clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Flames All-Time Countdown Chapter XLVII: 300-296

We take a look today at right winger Kevin Westgarth and defensemen Mickey Volcan, Richie Regehr, Aaron Johnson, and Andrei Zyuzin.

Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

300. Mickey Volcan

Volcan was a 6’, 180 lb. defenseman from Edmonton, Alberta. Born on March 3rd, 1962, he was selected in the third round of the 1980 NHL Entry Draft with the 50th overall pick by the Hartford Whalers.

Volcan joined the Binghampton Whalers in 1980-81 out of the University of North Dakota, with whom he played one season (33 games, two goals, 14 assists, 38 PiM). He totaled a goal and nine helpers in 24 games for the AHL club, later joining the Hartford parent club for two goals and 11 assists in 49 NHL games.

Over the following two seasons, Volcan played in 33 games for Binghampton (four goals, 13 assists, 47 PiM), and 94 games with Hartford (five goals, 18 assists, 102 PiM).  After the 1982-83 campaign, the Whalers traded him to the Flames for Joel Quenneville and Richie Dunn.

Volcan scored one goal on 13 shots for Calgary, collecting four assists, 18 penalty minutes, and a minus-2 rating in 19 contests. He also played 30 games that season for the Colorado Flames (eight goals, nine assists).

Volcan went on to play with the Moncton Golden Flames (63 games, eight goals, 14 assists), the Nova Scotia Oilers (66 games, 12 goals, 36 assists, 114 PiM), the Baltimore Skipjacks (72 games, eight goals, 36 assists, 118 PiM), JyP HT Jyvaskyla (29 games, seven goals, four assists), Landsberg EV (16 games, nine goals, 15 assists), Riessersee SC (10 games, five goals, seven assists, 39 PiM), and the Phoenix Roadrunners (59 games, 13 goals, 29 assists, 103 PiM).

All-Time Statline: 19 games, one goal, four assists, minus-2 rating, 18 penalty minutes, 0.79 point shares.

299. Richie Regehr

Regehr, born to Mennonite missionaries in Bundung, Indonesia on January 17th, 1983, was a 6’, 190 lb. defenseman, and Robyn’s little brother. He played in parts of six seasons in the WHL between the Kelowna Rockets (123 games, 16 goals, 35 assists) and the Portland Winter Hawks (184 games, 33 goals, 115 assists).

Regehr signed a free agent contract with Calgary during the 2004 offseason. He ended up in the AHL that first professional season with the Lowell Lock Monsters (64 games, nine goals, 16 assists). The following campaign would see him move to the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights for 48 games (seven goals, 23 assists). He saw his first NHL action in a 14 game call up to the parent club from the end of December through mid-February. He didn’t score, taking 12 shots on goal and earned two assists, an even rating, and six minutes in the penalty box, while playing 11:21 per game.

In 2006-07, Regehr had five goals and nine assists in 22 contests for the Knights. He also averaged 8:44 per game over six appearances with Calgary, scoring a goal on four shots with an assist, a minus-1 rating, and zero penalties. He scored his only goal on December 19th, as the Flames defeated the Los Angeles Kings, 5-3. He hasn’t appeared on any North American team since then.

Regehr has since played with the Frankfurt Lions (Germany, 44 games, 21 goals, 20 assists, 62 PiM), the Berlin Polar Bears (Germany, 184 games, 49 goals, 81 assists, 245 PiM), and MODO Hockey Ornskoldsvik (Sweden, 105 games, 14 goals, 41 assists, 94 PiM).

All-Time Statline: 20 games, one goal, three assists, minus-1 rating, six penalty minutes, 0.81 point shares.

298. Aaron Johnson

Johnson, born April 30th, 1983, is a 6’1", 211 lb. defenseman from Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia. He played most of four seasons in the QMJHL with Rimouski Oceanic (220 games, 34 goals, 124 assists, 398 PiM) before finishing up his time there with the Quebec Remparts (32 games, six goals, 31 assists, 41 PiM). The Columbus Blue Jackets chose him in the third round of the the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, with the 85th overall pick.

Before joining the Flames, Johnson appeared with the Blue Jackets (116 games, seven goals, 19 assists), the Syracuse Crunch (175 games, 17 goals, 56 assists), the New York Islanders (30 games, two assists, 30 PiM), the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (two games, two PiM), the Rockford IceHogs (two games, one assist, four PiM), and the Chicago Blackhawks (38 games, three goals, five assists). Chicago traded him to Calgary on October 7th, 2009 for Kyle Greentree.

Johnson played 12:11 per game over 22 appearances. took 13 shots on goal, earned two assists, an even rating, and 19 penalty minutes. He scored his first and only goal for the club on December 11th, in a 2-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild. On March 3rd, 2010, the Flames sent him with to the Edmonton Oilers with a third round pick (Travis Ewanyk) for Steve Staios.

After 19 games with Edmonton (three goals, four assists), Johnson played with the Milwaukee Admirals (72 games, nine goals, 26 assists), the Blue Jackets (56 games, three goals, 13 assists), the Boston Bruins (10 games, 10 PiM), the Providence Bruins (two goals, one assist, two PiM), and the Hartford Wolf Pack (75 games, four goals, 36 assists) last season.

All-Time Statline: 22 games, one goal, two assists, even rating, 19 penalty minutes, 0.82 point shares.

297. Kevin Westgarth

Westgarth is a 6’4", 234 lb. right winger from Amherstburg, Ontario. Born on February 7th, 1984, he played four seasons of collegiate hockey with Princeton University. In four seasons with the Tigers, he scored 25 goals with 35 assists, and spent 160 minutes in the penalty box over 116 games. After graduating with the Class of 2007, he signed a free agent contract with the Los Angeles Kings.

Westgarth reported directly to the Manchester Monarchs, where he played most of the next four seasons. (224 games, 22 goals, 28 assists, 580 PiM). During that time, he made nine appearances with the Kings in 2008-09. He joined the NHL team for good starting in 2010-11, and hasn’t appeared in any minor league games since that time. He played in 81 games for the Kings over the following two seasons, with one goal, four assists, and 144 penalty minutes. Later, he played with the Carolina Hurricanes (43 games, two goals, two assists, 49 PiM).

Line Brawl vs. Canucks

On December 30th, 2013, the Kings traded Westgarth to the Flames for Greg Nemisz. Westgarth earned 64 penalty minutes for the Flames over 36 games, and also gave the Flames a little truculence (they’ve since earned more, trading for Bryce Van Brabant and David Wolf to go with already-there Brian McGrattan). He’s played just over seven minutes per game, and scored four times on 25 shots. He’s added three assists and rated a minus-2. On January 20th, he scored his first Flames goal on the San Jose Sharks, in a 3-2 loss. He netted the game winner on April 3rd in a 4-1 decision over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

All-Time Statline: 36 games, four goals, three assists, minus-2 rating, 64 penalty minutes, 0.82 point shares.

296. Andrei Zyuzin

Zyuzin, a 6’1", 195 lb. defenseman, was born in Ufa, Russia on January 21st, 1978. He played three seasons with Ufa Salavat Yulayev, scoring 16 times with 13 helpers in 103 games. After two of those seasons, the San Jose Sharks selected him in the first round of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, with the second overall pick.

1997-98 would see Zyuzin make him professional debut with San Jose. Over his first two seasons, he made 81 appearances for the Sharks (nine goals, eight assists, 94 PiM) and 40 for the AHL’s Kentucky Thoroughblades (six goals, 17 assists, 70 PiM). He went on to appear with the Tampa Bay Lightning (107 games, six goals, 27 assists, 115 PiM), the New Jersey Devils (39 games, one goal, three assists), and the Minnesota Wild (188 games, 19 goals, 36 assists). He spent the cancelled 2004-05 season back in Russia between Salavat (14 games, two goals, one assist) and Severstal Cherepovets (10 games, two goals, one assist).

After another season with the Wild, Zyuzin signed with the Flames in free agency. He played 13:49 per game over 49 appearances, scoring a goal on 36 shots with five assists, a minus-2 rating and 30 penalty minutes. On February 26th, he scored his only goal for Calgary in a 5-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes. On March 10th, he totaled assists on each of Calgary’s markers as the Flames defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2. In the opening round of the playoffs, he scored the Flames’ only goal in a 5-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings in Game Five. Calgary would be eliminated in six.

After the 2006-07 season, Zyuzin was traded with Steve Marr to the Chicago Blackhawks for Adrian Aucoin and a seventh round pick (CJ Severyn). He scored twice with three assists in 32 games, spending 38 minutes in the penalty box. Later, he played with St. Petersburg (109 games, 12 goals, 20 assists), Mytishchi Atlant (16 games, one goal, one assist), Klagenfurt AC (Austria, five games, one goal), and Biel (Swiss, 13 games, two assists, 16 PiM).

All-Time Statline: 49 games, one goal, five assists, minus-2 rating, 30 penalty minutes, 0.83 point shares.