Fenwick Hockey Announces New Head Coach
Fenwick Hockey is pleased to announce its next head coach for men's hockey, Nick Fabbrini.
Nick, a native of Forest Park, IL, is a 2004 graduate of Fenwick High School where it is said that he played on one of the best forward lines in Illinois high school hockey history (R. Forman, 2018). Most recently, Fabbrini was head coach of the University of Illinois ACHA Division 1 club hockey program for the past 10 seasons as well as the director of coaching and batam head coach for the Champaign-Urbana Youth Hockey Association.
In addition to Illinois, Fabbrini was also an assistant coach on the 2017 and 2019 U.S. Men's National University Team which competed at the Winter World University Games in Almaty, Kazakhstan and Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
Nick began his coaching career at Illinois as a graduate assistant in 2008 then came back to coach at Fenwick during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons as an assistant JV and Varsity coach under Virgil Rutili.
Nick, an Illinois alum, played at the U of I during one of its most successful seasons in school history. During his playing career at Illinois, Fabbrini helped lead the Illini to four National Semi-Finals appearances, two National Championships in his freshmen and senior seasons (finishing 38-0).
He is also a two-time finalist for the ACHA Coach of the Year Award in 2013, 2018 and won the 2018 Central States Collegiate Hockey League Coach of the Year Award.
In an interview with Ross Forman in 2018, Nick states, "I think Fenwick (High School) in general and playing hockey there and at Illinois both helped prepare me for this coaching opportunity. Fenwick gave me the structure and environment that almost demanded success and I was able to learn from great coaches who gave me the confidence to grow as a player. I was lucky to play for a couple of great coaches at Fenwick, Dave Cromer and Mike Breslin. Both those guys taught me so much about the game, and Cromer even gave me an opportunity to come back and help out a little bit in 2005 when I was playing at Illinois.”
"Fabbrini didn’t just play at Fenwick – he shined, as did the Friars in his day. Fabbrini skated on a line with John Glancy and Mike Janda – and many longtime Illinois high school hockey coaches will agree that this trio was one of the best-ever."
“I’ll never forget winning back-to-back Catholic League, Kennedy Cup, and state championships at Fenwick. Some of those guys are still great friends of mine to this day, and between those special moments and playing in front of great crowds at Ridgeland Commons (in Oak Park), playing for Fenwick was one of the best choices I’ve made in my hockey career,” Fabbrini said." (R. Forman)
Nick will also be working in the building full time as a Freshmen Resource Coordinator, a position within Student Services. Having both the Head Coach and Hockey Director in the building to oversee the players, program and interested students, is a massive "win" for the program and the school.
"Bringing an individual like Nick into our program - or back into the program - adds a layer of both consistency and credibility,” says Bryan Boehm, Hockey Director for Fenwick High School. “We have been diligently working to find a head coach that brings the proper development mindset and vision to help us achieve our goal of turning Fenwick Hockey a highly successful program.”
“Nick checks off all of the right boxes for what we were looking for. He has club, high school, college, and international coaching experience and is known for his ability to develop young talent. This skill set is hard to match. We look forward to the leadership and superior coaching he brings to our team. Please join me in welcoming Nick to this new role."
Fenwick Hockey was established in 1963-64 as a charter member of the Chicago Catholic Hockey League.