Stone back in time for playoffs Winnipeg product faces hometown team after recovery from career-threatening injury By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Monday, Apr. 17, 2023

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This article was published 17/04/2023 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LAS VEGAS — When Mark Stone is at his best, you see a hockey player who is powerful, confident and, at times, downright dominant. The 30-year-old Winnipeg product can take over games at both ends of the ice.

Unfortunately for hockey fans, especially those here in Las Vegas, Stone hasn’t been seen much at all over the past two years. Two major back injuries, both of which required surgery, put his professional pursuits on pause. And, quite frankly, his career potentially in peril.

All of which helps explain why the Stone we saw on Monday appeared nervous, vulnerable and, at times, struggling to keep his emotions in check.

“I’ve got some tears in my eyes,” Stone said to a room packed with media, his voice cracking. “It’s been a long two years. I don’t want to miss this.”

“This” would be the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs, where his Vegas Golden Knights will host his hometown team, the Winnipeg Jets, in a best-of-seven series that gets underway on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena.

“I’ve got some tears in my eyes. It’s been a long two years. I don’t want to miss this.”–Mark Stone

Stone will be back in the lineup, playing his first game since Jan. 12 when an old injury he thought was behind him reared its ugly head again.

“Everything had to align for me to be ready to go first night of the playoffs. And it has,” he said.

Some have accused Vegas of playing fast and loose with the salary cap by having Stone conveniently ready to play once the games really start to matter. He was placed on long-term injured reserve months ago, and the Golden Knights wouldn’t have been able to activate him during the regular-season as a result of other moves they subsequently made.

To be clear, there was nothing suspect about Stone’s injury. It’s legitimate, and had him searching for answers. Vegas was also aware of the timing as they proceeded along.

“Had a gameplan going in. Took two weeks (after the initial injury) to see if I could return,” said Stone. But with the clock ticking on a decision, doctors decided he’d be best served by going under the knife.

“That was probably the last possible day that I could get the surgery and be back in time for (Tuesday),” said Stone, who ultimately worked with the same doctor who performed a unique neck surgery on teammate Jack Eichel that may have saved his carer.

“Obviously I think I had a really successful surgery the first time, just unfortunately it came back. So I had to try and do something different,” said Stone. “Right from the start I felt good. Took away a lot of my pain and relieved a lot of my symptoms days after the surgery. So that gave me that comfort.”

Stone finally got the green light earlier this month.

“I haven’t had any setbacks. It took multiple MRIs and scans to confirm. Over these last two weeks it was about just getting ready and being ready to play,” he said. “My back is good. I’m going to be playing my first game in three months, basically. A playoff game. So I know it’s a big jump. But like I said, I don’t want to miss it.”

Stone was off to a hot start this year, with 17 goals and 21 assists through 43 games. That had the veteran of 584 regular-season contests over 11 NHL seasons poised to set career-highs.

“Right from the start I felt good. Took away a lot of my pain and relieved a lot of my symptoms days after the surgery. So that gave me that comfort.”–Mark Stone

“Fortunate to have him. We didn’t know how it would play out,” said Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy.

“There were boxes he had to check off to get back into the lineup, and he’s been able to do that. Give credit to him, credit to our medical team for getting him up to speed. We just have to be careful, we don’t expect too much his first game in a long time. But no matter what, it’s going to be a positive influence for us.”

Stone will be eased back in, skating on the third line with Chandler Stephenson and Michael Amadio.

“There’s no minutes restriction in terms of what I’ve been told. Other than the obvious, he hasn’t played in a long time so we have to think big picture here a little bit and not run him into the ground his first game back,” said Cassidy.

Stone, who recently became a first-time father, said that experience has “changed his life.” It also helped adjusting to the new normal of not playing hockey.

“Listen, he was probably scared. There were some question marks for him, in his mind,” said Cassidy. “Like how long is this going to be, how’s it going to affect the rest of my life. I think the best thing for Mark now is just let’s go.”

Stone said it will be extra special to face the Jets in the playoffs for the first time in his career, as he was a member of the Ottawa Senators when Vegas and Winnipeg faced off in the 2017-18 Western Conference Final.

“It’s fun to play at home. My parents will be there. They’ll be here, too. I guess I gotta convince a lot of people, a lot of friends to wear Knights jerseys,” he said with a laugh.

“They’re a big team, a physical team. They’ve got guys that can grind you down. Obviously their goaltender is real good. But, again, don’t look too much into them. Especially going into game one. After game one you’re going to find things that you’ve got to tweak. For us, we’re playing really well right now, We were able to win the conference. We’re playing good hockey. We’ll focus on us going into game one, and if we need to make tweaks we’ll make tweaks as the series goes along.”

Stone said he expects some additional bumps along the way here as he tries to get back to up to speed, figuratively and literally.

“It’s fun to play at home. My parents will be there. They’ll be here, too. I guess I gotta convince a lot of people, a lot of friends to wear Knights jerseys.”–Mark Stone

“I would have liked to have played all 82 games this year, but it obviously didn’t happen,” he said. “I think my body is in a great spot. It feels great. It’s tough not playing a game in three months, so it’s going to be a bit of an investment. Fortunately, the team’s playing well. I don’t have to come in and try to be a dominant figure. I can just come in and play with my linemates, hopefully help on the power play, just the little things to hopefully make the team a little bit better.”

As for any concerns about his long-term future, and the possibility another injury could be around the corner?

“I don’t know. That never crosses my mind, really. I want to be playing. I want to play as long as I can,” he said. “You play to win. This time of year is why you want to be in these situations. So I’m not worried about that at all right now.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyre