Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault denies Lehner's serious accusations
On Saturday night, Vegas Golden Knights netminder Robin Lehner went on a rant on Twitter regarding NHL teams giving players Ambien and Benzodiazepines without a prescription. He then appeared to indicate that one of those teams giving out those drugs was the Philadelphia Flyers, and the player receiving the non-prescribed medication was Nolan Patrick, now a teammate of Lehner's in Vegas.
#PhiladelphiaFlyers ? Dinosaur coach treating people robots not human. Fire these dinosaurs. Fire #vigneault first story. I got proof.. try to shake your way out of this one .— Robin Lehner (@RobinLehner) October 3, 2021
Patrick missed the entire 2019-20 season to deal with a migraine disorder. Lehner isn't the only one coming out saying that the Flyers were giving Patrick Ambien and Benzodiazepines.
Writer Drew Wheeler said that his sources told him, "the Flyers training staff gave Nolan Patrick non-prescribed Ambien and Benzodiazepines to help with his traumatic head injury while not disclosing the medication given to him at the time."
Wheeler has since removed the original tweet and replaced it with a formal apology.
On Monday morning following Flyers practice, head coach Alain Vigneault commented on what Robin Lehner had to say on Saturday night.
"I don't know the young man [Lehner]. I consider myself experienced. I can be tough. But I care about my players. I try to do it with respect. As far as me pushing pills, I don't need the income. I have no idea where that came from. I don't know what else to say." Vigneault said.
AV: I don't know the young man [Lehner]. I consider myself experienced. I can be tough. But I care about my players. I try to do it with respect. As far as me pushing pills, I don't need the income. I have no idea where that came from. I don't know what else to see.— Bill Meltzer (@billmeltzer) October 4, 2021
The NHL has reportedly spoken to Robin Lehner regarding his tweets he sent out on Saturday night. The league has yet to comment publicly on whether or not they will investigate the rumours of non-prescribed drugs being given to players.
Meanwhile, Lehner has clarified his comments regarding Vigneault. You can read more about at the link below:
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Logan Cooley | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| William Nylander | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack McBain | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Dylan Guenther | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Michael Kesselring | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Fraser Minten | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mikhail Sergachev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Chris Tanev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| John Tavares | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Simon Benoit | - | - | - | |
| Nick Bjugstad | - | - | - | |
| Michael Carcone | - | - | - | |
| Ian Cole | - | - | - | |
| Lawson Crouse | - | - | - | |
| Connor Dewar | - | - | - | |
| Oliver Ekman-Larsson | - | - | - | |
| Barrett Hayton | - | - | - | |
| Pontus Holmberg | - | - | - | |
| Clayton Keller | - | - | - | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 21 | 17 | 4 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 30 | |
Devils | 23 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 30 | |
Hurricanes | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 29 | |
Golden Knights | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Maple Leafs | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 27 | |
Flames | 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 19 | 13 | 6 | - | 26 | |
Rangers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||