Robin Lehner’s life has gone through a remarkable metamorphosis in the past year: from rehab to piling up trophies.
The Islanders goalie was named as a finalist Saturday for the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goalie, one day after he was named as a finalist — and more than likely winner — of the Masterton Trophy, for perseverance and dedication to the game. At the end of the regular season, Lehner and fellow Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss shared the Jennings Trophy for backstopping the team that allowed the fewest goals during the regular season.
Last summer, Lehner was in rehab for substance abuse — and he also was dealing with a new diagnosis of bipolar 1 with manic phases along with ADHD and post-traumatic stress disorder. When he came out of rehab, Lehner said he had about eight or nine teams seriously interested in signing him. When he and his agent decided to be transparent about his situation, it got narrowed down to two.
“The one team that I went and saw,” he said, “it didn’t go well at all.”
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But the Islanders took the leap and signed the 27-year-old Swede to a one-year, $1.5 million deal. He has delivered a return no one could have imagined, finishing with the best regular-season save percentage (.930) in Islanders history, along with the third-best goals-against average in the league (2.13).
That terrific season earned him a place alongside the Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Stars’ Ben Bishop as a Vezina finalist. But as the Islanders, after sweeping the Penguins in the first round of the playoffs, wait for the Capitals-Hurricanes series to finish to find out who they play next, Lehner wanted the focus to be on breaking down the preconceived notions about mental illness.
It was more than a little gratifying that the Vezina is voted on by NHL general managers, the ones who decided to pass on Lehner because of his off-the-ice situation.
“This is the thing with perception. It’s not like I’m a special case that needs someone holding my hand,” Lehner said. “They’ve been incredibly supportive and open-minded and non-judgmental and all that stuff — that’s what I mean with how good this organization has been. The big thing they’re helping me with on a day-to-day basis is they help me with my meds. It’s not like you have some of your mental issues and now we have to do a bunch of things. That’s not what’s happening. They’re helping me with a few things, but the biggest thing is to not be judgmental.”
Lehner likened his situation to someone dealing with an injury. Now that he knows the nature of his illness, he knows how to treat it. That is exactly what he did all during this year when his life and career were revived.
“That’s what is powerful about that whole thing. Hopefully, not just GMs, people in general, they stop looking at people in that light, because — me with bipolar, for example. It’s never going to go away,” Lehner said. “It’s easily treatable if you have the right people. That’s it. I know if I go into depression or I go into mania, I know now, my wife knows. Maybe I need to fix something, tweak something.
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“And I’ve had that throughout this whole season. I’ve had bad days. I’m always going to have that. It’s like everyone else on our team, you’re going to have bad days. Mine get a little worse, but I know how to handle them now, and it’s nothing to be scared of. It’s the same with the recovery and addiction. It’s big in all sports.”
After Lehner first told his story in a first-person piece published online just before training camp, Islanders fans have been hugely supportive, chanting his name at every opportunity. It’s clear how much that means to him as he continues to rack up the recognition for such a special season and year.
“That’s what’s good about this, it shows it can be done with the right people, the right help,” Lehner said. “Look how these fans have embraced that. They’re amazing. They’re a part of saving a lot of lives, these fans what they’re doing right now. They certainly helped me on my journey, saving my life. It’s just the beginning. Hopefully we can all keep going with this.”