Robin Lehner speaks out: catching up on the situation

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Robin Lehner is not joking.

The Golden Knights goaltender sent a particularly damning shot through the bow of the NHL on Saturday night, openly accusing the league on Twitter of providing players with benzodiazepines and Ambien without a prescription, while threatening to post one post a day. detailing the NHL’s malpractice until things “get fixed.”

Speaking to ESPN the next day, Lehner revealed the method behind his comments, explaining that the publication of the accusations was in part done to educate Buffalo Sabers captain Jack Eichel and his current situation.

Eichel, who has not played since March 7 due to a herniated disc in his neck, is currently at an impasse with the Sabers over which method of treatment he is allowed to use to treat the said injury, the Sabers are standing vehemently against their star center undergoing a spinal fusion procedure which, despite having a longer recovery period and never having been performed on a professional hockey player before, is considered to offer the best long-term prospects . Eichel, in the months following his diagnosis, reportedly sought several medical opinions that reiterate a spinal fusion as the best course of action. The Sabers, of course, disagree.

What is essentially happening here is that Jack Eichel is being held captive by his employer.

The 24-year-old is currently floating in medical limbo, also unable to play due to injury and undergo the procedure which he and his medics say will help fix him.

Despite the exercise of the players’ few rights and the request for a trade, the Sabers have not budged, even going so far as to take Eichel’s position as captain of the team, which almost certainly closes the door to any future reconciliation between the two parties.

The result is clear. But until Eichel or the Sabers slack off, one of the league’s best young players will be held off the ice for no good reason.

Lehner’s goal is therefore to shed light on how little autonomy NHL players have over their own bodies.

Shortly after Lehner’s tweets went viral, SB Nation’s Drew Wheeler reported that, according to sources, the Philadelphia Flyers gave Nolan Patrick non-prescribed benzodiazepines and Ambien to treat an injury to his body. the traumatic head that kept the former first draft pick from action for most of his early career. According to Wheeler’s sources, the Flyers did not actually tell Patrick what medication they were giving him, failing to disclose both its side effects and the risks associated with its long-term use.

This is, for a number of reasons, a significant problem.

Benzodiazepines are among the most addictive drugs on the market, with side effects such as slurred speech, memory loss, muscle weakness, and in severe cases, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians. the user’s fall into a coma.

Wheeler’s source, as he later revealed in a follow-up tweet, was none other than Lehner himself – although he later went on to issue an apology for a flawed report.

As for Patrick, who missed the entire 2019-20 NHL season with a migraine disorder, the Flyers traded him to the Vegas Golden Knights during the 2021 offseason.

On Sunday morning, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the NHL was planning to contact Lehner to conduct a formal interview regarding his accusations. As Lehner told ESPN, he had yet to hear from the league on Sunday afternoon. And at the time of publication, there has been no formal announcement of an interview deal.

Speaking to the media Monday morning, Flyers coach Alain Vigneault denied knowing anything about Lehner accusing him before suggesting Lehner was not telling the truth.

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