I've found myself asking this question while watching Flames games recently. Although I expected Regehr to be top dog on the blueline this season, he's looked very much like a 2nd pairing guy to me for weeks now. He fumbles pucks regularly in his own zone. He has trouble making the first pass on the transition. He no longer dominates along the boards or in front of the net...
which is why I was somewhat surprised to see an article in the Herald today actually lauding Regehr's efforts. The piece talks about some of the adjustments that were made earlier in the season in light of the Flame's struggles, including Regehr being paired with Rhett Warrener. It goes on to note that the club has gone 9-3-0 since the switch and the combo is a combined +10 in that time.
The implication, of course, is that the Warrener/Regehr duo had a hand in turning the Flame's fortunes around. Unforutnately, though, correlation does not always equal causation. I looked over Regehr's (other) numbers over the period of games mentioned in the article, and they are hardly flattering:
Starting at the Columbus shoot-out loss and stretching to the recent win over the Jackets, Regehr has been on the ice for 9 PP GA and 5 ES GA. While fourteen goals in a 13 game span doesn't seem terrible on the face of it, consider Calgary only gave up 23 goals total over that duration. Meaning Regehr was on the ice for close to 61% of the goals against. In fact, Regehr was a -1 in terms of goals for/against, despite the fact that Calgary outscored their opponents 36-23 during that period.
Some can point to the fact that Regehr is frequently employed on the PK (and rarely on the PP) to explain the difference. Course, he started the year off on the PP and played himself off of it by being completely ineffective. Further, Regehr's less than stellar work with a man down probably goes a long way to explaining the Flames still terrible PK figure of 79.1%, which is good for 28th best in the league.
Nothing symbolizes Regehr's struggles more than the Columbus goal on Friday. During the PK, Regehr gathers the puck up near the Flame's blueline and fumbles with it rather than drifting it down the ice (even though the line was in desperate need of change). Thanks to his bumbling, the puck barely pierces the neutral zone, resulting in a quick transition for the Jackets and a hurried line change for the Flames. The BJ's PP unit swiftly bears down on the scrambling Calgary PK unit and quickly thereafter scores their only goal of the game. All caused by the simplest of plays gone wrong thanks to, what should be, the Flames #1 defenseman.
There have been other recent examples of Regehr's struggles. The Wolski goal in the 5-2 win over Colorado was another simple play needlessly bungled. On the Tuomo Ruutu goal versus Chicago, Regehr lost the puck in his skates and then failed to take Ruutu who was able to spoil Kipper's shut-out bid with a sudden, rising backhand. This is the kind of stuff I expect out of Ference or Zyuzin. Not Robyn Regehr.
To clarify, I dont want to throw the big guy under the bus. He hasn't been terrible by any stretch - just not good by Regehrian standards. The problem I see is Regehr's bread and butter is shutting down the opposition - he doesn't bring a lot of offense to the table - so when the Bad Guys are scoring the bulk of their goals (61%) with him on the ice, there's something wrong...
Identifying that something is another task altogether. The Loss of Leopold as a defense partner and/or a nagging injury seem to be the most plausible explanations. Regehr himself points to the vast differences between his last few partners in the linked article. Further, it's been suggested by some (well...me) that the Downey hit rattled Regehr psychologically. He's seemed far more pensive, unsure of himself and less physical since that event. In fact, the only other Regehr check I can remember over the last month or so was the plastering of Cleary when Detroit came to town. Otherwise it's been a relatively quiet and demure Robyn Regehr patrolling the left-hand side...
Whatever the cause, here's hoping he turns it around soon. A healthy and effective Regehr would go a long way to curing the Flames ailing penalty kill, which would, in turn, propel the Flames further up the conference standings.
