'Brings Back All Those Great Memories'

You wouldn’t know it by his famously rugged play style.

Or by the hair-raising ‘Tunnel of Death’ he employed, where apprehensive, opposition forwards rarely escaped unscathed.

But Robyn Regehr – one of the most impactful defensive blueliners of a generation – is as humble as they come.

“I'm not really an 'all-star'-type of player,” Regehr laughed when reached over the phone.

Oh?

Regehr, who logged 826 games over 11 seasons in Flames silks, is officially in that category now, having been named as one of two defencemen on the club’s Quarter-Century First Team (full list below).

And, yes, hearing that will take some getting used to.

“Funny story,” Regehr said. “The NHL actually offered to invite me to an all-star game one year. I think it was in Montreal, so somewhere around 2008, 2009.

“But I politely declined.

“That game's not for me or for a player that played like I did, so it was one of those, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’-type of situations.

“But this is more than that. This is a pretty significant period of time, and it's not just about goals and points. Anyone that's listed here, in any of these groups, has made a significant impact in a wide variety of ways for that team. For a lot of them, for a considerable amount of time – and that's what truly makes it special for me."

Regehr was drafted by the Avalanche in the first round, 19th overall, in 1998 and was acquired by the Flames in the trade that saw Rene Corbet and Wade Belak come to Calgary. He went on to play the fourth-most games in franchise history, with former captain Jarome Iginla and Mark Giordano – with whom he shares the First Team distinction – sitting No. 1 and 3 ahead of him.

He was a ‘throwback.’

Even in a throwback era, when 6-foot-3, 225-lb. rearguards like himself were meaner and more common.

His punishing, yet durable style made the Battle of Alberta a must-watch in the early-to-mid 2000s, routinely (and famously) steamrolling Oilers forward Ales Hemsky, leading to some of the first-ever YouTube compilations of their iconic, 1-on-1 encounters that live on to this day.

The bruising blueliner was a staple in the Flames’ electrifying, ’04 Cup run, too, where he played all 26 playoff games and averaged a team-leading 26:27 per game in ice time, while contributing nine points (2G, 7A).

But most crucially, at the end of his Flames tenure, he cared deeply about setting the franchise up for the future by mentoring a batch of talented up-and-comers, including a future captain.

To share this honour with ‘Gio,’ specifically, is one of the greatest honours of all.

“I sent him a text and congratulated him,” said Regehr, who mentored Giordano over his final three seasons in Calgary, before leaving in 2011. “He had a great career and what made really made me proud of him was that he was undrafted and had to make a name for himself.

“There are guys that played a long time that did that for me, like Phil Housley, Steve Smith, Tommy Albelin – who was really good to me.

“So, this brings back all those great memories of hockey and what that time was like in Calgary with some incredible teammates.”

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First Team Forwards (in alphabetical order)
Johnny Gaudreau
Jarome Iginla
Matthew Tkachuk

First Team Defencemen (in alphabetical order)
Mark Giordano
Robyn Regehr

First Team Goaltender
Miikka Kiprusoff

Second Team Forwards (in alphabetical order)
Mikael Backlund
Craig Conroy
Sean Monahan

Second Team Defencemen (in alphabetical order)
Rasmus Andersson
Dion Phaneuf

Second Team Goaltender
Jacob Markstrom