Robby Fabbri has a lot to prove in 2018-19 after signing a bridge deal with the St. Louis Blues worth $925,000. The deal gives Fabbri an opportunity to prove he has overcome yet another significant knee injury. With Fabbri not seeing any regular season NHL action in the past 20 months, he spoke with The Hockey News about how he’s trying to make his comeback.
While Fabbri has been going through the rehab process with Matt Nichol (a trainer who has worked with numerous NHL stars), he has also taken the unique approach of training with members of the National Ballet of Canada.
Nichol explained why Fabbri’s time with the ballet dancers could be beneficial.
“To me, they’re not just artists or dancers, but incredible athletes. It’s because they’re unbelievably strong, way stronger than anyone who is going to come through here. They’re spinning around in space and they have to make sure they get their equilibrium in balance and there’s a lot of research that shows that’s tied in with ACLs.”
Nichol has also had Fabbri work on his vision. Seeing a situation and being able to react to it the correct way may help prevent future injuries.
“There’s actually a lot of new research right now that shows that with ACL injuries in particular there’s a visual component involved.”
Fabbri’s training may sound a bit unusual compared to the more traditional training methods, but it’s worth a shot at this stage of his career. At 22, Fabbri’s career hasn’t had the opportunity to fully take off thanks to his injury history. He has shown glimpses of offensive brilliance, but that has been mostly negated by all of the missed time. Now is the time for Fabbri to alter his reputation.
Maybe he can sum things up the best.
“Obviously I don’t want to be known as a guy who gets hurt and is fragile.”
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