Regier’s tenure with the Sabres was marked by three ownership changes and periods of economic hardship, particularly in 2003 when the team filed for bankruptcy protection. Regier was frequently praised for creating results despite severe budget restrictions. He and head coach Lindy Ruff were for several years the longest GM-coach tandem in the NHL. Regier’s style of trading players was known as patient and was at times criticized as overly cautious. He is recognized as an NHL pioneer in video scouting and analytics. The Corsi number, a widely used advanced statistic, was originally to be named the "Regier number" by blogger Vic Ferrari, who first heard Regier discussing the principle (in the end, Ferrari preferred the sound of "Corsi number").