For the first time in more than two years, former Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner has opened up publicly about his ongoing legal and personal challenges, disputing claims he has been unreachable and incommunicado.
Court documents filed by multiple attorneys in October alleged Lehner was no longer responding to lawyers involved with the Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection Lehner and his wife, Donya Lehner, filed in 2022 because they owed creditors $27.1 million. Lehner took out and failed to repay multiple business loans.
Attorneys also alleged the Lehner had not filed a change of address form with the court after vacating the couple’s former multimillion-dollar primary Las Vegas residence.
Lehner expressed frustration over the ordeal he and his family have faced in the wake of injuries that kept him off the ice and a continuing yearslong bankruptcy battle.
“I don’t need sympathy or anything; screw that,” he said during an exclusive phone interview with the Review-Journal. “Bring up something that’s true and I can take it like a man. But everything is fake. No one has any idea what has happened to my family and my life after a lot of these things, and a lot of, obviously, people will see in the future what actually happened.
“But this is portraying me like I go AWOL and don’t answer anyone,” said Lehner, who refused to say where he was living but asserted that he remains in communication with his family and loved ones.
Denies former lawyer’s claims
Lehner claims he had a power of attorney dealing with his former lawyer Zach Lawson and law firm Lawson and Zirzow, LLC. He said Lawson and the law firm had clear instructions to let him know if there is something that he needed to be involved with or something that he needed to be made aware of.
Lehner said that after he could no longer continue paying Lawson for his legal services, conversations between the two sides stopped in December 2023, and that he wasn’t the one who was avoiding his role in the bankruptcy case.
“But unfortunately, different circumstances … will come out in the future, and people can judge me about that. I could not keep paying,” Lehner said. “And when I couldn’t keep paying, well, let’s just lie to the court and now the (news)papers are saying this and it looks great for me (as) a father,” he said sarcastically.
He went on to say: ”Have I been around trying to fix things and try to do good things? Yeah, of course.”
Lehner also denied a court filing that revealed that he and his wife were selling several high-end clothing items, shoes and handbags, claiming those items don’t exist, in text messages with the RJ shortly after the phone conversation.
Lawson did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment.
Lehner said he believes the negative publicity he is receiving as a result of his bankruptcy case is tarnishing his reputation.
“When I actually had a pretty good reputation built up since I was in rehab with a great year in Long Island — best organization ever,” Lehner said. “Up to Chicago, it was amazing. And Vegas, I said it from the beginning, cutthroat, I don’t give a s—t. They don’t have any feelings and that’s why they win. Is it a good thing? Is it how it’s supposed to be? I don’t know. We can debate it. I don’t care.”
NHL career in question
Lehner declined to comment on whether his physical state and injuries, and subsequent surgeries he had to undergo, would lead to the end of his NHL career.
He joined the Knights in February 2020 via a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks, and in October 2020 he signed a five-year, $25 million contract with the team. He last played a game for the Knights on April 20, 2022. Lehner first played in the NHL during the 2010-11 season, as a member of the Ottawa Senators.
Reptile farm
A Missouri reptile farm owned by Lehner drew a lot of attention during his bankruptcy case after the former owner of the farm was murdered by his wife. Lehner takes exception to how the reptile farm issue was first reported because of an initial story claiming he went bankrupt solely because he of the farm and a related $50 million debt tied to it.
Lehner said that he had good intentions when he acquired the farm, but the situation didn’t pan out the way he had envisioned.
“I tried to do a good thing with the snakes, actually,” Lehner said. “I’ve been an animal lover my whole life. I’ve seen how much the U.S. imports from nature all the snakes. I’ve been all over Florida, everyone that sells animals in the U.S., I know very personally. It’s an insane amount. So, I wanted to do a pension plan that got screwed by other reasons and do something good and so captive-bred reptiles and stop taking them from the wild. But it’s not even close to what all these guys are saying.”
While the reptile farm was not a huge money-maker, Lehner said he had been happy with owning the reptile farm, but “a lot of other things that will come out in the future, destroyed it.”
Personal battles
Outside of court, Lehner said he’s gone through some personal problems that he will divulge at some point in the future.
“But it was a very tough time, for that, I blame myself and I’m not going to say it’s everyone else’s fault, but the media exploded it,” Lehner said. “I’ve been trying to bounce back ever since.”
Lehner’s mental health battles have been well-documented throughout his career, especially after he completed rehab for substance abuse and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He made a powerful speech in 2019 to a national television audience, when he accepted the Bill Masterton Memorial trophy, which is given out each year to the NHL player who “best exemplifies qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey.”
While going through his most recent struggles Lehner said he has been through the wringer but isn’t looking for anyone’s pity.
Time to speak up
After staying out of the spotlight for years, Lehner said that the entire situation has been a rough go for him and he felt it was time to finally address the situation.
“I’ve been quiet for a long, long time and everything since the beginning has obviously been very hard for me and my family,” Lehner said. “They’re doing their best. I’m doing my best.”
Contact Mick Akers at [email protected] or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
