheck (Or NORTH/SOUTH if you prefer that nomenclature) kind of a coach then Berube is. He had 15 points in 20 playoff games under Hitchcock! If you can gain the trust of Hitchcock, I think you can gain the trust of damn near any coach who plays a defensive oriented system. He also wasn't a one hit wonder, he put up 29 points in 51 games before injuring his knee the first time.

Berube had made it -very- clear through usage patterns that Sanford > Fabbri. I personally didn't see that being the case. Sanford has gotten a ton of minutes with O'Rielly/Perron, including PP time. Fabbri did not get the same opportunity. We can go down the path of the whole chicken/egg thing, gotta earn it vs. put in a position to succeed, but frankly, I think the answer is pretty obvious now that Fabbri is getting a similar usage in Detroit as Sanford is getting here. The rub of it all is that had we waited another two weeks, all these injuries would have damn near forced Berube to play Fabbri with the kind of usage he's getting in Detroit, thus answering the question once and for all.

Its not a narrative. He COULDN'T play well under Berube, or he DIDN'T. Which one is it? Doesn't matter, he failed to do so in the opportunities he got. Could he have had bigger opportunities? Sure, but its not like he didn't got some. All of us watching were frustrated that he didn't seem to regain his form when the knee rehab had progressed. But its just a fact that he hadn't. Cycles weren't maintained when his line was in the offensive zone, and what scoring chances he was a part of never seemed to actually produce a goal.

The only thing that's a narrative is that he had no chance in St Louis. He even got to start games in the freaking Stanley Cup Finals, but couldn't hold the spot.

 

[Celtic Note]

Its not a narrative. He COULDN'T play well under Berube, or he DIDN'T. Which one is it? Doesn't matter, he failed to do so in the opportunities he got. Could he have had bigger opportunities? Sure, but its not like he didn't got some. All of us watching were frustrated that he didn't seem to regain his form when the knee rehab had progressed. But its just a fact that he hadn't. Cycles weren't maintained when his line was in the offensive zone, and what scoring chances he was a part of never seemed to actually produce a goal.

The only thing that's a narrative is that he had no chance in St Louis. He even got to start games in the freaking Stanley Cup Finals, but couldn't hold the spot.

I believe many people wouldn’t have a problem with these types of points if Fabbri was given the same opportunities to succeed as Sanford and we hadn’t already seen his potential at the NHL level under a similar style coach.

The other problem is that it’s fairly common knowledge that you struggle after first year after a major knee surgery. The second year is the telling one. This year was his second and physically he looked to be back in form. His straight line speed is still a big plus. The challenge with him was getting the reps needed to get his mind up to game speed. That didn’t happen here. It’s happening in Detroit and the initial results support the argument. That may be subject to change, but we will have to wait and see.

To compound all of this is the status of our roster at the time of the trade. We could desperately use some speed and scoring. In games against teams with speed, we struggle a bit more that usual. We have done well to come out on top, but we haven’t been without significant challenges in those games.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I believe many people wouldn’t have a problem with these types of points if Fabbri was given the same opportunities to succeed as Sanford and we hadn’t already seen his potential at the NHL level under a similar style coach.

The other problem is that it’s fairly common knowledge that you struggle after first year after a major knee surgery. The second year is the telling one. This year was his second and physically he looked to be back in form. His straight line speed is still a big plus. The challenge with him was getting the reps needed to get his mind up to game speed. That didn’t happen here. It’s happening in Detroit and the initial results support the argument. That may be subject to change, but we will have to wait and see.

To compound all of this is the status of our roster at the time of the trade. We could desperately use some speed and scoring. In games against teams with speed, we struggle a bit more that usual. We have done well to come out on top, but we haven’t been without significant challenges in those games.

I don’t disagree with any of this. But there’s a growing rewrite of the history such that Fabbri never got a chance. He never outplayed Sanford when he could have. There WERE chances. With the injury-depleted roster there would be even more chances right now. I share that frustration, but it’s not fair to pretend he was just scratched for no reason. I think 2-3 months in the AHL would have done wonders for Fabbri. Well, Detroit is that AHL team now.

 

[Celtic Note]

I don’t disagree with any of this. But there’s a growing rewrite of the history such that Fabbri never got a chance. He never outplayed Sanford when he could have. There WERE chances. With the injury-depleted roster there would be even more chances right now. I share that frustration, but it’s not fair to pretend he was just scratched for no reason. I think 2-3 months in the AHL would have done wonders for Fabbri. Well, Detroit is that AHL team now.

I thought he played better than Sanford for a good stretch. Neither played particularly well though. Fabbri was at least generating chances.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I thought he played better than Sanford for a good stretch. Neither played particularly well though. Fabbri was at least generating chances.

I thought he looked reminiscent of Yakupov. I wanted him to do well, but my sentimentality was tinting my view.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Shut it down.

Good luck Fabs.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Shut it down.

Good luck Fabs.

I second this.

Please close this thread, @EastonBlues22

Thank you.

 

[DoubleK81]

Shut it down.

Good luck Fabs.

Because Sanford had 1 good night? Don't worry, he'll disappear for 10+ games here shortly.

 

[Dbrownss]

Shut it down.

Good luck Fabs.

I can help you out with that. Top right of the forum is "Ignore Thread".

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

This thread should stay open. If people want to talk about Fabbri, it can be sequestered in the designated thread instead of leaking into the rest of the forum. Its an issue that pertains to the Blues, reviewing the trade and assessing the decisions of management and coaching.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

I can help you out with that. Top right of the forum is "Ignore Thread".

Good point.

 

[Dbrownss]

This thread should stay open. If people want to talk about Fabbri, it can be sequestered in the designated thread instead of leaking into the rest of the forum. Its an issue that pertains to the Blues, reviewing the trade and assessing the decisions of management and coaching.

Yep. Right now I'd say this is infinitely better.

Schwartz Schenn Bozak
Fabbri Orielly Perron
Sanford Thomas Sundqvist
Kostin Barbashev Brouwer


Now this is only possible with Blais being out too. Alot of the focus was on Sanford but most just wanted Fabbri to get that top 6 spot with 2 really good linemates. Maybe we get the PPG(small sample size) Fabbri along with this different Sanford. WE COULD HAVE HAD BOTH. It's not like we traded Fabbri for Sanford.

 

[Honeycutt]

Lol a lot of people on this board must have bought fabbri jeresys.. do you all still have your first girlfriend's number stashed away too?

Fabbri could not earn his ice time on this team so he was shipped to a lesser team. That's it folks, there is no DA or Buerbe conspiracy.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

SS Fabbri is like that Titanic movie that some people just adore.

Cue up Celine Dion

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Ok. I guess it’s not getting closed.

Whatevs.

 

[EastonBlues22]

No, it's not getting closed.

Fabbri is one half of a trade that was just made...a trade that's directly impacting the team's current situation, and that will continue to have ripple effects for the rest of this year (and perhaps beyond).

How he's playing now is a relevant part of that discussion. Nobody is forced to partake in that discussion, but I'm certainly not preventing it just because some people would like to move on. It's a perfectly valid topic for this board.

 

[EastonBlues22]

Lol a lot of people on this board must have bought fabbri jeresys.. do you all still have your first girlfriend's number stashed away too?

Fabbri could not earn his ice time on this team so he was shipped to a lesser team. That's it folks, there is no DA or Buerbe conspiracy.

It's all a matter of perspective. You could just as easily say that Berube and Armstrong were unable to get the most out of one of their players because of the situations they put him in.

The fact of the matter is that a team that is struggling a bit with scoring and who could currently use some help in the top six recently traded a guy who is demonstrating that he's more than capable of helping in both those areas for someone who can't. That's not an easy pill for many fans to swallow, and it's at the very least a tad bit embarrassing for the Blues.

We can acknowledge those things without blaming any of the parties involved for how it came to pass, and certainly without being ****s to our fellow fans.

 

[TK 421]

I feel like if Fabbri was 6'1+, 200+ lbs he'd still be here. I really think it's that simple.