Flames All-Time Countdown Chapter CXXXIII: 14. Robyn Regehr

14. Robyn Regehr

Regehr was born on April 19th, 1980 in Recife, Brazil and spent part of his childhood in Indonesia with his Canadian missionary parents, settling back in Canada before his hockey formative years. A 6’3", 225 lb. defenseman, he joined the Kamloops Blazers in 1996-97 and ended up playing three years with the team, scoring 20 goals with 49 assists and 346 penalty minutes in 183 games. The Colorado Avalanche drafted him in the first round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, with the 19th overall selection. Before playing in a professional game, Colorado traded him with Rene Corbet, Wade Belak and a second round pick (Jarret Stoll) to the Flames for Theoren Fleury and Chris Dingman.

Regehr nearly missed out on a great career after getting in a car accident in the summer of 1999. According to wikipedia.org:

His professional career nearly ended before it started, as he was seriously injured in an automobile accident near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on July 4, 1999. Regehr, who was driving home from a summer trip with his elder brother Dinho and two female friends, was struck head-on by another vehicle that crossed into his path. He suffered two broken legs in the crash that killed two people in the other vehicle. Doctors initially feared that he would never play hockey again.

After four months of rehab, Regehr played a five game rehab assignment at the AHL level with the Saint John Flames, where he went scoreless and posted a minus-3 rating. He played 57 games with Calgary, scoring five goals on 64 shots, with seven assists, a minus-2 rating, and 46 penalty minutes. On February 25th, he had two assists in a 3-3 tie with the Phoenix Coyotes. He had a goal and an assist in an 8-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. He played 18:24 per game and totaled 2.6 point shares as a rookie. The Flames finished fourth in the Northwest Division with a 31-36-10-5 record and 77 points.

In 2000-01, Regehr scored a single goal on 62 shots in 71 games. He also earned three assists, a minus-7 rating and 70 penalty minutes in 19:43 per game. He was the worst on the team with a -1.0 offensive point share, but more than made up for it by earning 2.9 on the defensive end. He earned his only goal of the season on November 18th, in a 5-4 loss to the New York Rangers. Calgary finished with a 27-36-15-4 record.

2001-02 would see Regehr score twice on 82 shots over 76 contests. He added six assists, a team worst minus-24 rating, a team-fourth 93 penalty minutes, and a 1.0 point share in 20:54 per appearance. The club finished at 32-35-12-3 and missed the playoffs for the third time in Regehr’s three seasons.

Regehr’s fourth season would see improvement in the young blueliner’s overall game, but a distinct lack of offensive firepower would be associated with Regehr throughout his career. He took a career high 109 shots on goal, and didn’t connect on a single one. He did assist on a dozen other goals, however, as the Flames went 6-2-4 in games in which he earned one. He stayed on Calgary’s blue line for the majority of the season, playing 22:45 per game over his 76 appearances, earning a minus-7 rating and 87 penalty minutes. Overall, the Flames posted a 29-36-13-4 record to finish in fifth place in the Northwest Division.

In 2003-04, Regehr played in all 82 contests for the first time in his career, leading all skaters with 22:21 average time on ice and with 1832 total minutes. He scored four times on 106 shots, with 14 assists, a plus-14 rating, and 74 penalty minutes. His 6.2 point shares ranked him third amongst all skaters, and represented a career high to that point. On January 10th, he earned two assists in a 4-2 win against the Florida Panthers. He tallied the game winning goal in a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on February 15th. On April 2nd, he had two assists in a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. The team finished with a surprising 42-30-7-3 record, then ran through the Western Conference, defeating the Canucks in seven, the Detroit Red Wings in six, and the San Jose Sharks in six before losing the Stanley Cup Final in seven games to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Regehr led the team in ice time, skating for 26:27 per game and totaling two goals and seven assists.

In case you didn’t know, Regehr was a prolific checker:

2005-06 would see Regehr total a career high 26 points in 68 games for Calgary. He led the team with 23:08 average time on ice, and scored six times on 89 shots with a team-seventh 20 assists and a team-fourth and new career best 6.3 point shares. He also registered a plus-6 rating and 67 penalty minutes. On December 26th, he scored the game winning goal in the third period of a 2-1 win over the Canucks. He earned a career high three assists on February 6th, in a 4-3 win over the Sharks. The Flames closed out the season in first place in the Northwest with a 46-25-11 record. They lost in the first round to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in seven games. Regehr had a goal and three assists for the Flames.

Regehr played in 78 contests in 2006-07, playing for 21:55 per game. He scored twice on 66 shots with 19 assists, a career high plus-27 rating, and 75 penalty minutes. He earned 5.4 point shares for the 43-29-10 Flames, who finished in third place in the Northwest. On February 2nd, he scored a goal with two assists in a 6-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets. In the postseason, Regehr appeared in one game, playing 11 shifts and earning a minus-1 rating as the Flames lost in six games to Detroit.

Yes, Regehr was murder on skates, especially against Ales Hemsky:

In 2007-08, Regehr appeared in 82 games for the second time in his career, skating for 21:20 per contest. He scored five goals on 93 shots with 15 assists, a plus-11 rating, and 79 penalty minutes. He also netted the only short-handed goal of his career, on February 26th in a 3-2 loss to the Avs. The Flames went 42-30-10, finishing third in the Northwest before dropping the first round in seven games to the Sharks. Regehr earned two assists through the series.

2008-09 would see Regehr score zero goals on 79 shots in 75 games. He earned eight assists in eight different games, and the Flames went 7-1 in those appearances. He also earned a plus-10 rating and 73 penalty minutes in 21:09 per game. The team finished second in the Northwest, going 46-30-6 on the season before dropping the first round of the postseason to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games. Regehr did not play.

Regehr averaged 21:38 on the ice over 81 games with Calgary in 2009-10, earning 4.4 point shares mostly on the Flames’ second pairing. He lit the lamp twice on 78 shots with 15 assists, a plus-2 rating, and 80 penalty minutes. Calgary gutted their way to a 40-32-10 record, but failed to make the postseason.

2010-11 would be Regehr’s last season in Calgary. He duplicated the scoring line from the past season, with two goals (on 72 shots) with 15 helpers in 79 games. He played 21:39 per contest, earning a plus-2 rating, 58 penalty minutes, and a 3.6 point share. The Flames went 41-29-12, placing second in the Northwest but falling short of the NHL’s second season by three measly points.

During the 2011 offseason, the Flames dealt Regehr to the Buffalo Sabres with Ales Kotalik and a draft pick (Jake McCabe) for Chris Butler. After parts of two seasons in Buffalo (105 games, one goal, six assists, 77 PiM), he joined the Kings for parts of two (91 games, three goals, 13 assists, 48 PiM, one Stanley Cup).

All-Time Statline: 826 games, 29 goals, 134 assists, plus-30 rating, 802 penalty minutes, 42.98 point shares.