Hockey Player says NHL Forced Players to Get COVID-19 Vaccine, League Disputes Claim

(CBS Sports) – On Wednesday, Vegas Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner called out the NHL, saying the league is not staying true to previous promises surrounding COVID-19 vaccinations. Lehner claims the league told players if they got vaccinated restrictions would be loosened, but says that hasn’t been the case.

Lehner says the NHL forced the players to get the coronavirus vaccine and they were misled by what changes would be made if they agreed.

Following Lehner’s comments, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN that no such promises were made to the league’s players.

“It’s been a matter that’s been raised and discussed as between us and the NHLPA, but no decision to modify has ever been made nor communicated to anyone,” Daly told ESPN.

Lehner claimed that even though NHL players are vaccinated, they’re still being treated as though they’re “trapped in a prison.”

The Golden Knights goaltender added concerns about what the restrictions can do to mental health, saying as someone with a bipolar diagnosis, isolation is something he was told not to do. Lehner says the league is picking “competitive edge” over the treatment of players.

“At some point we’ve got to start looking at the mental health of people around us, not just the NHL, but everyone in society and see how can we start getting back to normalcy, because the problem is going to be huge. But lying to us about things changing to kind of forcing us to take the vaccine. Unacceptable. And now that we’ve taken the vaccine to have the excuse of saying, ‘Nah, we’re not changing because of competitive advantage.’ It’s outrageous.”

He continued, saying, “They told me yesterday that they’re surveying all the teams to see who has taken the vaccine, and who has not taken the vaccines, and they’re not going to change the rules for us as players until all the players have the vaccine at the same time so it’s not a competitive edge.” Read Full Article >