NY Islanders fans chant Robin Lehner's name amid his concerning social media posts

The feelings between Robin Lehner and New York Islanders fans are mutual.

They spent only one season together, but it was a special one. Even though Lehner wasn't re-signed and had moved on, the goaltender was forever in debt to the organization and the fanbase that welcomed and accepted him with open arms. When he returned to Long Island as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights, Lehner displayed a tattoo of Long Island on his neck after a tribute video.

It's for those reasons that Islanders fans were troubled by the 33-year-old's series of scary social media posts. "Never had silence and my brain is now fully broken that there is no return," is how Lehner began his long thread. "The chaos never stop and the fantasy and delusions that I prayed was a nightmare unfortunately was the reality."

At one point, he pivots to Long Island, referring to GM Lou Lamoriello without mentioning his name and how the one season with the team was one of the only times he' had peace. "We talked about life. Business ended that journey, but Long Island gave me a year of happiness in the nightmare that is my life, and I can’t express what I owe them and the fans there that helped me get strength and felt love in a life where there have never been any but from wife and kids, " posted Lehner on Dec. 13. "You guys gave my wife and kids moments for them to see me happy for real in a life that was rare."

After seeing those posts and more a week later, fans increasingly started showing their support. On Monday, organized by Drive4Five on social media, fans chanted "Rob-in Leh-ner" for the first 40 seconds of Monday night's game against the Buffalo Sabres, a tribute to the number Lehner wore with the Islanders during the 2018-19 season.

Earlier in the day, the #SameHere Global Mental Health Movement posted that they had received a text from Lehner, who knew what fans had planned. "If you get to speak to anyone about this for some reason. Say that I told you that whole organization and fans helps me find some strength to finish this," Lehner texted. "I've gotten a lot of dm from islander fans. In a life of pain, they gave me some peace."

“We had such a great time with Robin when he was here on the Island,” Anders Lee told the New York Post. “Especially here for us and for him. Hope nothing but the best for him and his family. You can kinda decipher that they’re going through a tough time. Just want to be thoughtful about them. You just want to hear that he’s doing all right.” 

During the 2018-19 season with the Islanders, Lehner and backup Thomas Greiss won the Jennings Award for allowing the fewest goals in the NHL, a remarkable year-over-year turnaround. For his noteworthy season, Lehner was the winner of the best exemplifies the qualities of Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, awarded to the play that most exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to the game of hockey.