Kings defenseman Regehr says he's ready to go

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Kings defenseman Robyn Regehr is ready to play in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final if coach Darryl Sutter wants to put him in the lineup.

Regehr hasn't played since sustaining a lower-body injury early in Game 1 of the Western Conference Second Round series against the Anaheim Ducks. He has missed 13 straight games, but has been practicing with the team since late last week and declared himself fit to play Wednesday at Staples Center against the New York Rangers (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, RDS).

But Regehr knows he is at the mercy of Sutter, who would have to disrupt a lineup that on Sunday was good enough to win Game 7 of the Western Conference Final against the Chicago Blackhawks.

"I think it's going to be a coach's decision," Regehr said. "I've been working hard at getting back to feeling like I can be ready to roll. At this point it's whatever Darryl would like me to be. If he feels he would like me in the lineup, I feel like I'm ready to go. If he wants to stay with the same lineup that was successful in Game 7 against Chicago, I totally understand that too."

Regehr participated in warm-ups prior to Game 7 at United Center. He said that was important because it got him back in the routine of mentally preparing to play.

"There's the physical part of the game, but something even more important is the preparation, the mental side of it," Regehr said. "Being with the guys in there and going through the mental preparation that was really important because I hadn't done that for four weeks. That type of stuff needs to come around too. It's not just how you are doing physically."

Regehr said he has given and received some hits in practice, but on a limited basis mainly because the Kings have had limited practices.

"It's really hard to just get in practices at this time too because it's the playoffs, travel," Regehr said. "Especially with the last series, we just didn't get in a lot of practice time."

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