Robin Lehner calls out star players to step up for change!

Enough is enough and that applies to a lot of things in the National Hockey League lately. In the wake of Kyle Beach’s interview with TSN last week, the entire hockey world is reeling and trying to come to grips with how this entire awful situation remained buried for more than a decade. In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past week, Beach, a former 11th overall pick of the Blackhawks in 2008, alleges that the team’s former video coach Brad Aldrich sexually assaulted him during the 2010 season. Furthermore Beach contends that he notified then Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman and head coach Joel Quenneville of the alleged abuse and neither took action. Bowman resigned last week and Quenneville, who was with the Florida Panthers organization most recently, was effectively forced to resign as a result of these findings.

Commissioner Gary Bettman is not owning up to his responsibilities, the system and the NHLPA failed Beach - changes need to take place. Vegas Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner has always been very vocal about protecting players and their mental health, but now, he does not want to be the only one advocating anymore. He needs star players to step up and get changes going.

“I just want more players to, whatever it is, take a stand. Because we, as players, we can bring change as much as anyone else,” the goalie said Tuesday night when asked if he feels he’s carrying the weight of player advocacy.

“Again, it’s difficult for me and I wish more people (step) up and fight, because it’s for hopefully my kids, a lot of players’ kids, we want them to succeed and play in this league. We want hockey and the NHL to be as good as possible.”

Lehner had just lost 4-0 at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but did not care. Some things are more important than winning.

Lehner recently revealed how he reached out to Beach last week and had a conversation with him.

He would now love to see other players take that step to ensure changes are coming to the NHL. As you know, he called out star players earlier in October to discuss changes to the league’s approach to mental health.

“I’m not finger-pointing at anyone. I just want the new generation of players to have the safety around them to get help if they have an issue, whatever it might be, and, obviously, hopefully nothing like this ever happens again.

“I try to explain to people that fringe players - the third-liners, fourth-liners, guys that go up and down - it’s been very different treatment in my experience through my, I think it’s my 12th season now, what I’ve seen and what, say, star players get,” Lehner said.

“But sometimes it’s unfair to put on the star players too, that they don’t speak up enough, because to be quite honest, from what I’ve seen, they don’t see a lot of the things that need to change. They get different treatment. I encourage everyone to talk to each other and have conversations. … If we talk about culture or whatever, it needs to come from the players, honestly. Everyone needs to talk about it.”

In the aftermath of this terrible Kyle Beach situation, we certainly hope that star players will take a stand. There are signs coming as the Boston Bruins as captain Patrice Bergeron pressed watch Beach’s interview as a team.

Changes need to be made and of course it’d go faster with the power of star players behind it.