Captain’s Comeback: Mark Stone never traveled far from Knights when injured.
How Stone inspired Golden Knights teammates whether he was playing or not
Dallas — Mark Stone and Tomáš Hertl laughed as they pushed through a quick stationary-bike exercise Monday night outside of the visitors’ locker room at American Airlines Center, following the Golden Knights’ 4-3 Game 1 triumph against the Stars.
The two studs of the Golden Knights’ freshly established second forward line have been regular workout partners for the past month and a half, when Hertl came in Las Vegas via a trade deadline transaction with San Jose. They worked together at City National Arena to recover from a lacerated spleen for Stone and loose knee cartilage for Hertl.
The majority of those hours were spent as lightheartedly and cheerfully as the duo had been following their first game together, but not all of them. The two veteran stars also had meaningful chats to get to know each other, as well as plenty of impassioned hockey exchanges when watching games together.
“We had some debates, too,” Stone acknowledged in his postgame news conference next to Hertl, just before the two climbed on their bikes. “It’s awesome to have those types of discussions, but a lot of our theories aligned so that helps knowing you’re on the same page going into games.”
Hertl may have been his most frequent companion due to their concurrent injured-reserve spells, but Stone went to great lengths to stay in sync with all of his Golden Knights colleagues during his two-month recovery.
Vegas’ longstanding captain hoped that his presence even while he wasn’t playing would shorten the transition process when he returned to the rink. The chemistry between Stone and his teammates appeared to help the Golden Knights win the first game of the best-of-seven series, and they will aim to recreate it in Game 2 tonight at 6:30.
“You try to put a smile on your face when you come to the rink but rehabbing sucks,” Stone stated. “I don’t like doing it, but I love playing hockey so that’s why I come to the rink with a smile on my face and try to boost the group when they’re struggling and just be a part of it.”
Stone was extremely frustrated that he had missed the end of the previous three regular seasons due to injuries. He bemoaned having “played not even 100 games in the last three years,” therefore disqualifying himself from the 1,000-game career milestone he planned to achieve one day.
But he pushed all of his disappointments aside in order to become a better captain, a position he has now held for four seasons. Current Stars coach Pete DeBoer, ironically, was the one who pushed for Stone to wear the “C” on his breast when with the Golden Knights due to the leadership traits he observed in his top player.
Stone’s dedication in that area has grown significantly over time. He thought he was away from the club too much during the 2021-2022 season, which was the only time Vegas missed the playoffs in franchise history, after injuring his back midway through the season.
He has since attempted to fix that error.
Stone has made an effort to attend as many meetings and practices as possible over the previous two years, despite his inability to participate. According to Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon, Stone did “everything he could” to speed up his recuperation and assist his teammates this season.
“Coaches always have a plan,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy explained. “Whether it works or not is always debatable, but when your peers, whom you look up to, give you advice, you pay attention. That’s just the way things are.”
Stone’s influence when he plays is almost always positive, and that was the case again on Monday. He scored the team’s first goal on a power-play deflection and then assisted in killing a penalty minutes later by clearing the puck midway through the Stars’ man advantage.
He did make one major error in the first period, mishandling a puck, which resulted in a Dallas score by Jason Robertson, but some rustiness was expected. Overall, Stone performed significantly better in his return game than he did a year ago at the start of the playoffs, when the Golden Knights were thrashed 5-1 by the Winnipeg Jets.
No one on the Golden Knights mentioned Stone’s gaffe after the game; they were simply savoring his huge moment.
“I couldn’t be happier for any guy but him,” forward Jonathan Marchessault said. “He’s been going through a lot of adversity the last few years and the fact that he comes back and has a big goal like that, it’s unbelievable to have a guy like that on your team especially as a leader.”
Not everyone is happy to see Stone back on the ice. In fact, most supporters around the league are outraged by it.
His placement on the playoff roster has sparked controversy, with Vegas accused of bypassing the salary cap by placing him on long-term injured reserve during the regular season. There is no spending restriction in the playoffs, thus Vegas did not violate any regulations unless Stone was medically cleared to play before the end of the regular season.
However, both the team and Stone claim that this was not the case, and that it came down to the wire for him to play on Monday.
Many aren’t buying it, notably the Dallas audience, which booed Stone every time he touched the puck in Monday’s game.
His placement on the playoff roster has sparked controversy, with Vegas accused of bypassing the salary cap by placing him on long-term injured reserve during the regular season. There is no spending restriction in the playoffs, thus Vegas did not violate any regulations unless Stone was medically cleared to play before the end of the regular season.
However, both the team and Stone claim that this was not the case, and that it came down to the wire for him to play on Monday.
Many aren’t buying it, notably the Dallas audience, which booed Stone every time he touched the puck in Monday’s game.