Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Now-healthy Mark Stone invigorated by break, reunion with teammates

Stone speaks with media after voluntary sessions at City National Arena

Stone

Isaac Brekken / AP

Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone, right, celebrates with left wing Max Pacioretty after scoring against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020, in Las Vegas.

Mark Stone has been able to skate more than most of his NHL counterparts during the league’s pause for the coronavirus. Because he was hurt at the time of the hiatus and not on the Golden Knights’ active roster, the winger was permitted to use City National Arena as he rehabbed from an unspecified lower-body injury.

Teammates were finally allowed to join him for voluntary workouts starting this week, and Stone has enjoyed the company of those who have turned out like Marc-Andre Fleury, Max Pacioretty, Nick Holden, Paul Stastny and Deryk Engelland.

“You’re so excited to get a little bit of time off and after a month you just want to get back with your friends and play some hockey,” Stone said on a Zoom call with media on Thursday. “It was just exciting to be back and share a couple laughs with the guys and get back skating.”

Stone and the Golden Knights may have caught a break with the hiatus. He stressed that he’s healthy now, which is good news for Vegas with the season getting closer to resuming. A healthy Stone is a more or less a requirement for a deep Golden Knights’ playoff run.

Stone said he thought he had a four-week injury when he was hurt after the Feb. 26 game against Edmonton, but it turned into a 10-week injury. If the season would have progressed as planned, Stone could have missed the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Instead, he should be ready for the duration of an all-new playoff format. The Golden Knights have a bye in the qualifying round of the 24-team competition, but will play a three-game round robin against the Blues, Avalanche and Stars to determine seeding.

With the NHL announcing it will re-seed in each round, those first three games taken on added importance. They’re far more than exhibitions, something Stone emphasized.

“I think those games are going to be very, very important for us,” Stone said. “We’re going to have to play those games like do-or-die and try to get the highest seed.”

Stone talked about more than hockey. The national, and even global, conversation about racism in the United States that followed George Floyd’s death were also discussed.

Several prominent hockey players have come out with powerful, anti-racism messages in the past weeks. In an Instagram post, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said, ““I’m not condoning or approving the looting, but are we really going to sit here and say that peaceful protesting is the only answer?” Jets captain Blake Wheeler told reporters, “It can’t just be their fight.”

The Golden Knights released a statement on May 31 in which they said they “vehemently condemn racism in all its forms.” No players made any comments until Thursday.

“There’s no place for racism in this world,” Stone said. “A lot of us have talked as a team, but at the end of the day we’re more listening right now.

“We have players and have had other players on our team that our minorities … and they’re going to be life-long friends of ours. We’re just going to be supporting them and kind of hearing what they have to say.”

Ryan Reaves said on the Golden Knights’ team podcast that, “he’s not quite there,” regarding speaking out publicly on social media. He said he’s spoken with a member of team security who’s an ex-police offer.

He wants to use his voice in a positive way. Reaves said that could include working with the Hockey Diversity Alliance, a coalition formed this week by seven current or former NHL players with the mission, “to eradicate racism and intolerance from hockey.”

“I love this city and I love this community and I hope that these protests are peaceful and actually have some kind of resolution to them,” Reaves said on the team podcast. “How that happens, I don’t exactly know yet, but I would definitely like to be involved in those talks.”

The Golden Knights will continue to participate in small group workouts at team facilities as part of Phase 2 of the NHL’s return-to-play plan. The league and the NHL Players’ Association announced Thursday that Phase 3, which is formal training camps, is scheduled to begin July 10. There is no set date for the start of the postseason, which is being called Phase 4.

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