Blues’ rookie Robby Fabbri out indefinitely after suffering a concussion
St. Louis Blues rookie Robby Fabbri had a great NHL debut, scoring a goal in a 3-1 win over Edmonton. His second game didn’t go so well. He went pointless, the Blues lost and played only 3:27 after he suffered a concussion following an elbow to the head.
There is currently no timetable for his return.
What has already generated a bit of backlash is the following comment by head coach Ken Hitchcock Monday afternoon.
“We’re going to miss Robby. I was surprised on the concussion because he had three great shifts after the concussion. We’re going to miss his spunk, but (Scottie Upshall and Scott Gomez) will be excellent replacements.”
In this era of heightened awareness for player safety and concussion, we’ve seen too many players play on after suffering hits that led to concussions, and even some lie about their condition to remain the game.
But knowing that concussion symptoms can show up hours or even days (see: David Perron, Dale Weise) later, it’s hard to pin blame on Hitchcock, the Blues’ trainers or even the new NHL concussion spotters for allowing Fabbry to keep going for three more shifts. If there are no visible symptoms shown, why would a team pull a player?
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
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