Hours before one of the most popular players to ever wear a Senators uniform would be saluted by fans in Ottawa, Mark Stone‘s ex-teammates took their turn.
“He left such an impression on the players here, this team, this organization and this community,” said alternate captain Mark Borowiecki, who played with Stone for all the big winger’s six seasons in Ottawa.
“His passion for hockey is second to none,” said Borowiecki. “Fans liked the goal celebrations and all that, but those weren’t manufactured, those weren’t fake. That’s how serious he is and how much he loves the game.”
Senators goaltender Craig Anderson said that any team would love to “clone 20 of those guys,” like Stone.
“It didn’t matter what the situation was, he was always giving 100 per cent,” Anderson said. “His drive, passion, attention to detail was second to none.”
For his part, Stone was excited to return to Ottawa with the Vegas Golden Knights, but still smarting from the coach firing on the day before his reunion game. Head coach Gerard Gallant and assistant Mike Kelly were let go on Wednesday. Gallant was replaced by former San Jose Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer.
“It’s different, for sure,” Stone said, speaking outside the visitors’ dressing room now. “Since getting drafted here, I loved playing here, living in the city and I’ve got a lot of good relationships here – so it was different coming in the building.
“I’m looking forward to (the game) and I’m excited but (the coaching change) gives us a little bit of a wake-up call for our team.
“We want to compete for the Stanley Cup,” Stone said. “If we want to have that opportunity, we’re going to have to start playing better. That starts (Thursday).”
Just last April, Stone’s Knights and DeBoer’s San Jose Sharks were involved in a bitter first-round series that included some personal exchanges between DeBoer and Gallant. DeBoer accused Gallant of chirping his players and Gallant called DeBoer a “clown.” The coaches have since patched things up, DeBoer says. Now DeBoer has to do the same with an entire Vegas team.
“It was weird,” Stone admitted when he heard DeBoer was now the Knights coach. “Ten months ago, I couldn’t say a nice thing about him. We don’t say anything nice about the Sharks in this room.”
And yet, Stone gave DeBoer credit for wanting to join the Vegas organization and what Stone calls a “great team.”
“We’ll get through it,” DeBoer said in his introductory press conference. “It might be a little awkward, like meeting an old girlfriend or something, where it didn’t end well.”
He was laughing out loud at this point, this coach who arrived in Ottawa hastily, with no suit or skates or game plan on a game-day morning.
“When you hear about those guys (in the Knights room) — all you hear is their character,” DeBoer said. “You don’t have success without that and I’m excited to get to know them. And I hope that would be mutual.”
Stone, a player lauded for his character, was traded out of Ottawa about 11 months ago, which in hockey time feels like years. Consider that a year ago, Senators fans held out some faint hope he would sign a contract extension and become the next captain of the hockey club.
Matt Duchene was still a Senator at the time. So was Ryan Dzingel.
Today that feels like ancient history. Stone was then the landlord of a townhouse in which protege Brady Tkachuk of the Senators also lived. Wednesday night, they had dinner, like old times, except that now Tkachuk owns the place and Stone was his guest. Tkachuk’s parents were also on hand.
Stone has moved on and so have the Senators, in the midst of a major rebuild.
Welcome to reunion week in Ottawa. On Tuesday, forward Zack Smith returned as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks. Like Stone, Smith was drafted and developed by the Senators: Smith a third-round pick in 2008, Stone a sixth-round selection in 2010.
Sixth-rounders like Stone don’t come around too often, perhaps every 16 years or so. Franchise icon Daniel Alfredsson was a sixth-round pick in 1994.
Unlike Alfredsson, Stone was not a naturally strong skater, but he willed himself to be a complete player, including a knack for stealing errant passes. He once said that he knew he was never going to have a great first step. But by stealing pucks and heading the other way, “I got a head start,” Stone said.
Stone’s production exploded in his first full NHL season, 2014-15, when he scored 26 goals and had 64 points. In his last two Ottawa seasons, he was better than a point-per-game player. He is second on the Vegas list with 43 points in 49 games, including 16 goals.
Yet, Stone remains a relative unknown.
“He’s a superstar in the NHL, but likely outside of Ottawa and Las Vegas a lot of people don’t realize that,” says Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon. “You had the chance to see him perform at a high level as a Senator. And we’ve seen the same. He’s tremendously improved our team. He was great when he came over in the trade last February … and exceptional again this year.”
Stories resound in Ottawa about Stone’s community work and exchanges with fans, especially kids. He seems to be impacting Vegas similarly.
“When your top players are great people, it sure is a good thing for an organization,” McCrimmon said. “And he is that. He’s humble, he’s paid his dues. He played in the American League. He developed here (in Ottawa) obviously into a really good player and he’s been a great addition to our hockey club.”
Like all who watch Stone, McCrimmon is struck by his hockey sense.
“The thing with Mark – there’s no one thing that pulls you out of your seat when you watch him,” McCrimmon says. “It’s his understanding of the game. If you just follow him around on the ice for a couple of shifts, he knows where the play is going. He’s a tremendous playmaker. Great on his forehand, his backhand. He has size and reach. The big thing coming out of junior he needed to work on was his strength and skating. He’s continued to improve that, which has allowed him to flourish.”
For Senators fans, Stone’s return is bittersweet. He is a reminder of what was, but also what might have been — with No. 61 leading the charge, scoring the clutch goals and celebrating to the heavens.
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