He had just slung a shot down toward the open net and his celebration was exuberant, flailing his arm and screaming, embracing his teammates and the moment. The hats started flying immediately afterward, coating the ice in black and gold, sequins and Vegas Golden Knights logos.
It was 14:06 of the third period, and the Golden Knights led the Florida Panthers by a five-goal margin that would eventually expand to six in a 9-3 win in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena. Stone knew in that moment that he was winning the Stanley Cup, that the hard work was paying off, that the rehab and the back surgery and the hope had resulted in a moment that he couldn’t even have ever dreamed up.
Because who dreams this big?
To be the captain of the team, to have a hat trick in the Stanley Cup-clinching game, to have come back from the trials that Stone has endured?
That’s the stuff of fairytales.
“Once we got that comfortable lead, your head starts spinning, right?” Stone said. “All you can think about is throwing your gloves, your helmet in the air and celebrating with your teammates. I just can’t wait to keep celebrating.”
And then he lifted the Cup.
“Words can’t describe it,” Stone said. “It’s the best feeling in the world. You try and soak it all in, as much as you can. You savor this moment. You just can’t believe it, right? It’s finally come true. Your childhood goal, I guess you could say, was to be an NHL player. And once you get to the NHL, your goal is to win the Stanley Cup.
“Here we are, standing as Stanley Cup champions, and I couldn’t be more excited for this group, this city and this organization as a whole.”
There were back issues reaching all the way to the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and last season Stone was limited to 37 games in the regular season because of injury, returning at the end of the season in a vain attempt to get the Golden Knight into the playoffs.
Instead, he had a lumbar discectomy in May of 2022.
This season was supposed to be different, to be better, to be less painful. But no. The back was injured again Jan. 12 against the Panthers. It would be his final game of the 2022-23 regular season.
He needed surgery, again. His second back surgery in nine months was performed by Dr. Chad Prusmack, the doctor who had helped repair teammate Jack Eichel, on Jan. 31.
He would have to work and get himself back. He would have to make it happen.
“It’s been a hard couple of years, health-wise,” Stone said. “When the team started having that success in February, we started getting rolling, it just gives you all the energy to work as hard as you can, get back and be a part of this team.”
In the middle of all that, his daughter Scarlett was born, in March. He held the 3-month-old as he celebrated on the ice Tuesday, with his wife and his parents and his brother, Michael, who played last season for the Calgary Flames.
Stone returned for Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round against the Winnipeg Jets on April 18, three months since he had last played.
“Unbelievable competitor. Big-game player. Great leader,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I’m happy for him. He’s been through two major, major surgeries. Didn’t know if he’d come back and play. We had no idea. Good for him.”
In 22 games in the playoffs, Stone had 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists), including those three in the Cup-clinching game.
“He’s our leader,” forward Jonathan Marchessault said. “He’s our guy. He came in the second year. He’s been great since the first moment he came in. He was unbelievable. He’s been such a great factor in every step of the way, off the ice, and on the ice.”
He opened the scoring in Game 5 with a short-handed goal at 11:52 of the first period, becoming the first player to score a short-handed goal in a clinching game since 2011, when Patrice Bergeron did so in Game 7.
But Stone was far from done.
He scored the team’s fifth goal of the game at 17:15 of the second period, adding to a lead that seemed to be growing by the second. And then it was time for the piece de resistance, completing the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 14:06 of the third.
Stone is the fourth player in NHL history with a hat trick for a team playing in a potential Cup-clinching game, joining Babe Dye in Game 5 in 1922 and Ted Kennedy in Game 4 in 1945, both for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Jack Darragh in Game 5 in 1920 for the original Ottawa Senators. Dye, Darragh and Stone are the only ones to do so in a game in which their team did indeed clinch.
It was something that Stone couldn’t have wished for, couldn’t have even thought up as he went through the rehab and the off-ice work, as he willed himself back onto the ice, back for the playoffs, only to lead this team to the Cup.
“For him to grind out last year, the same thing, this year, the same thing, he wanted to come back,” Marchessault said. “Honestly, for him to get a hat trick tonight, you couldn’t write it better than that. Such a great comeback story.”
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
