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Thursday, October 28, 1999
The call and the tears were welcome
The tinny words through the wire ripped her world and that of her family apart. Sons Robyn, just 19, and Dinho, 21, had been in a car accident, somebody said, a bad one. Robyn's legs broken.
Two other kids, riding in the other car, themselves just 19 and 20, were dead.
It's the telephone call no parent wants to receive.
The telephone rang in the Regehr household again Thursday and Edith cried again.
"I phoned there right after I got to the hotel," said Robyn Thursday. "My mom started crying a little on the phone. I had to settle her down a bit. She's pretty emotional."
The tears running down Edith's cheeks this time must have washed away the last of the sorrow and grief she felt on that July night.
Her son, less than four months removed from the crumpled remains of a car on the Saskatchewan roadside, played defence in the National Hockey League for the Calgary Flames last night.
"I never thought I'd be experiencing this so quickly. I don't think anyone did," said the teenager, who took a regular turn as the Flames upset the Ottawa Senators 4-3 in overtime.
"I was just very lucky I wasn't injured worse. I just tried to follow what the doctors and the physiotherapists said and now I've got this opportunity and I feel very lucky for that."
Robyn and Dinho and a couple of female friends were returning from a day of waterskiing.
All Robyn could remember were the headlights. His 1976 Chevy Nova and and an '86 Ford Tempo, which apparently crossed the centre line, collided head on.
"I went out to see the car myself," Robyn's dad, Ron, told the Calgary Sun shortly after the accident. "The condition it was in...the way his side was crumpled...there's no way he should've got out of there alive.
"One of his sandals was crushed between the brake pad and the floor. I pulled as hard as I could and it couldn't get it out, couldn't budge it," he said.
Regehr's character and work ethic, two qualities which attracted the Flames to him in the first place, got a severe test after the accident. The Flames took Regehr from the Colorado Avalanche to complete the trade that sent Theo Fleury to Colorado at the trade deadline last year.
"He's a very strong-willed kid," said Flames general manager Al Coates. "He's got tremendous character and he comes from a good family. The gave him great support and hopefully we did our part as well."
The product of the Kamloops Blazers organization put in the mind-numbing hours of rehab. The early line was he might get a Christmas present and be back by the new year.
He played in his first game since the accident last week as the AHL Flames tied the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Penguins.
The remarkable qualities which the Flames saw in him have been put to the test in the last four months. With the strong support of his family - his parents were missionaries in Brazil when Robyn was born - and the Flames, Regehr has made a comeback stunning both for its completeness and the swiftness in which it was accomplished.
It was tough enough just making it here for Thursday night's game.
Regehr was on a two-week conditioning stint with the Saint John Flames and played Wednesday night in Quebec City. His two-week stint was up, so the Flames had to decide what to do with him. He still has junior eligibility left, so sending him back for more seasoning is an option. The Flames have 10 games to take a look.
Flames general manager Al Coates watched him play in Quebec and flew with him on a 7:15 a.m. flight here Thursday morning.
Regehr worked out in the morning skate and then stuck around on the ice to do some extra work with the scratches for Thursday night's game.
Then came word Calgary defenceman Denis Gauthier would be unable to play because of a sore shoulder.
The decision to play Regehr was made and he made the telephone call.
This time, the call - and the tears - were welcome.
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