Former NHL goaltender and current St. Louis Blues analyst Darren Pang played a role in the acquisition of forward Robby Fabbri by the Detroit Red Wings.
For starters, he and Detroit GM Steve Yzerman have been friends since they were kids growing up and playing hockey in the suburbs of Ottawa. Pang also served as the emcee at Yzerman's jersey retirement ceremony in early 2007 at Joe Louis Arena.
The two still routinely talk, and it was Pang's positive words about Fabbri that was partly behind the trade that saw checking forward Jacob de la Rose head to St. Louis in return.
“Anytime Steve would ask me about a player, or any time I (could) bring up Robby Fabbri to any of my friends that are managers, I thought especially for Steve, Robby Fabbri would be a perfect fit for Detroit,” Pang explained during an interview on 97.1 The Ticket earlier this week. “Hungry, motivated. As I said to Steve at one point, ‘He’s not a prospect. He’s a real player.' I mean, he had 15 points in 20 playoff games (in 2015-16). He just happened to get hurt and that one injury to his ACL resulted in another injury to his ACL, and that’s a bad bit of fortune there. Hopefully that’s all behind him now.
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“Judging by the way he’s started with the Wings, looks good in No. 14 and looks like he’s flying all over the place.”
Fabbri scored two goals in his Red Wings debut against the Boston Bruins, and has six total points in his first five games with Detroit.
Robby Fabbri on the power play! Red Wings take the lead!#LGRW pic.twitter.com/XNYMJdidGS
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) November 9, 2019
Thanks for the assist, Panger!
