Stuck on characters with accents, file_get_contents, regex

[theduffman]

Hi, I'm trying to write code to update nightly some NHL stats. Everything works, except for names with an accent, e.g. José Théodore. This won't generate a match no matter what I try. I've edited the code to show the relevant pieces. What I use:

[PHP]
$data = file_get_contents('http://avalanche.nhl.com/team/app?service=page&page=Stats');

$regex = '/'.str_replace(" ", "\s", $row2['name']).'<\/a>\n<\/td>...........
preg_match($regex, $data, $match);


[/PHP]

I've tried changing the field's character encoding to utf8_general_ci. I've also tried to run a strtr on the pulled page, but doing an echo on it shows no change. I've also tried using the name with and without accents in my database.

How can I get this to work? I can't get a match when using accents.

[hsriat]

Use mb_ereg_match.