Emotional Lehner explains “cry for help” and desire to help younger generations following Twitter allegations

It has been an intense weekend for Robin Lehner. The Vegas Golden Knights goalie got everyone’s attention this weekend when he fired off tweets about players’ health and medical treatment as things quickly escalated. He accused teams of giving out benzodiazepines and Ambien to employees when they travel. Lehner clarified that the Knights were not one of the teams he was referencing.In a follow-up tweet, Lehner referred to Flyers coach Alain Vigneault as a “dinosaur” who treated people like “robots not human” and claimed he had proof Vigneault should be fired.

As this got everyone’s attention, it also caught the NHL’s who interviewed Lehner about his allegations as the league officials and NHLPA spoke to the veteran netminder. 

On Tuesday, Lehner met with media members ahed of the Golden Knights’ preseason game against the Colorado Avalanche and made the following statement on what has taken place over the past three days, explaining how his tweets over the weekend were a “cry for help” from the NHL and that he will always advocate for mental health.

“The last 72 hours have been incredibly difficult but also incredibly valuable to me, to my career, my life goals,” Lehner said Tuesday.

In the video below, you can watch the two-minute opening statement in which Lehner claims he has received positive feedback from the NHL and NHLPA and is hoping to continue making a difference for the better of the younger generations and the ones to come in the league. He will now be moving his message behind the scenes with the NHL and NHLPA to find better ways to help other players. 

He asked for patience from the media as he begins the season as he attempts to take meaningful steps forward.

Here it is: 

The Philadelphia Flyers, when Vigneault is now head coach, have responded to Lehner’s allegations, denying that the coaching staff provided health care to players in a statement Sunday. When Vigneault denied the claims Lehner made about the pills, the goalie informed ESPN’s Emily Kaplan that he was only criticizing the way Vigneault treats his players — “which he believes is unacceptable” — and not accuse him of passing pills.

Lehner has never played for Vigneault in his 11-year career, which includes stops in Ottawa, Buffalo, the New York Islanders and Chicago before he was traded to Vegas back in 2020. 

Lehner is hoping to make a difference in the league and has used social media to get his message across.