Mark Stone: 'We should have been in a better position in the regular season'.

I’m not one to cast the first stone at the Golden Knights for their management of the long-term injured list, since it’s not illegal, basically.

What you do need to know, however, is that there are flaws in this method. For example? Vegas has been ending its season without its captain for three years now.

Two years ago, the Knights didn’t make the playoffs, and last year, the club was crowned champion. That was the ups and downs of betting everything on a good playoff run.

This year, we’re back in the negative, as the Golden Knights lost to one of the NHL’s powerhouses in the first round, Dallas. The Habs are no longer the last club to eliminate Vegas from the playoffs… #2021

Had the club had a few more points in the standings, the club would have had a different playoff run, and perhaps Vegas would have put itself in a position to have a better chance of winning at least one round.

We know that. But it’s one thing to hear it from a member of the Golden Knights organization.

And it’s quite another that Mark Stone, the club’s captain who finished the last three seasons on the long-term injured list, was the one to convey the message publicly.

It would probably have been better if he’d been in a better position during the regular season. – Mark Stone

The Stone family likes to laugh about the long-term injured list situation, but the fact remains that with Stone in the lineup at season’s end, a clash with the Stars would surely have been avoided.

I know that he who chooses takes the worst, but the Knights wouldn’t have “chosen” their opponent: they would have won more hockey games. And that would have helped them move up the standings.

It’s worth noting that Stone scored three goals against Dallas in seven games, but had no assists. If he’d had the momentum, would he have been able to help his team better?

Yes, there’s a lot of irony in Stone’s words, Mr. LTIR himself. He may have a really bad back, but let’s just say the timing of his injuries doesn’t give him the benefit of the doubt publicly. The comments about him are proof of that.

In bursts

– We’ll know tomorrow.