Vegas Golden Knights Mark Stone rips into critics with his latest comments

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Daniel Lucente
August 21, 2024 (7:09 PM)

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Mark Stone has been facing some heavy criticism lately from the fans and reporters around the league, and he didn't hesitate to fire right back at them.

Mark Stone's team, the Vegas Golden Knights, have also dealt with their fair share of criticism recently as rumors have quickly spread that their star players receive poor treatment, but also due to how they try and circumvent the salary cap.

The team just lost 2023 Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Marchessault this off-season in free agency to the Nashville Predators, and on his way out he described how Vegas didn't seem to have any interest in keeping him.

Captain of the team Mark Stone knows they have a big target on their back because of how new the franchise is and how much success they've had, which in a way could be making people jealous.

"As I'm older I have realized that people are going to put a bullseye on our back because they want to see us fail," Stone said. "We haven't failed too much in our history. People want to see the Golden Knights crash and burn. But like I said, I think the foundation we built doesn't really allow for that to happen. So, I'm feeling confident.

"I think the team is excited to get back. We definitely have that chip on our shoulder. A lot of people in our industry don't believe that we can get back to the team that we know we are, but time will tell. We still believe that we're one of the teams that is going to training camp with the chance to win the Stanley Cup."

Mark Stone has only managed to play 136 games over the last three seasons as he was placed on LTIR twice, and then came back right before the playoffs, which caused social media to go in to a frenzy as to how Vegas was trying to bend the salary cap rules. Stone did say he's very excited to get back on the ice and wants to be as ready as can be for the new season.

"I feel good. I was feeling great last year too. I was having one of the better statistical years of my career too until I had that freak accident," Stone said. "I'm feeling good and energized after an unfortunate long summer. I am excited to get back playing.

"People think I'm lying when I say I expect to play 82 games every year. Unfortunately, I've had some tough injuries that I've had to deal with along the way, but I think that just builds the adversity of what our team has gone through over the last number of years. I'm really excited to get the group back together, practicing again, and start to build from the ground up. Starting day one, adding onto an already strong foundation."

A 6th round draft pick of the Ottawa Senators back in 2010, Mark Stone has suited up in 640 career NHL games and scored a total of 212 goals, while adding 355 assists for 567 total points.

Source: Hockey Feed
Mark Stone fires right back at Golden Knights' critics

Source: HockeyDB
Mark Stone Stats