Regehr “ready,” but may not play

It has been over a month since Robyn Regehr’s attempted hit on Anaheim’s Devante Smith-Pelly near the teams’ benches resulted in a knee injury and an extensive absence from Los Angeles’ lineup. Though he traveled with the team throughout the Chicago series and took part in warm-ups prior to Game 7, he hasn’t yet made his return to game action.

The Kings held an optional skate on Wednesday morning, and once again Regehr was preparing himself to play in the event he should be penned into the lineup as one of 18 skaters for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. Though line rushes aren’t an indication of that night’s lineup during optional morning skates, he took rotations alongside Jeff Schultz.

“I feel ready,” Regehr said. “It just comes down to a coach’s decision, what they want to do with the lineup.”

Considering the Kings emerged from a pair of series against top flight offensive clubs in Anaheim and Chicago, it’s unlikely that Regehr will lobby for any lineup changes.

“I don’t think that that’s really necessary,” the veteran defenseman said. “It’s a matter of what kind of lineup Darryl wants to go with, and I think it’ll probably be the same one that we had last game, seeing that the guys played well and won a big Game 7 in Chicago.”

It was 10 years ago that Regehr played in his only Stanley Cup Final. Under Sutter, his Calgary Flames lost a seven game series to a Tampa Bay Lightning team that features current New York Rangers in Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis.

With that in mind, is there anything that he’ll look to do once he does step onto the ice with an opportunity to win a Cup?

“Win. Simple as that,” Regehr said.

Robyn Regehr, on whether he’s fully cleared to play:
Yeah, I feel good. I’ve had a chance to practice a little bit and get a little bit of contact, so I’ll just talk to them right now. But, yeah, I feel pretty good.

Regehr, going through warm-ups and a full pre-game routine prior to Game 7:
Yeah, well, there’s different parts of the preparation – physical preparation and mental preparation – and I’ve been doing as much as I can on the ice and off the ice physically. But it was really good just to try to get back into the mental routine and all the preparation that needs to go into that, and being in the dressing room, and going through warm-up and all that kind of stuff. That’s all part of it.