Robin Lehner rips the NHL over their handling of mental health.

Las Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner has become perhaps the most outspoken voice in the entire National Hockey League when it comes to issues the league's players deal with on a regular basis, and on Saturday he once again took to social media to express his views on a particular topic.

This time around Lehner was focused on the topic of mental health, something that I believe stems from some recent comments that were directed his way. On Friday, Lehner shared a collection of comments that had been made about him by fans online in something of a collage. The comments were all focused on the mental health issues that he has been very open about, and they were all generally negative in nature.

While I don't know for certain that the 2 are connected, I believe this is what prompted this latest rant from Lehner. On Saturday Lehner was very critical of both fans the National Hockey League Players Association and even the NHL for how the topic of mental health has been treated in the hockey community. In fact Lehner would even go so far as to suggest that the league should no longer be an advocate for mental health, given what it has allowed to transpire.

Here is what Lehner had to say:

Being open about my bipolar was a choice to help others. To help people that struggles with mental illness to see it’s possible to be accepted.People call me sensitive and that I want attention.I wanted attention to the subject of mental health. No one have any idea of the stuff I have to deal with on social media from fans across the league and trough my career. Media outlets and papers that have stigmatized everything around my condition. not just people in their moms basement. No one has a clue what’s in my dm or what I’m always tagged in. Has [the NHL] done anything to condemn this or the nhlpa? I retweeted a few days ago a small taste of what’s there for me on social media. I’m not gonna stop using social media as it still helps people that deals with what I deal with. I suggest nhl stops advocating for mental health.

While I support Lehner's mental health advocacy, I genuinely struggle to understand how Lehner could expect the NHL or the NHLPA to intervene when it comes to people making comments on social media. Unfortunately neither the NHL nor the NHLPA have any power when it comes to the platforms run by some of the largest and most powerful companies in the world, so I do think Lehner is asking for a little too much here.

It wasn't all bad news and vitriol from Lehner on Saturday however, he did have some kind words to offer a certain segment of the NHL fan base. Lehner also expressed his love and support for the fans of the New York Islanders franchise, a fan base that he says helped save his life when he was at rock bottom.

Tomorrow I’ll go back to the people that accepted me for who I am and the ones that supported me no matter what. Gonna be amazing seeing you guys again. Long Island I’m forever grateful for you place in my journey. Often when I go trough these things I think of you.