Knights captain Mark Stone’s Olympic dreams felt like a long shot

Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone admits he had doubts he would get to represent his native Canada in the Olympics.

There was a time when the forward wasn’t even sure he would be able to play hockey again, particularly when he learned he would need his second back surgery in nine months in early 2023.

“It creeps into the back of your mind, right?” he said Tuesday to a gathering of media in his hometown of Winnipeg. “I wasn’t even sure if I was going to play again.

“The first surgery didn’t work. You’re getting a very similar one and hoping it works. Fortunately, it has.”

Yet the Winter Olympic dream still appeared as if it might never come true for Stone, who is on a career-long run of five straight games with a goal entering the Knights’ (18-11-12) game Thursday against the Columbus Blue Jackets (18-17-7) at T-Mobile Arena. He was just entering the league the last time NHL players participated in the Olympics in 2014.

Dreams on hold

The NHL did not allow players to take part in 2018, and COVID complications prevented their participation in 2022.

“I thought there was a good chance (I’d be on the 2022 roster), and obviously world issues prevented that from happening,” Stone said. “It was very disappointing for a lot of us. With 2014 being the last time, there was an opportunity where it looked like I was going to get to play with Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon. Those are experiences you dream of. Sid’s been playing in the NHL since like 2005. A guy you look up to. Then 2022 was taken away from us, and now I’m two back surgeries later, not sure how much longer I’m even going to play. So, yeah, I definitely feel honored and excited that opportunity has come for me.”

Now, he’s a month from donning the Canada jersey for the Olympics, something he has done in World Championships and most recently the victorious team in the 4 Nations Face-Off last year.

Stone said participating in that event only served to further his desire to go to the Olympics.

“Getting to experience it last year and being in the locker room with all the best players in the world was one of my favorite experiences in hockey,” he said. “So definitely leading into this season, the Olympics was one of my goals to hopefully be named to the team.”

Spot not assured

Still, there were no guarantees. Stone was one of 42 players invited to Canada’s Olympic camp in August, when it was clear the competition would be intense to be included on the roster.

“I’m a confident player,” he said. “But you look at the forward group of Canada in general and look at the defense, I know (the media) is going to make a deal of who didn’t make it, but you could put six new guys in there and take six out and you’re probably still having the same conversations. So it’s a very deep group of hockey players in Canada still, which is what we want as a nation. Those are difficult decisions to be made.”

His Knights coach, Bruce Cassidy, will be an assistant on Team Canada.

“He’s certainly deserving,” Cassidy said. “We see it every day, but a lot of people don’t see him, especially in Vegas when you are a later game back east. So I don’t think he gets his due enough, personally, for all the little things he does. I know the guys at 4 Nations loved him in the locker room, and guys liked playing with him, so he’s going to certainly help us.”

He’s still helping the Knights, too. Stone has been playing at a high level, and his back has held up for the most part.

Even though he has missed 16 games, Stone has regained confidence in his health and buoyed his long-term optimism.

“I’ve stayed somewhat healthy,” he said. “Obviously, I’ve had some injuries after (the back surgery) as well. Cut my spleen, broken fingers. But overall, the body, other than freak injuries, has been pretty good. Most of my injuries are broken bones, which you can recover from. You know the time lines with that. Broke my finger this year, which was kind of fluky. If I could avoid some of those, I’d be pretty thankful for that.”

More Olympians

Knights goaltender Akira Schmid was named to the Switzerland roster for the Olympics on Wednesday.

Schmid is 11-4-5 with a .894 save percentage and 2.52 goals against average this season with a team-high two shutouts.

Schmid won a silver medal at the 2024 World Championship with Switzerland, going 3-0-0 in the tournament.

Silver Knights forward Jonas Rondbjerg was included on Denmark’s roster announced Wednesday. The 26-year-old was one of six players first announced for the squad in June.

A third-round pick of the Golden Knights in 2017, Rondbjerg has three goals and 10 points in 76 NHL games and has 20 points in 30 American Hockey League games this season.

He has represented his country in the World Junior Championships, the World Championship and Olympic qualifiers.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.