Mark Stone calls out his teammates for their poor performance

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Tom Banks
May 6, 2024 (11:05 PM)

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The Vegas Golden Knights made a push in the regular season, but after injuries they struggled to put it together, and their captain has called them out for it.

Over the past few years, the Vegas Golden Knights have been criticized for their use of the loophole in the NHL's LTIR rules, and it clearly came back to bite them in these playoffs. Mark Stone, Tomas Hertl and Jack Eichel all missed significant time down the stretch, and now their captain has called out the team for their handling of the regular season.

"We felt like we definitely had a team that had a chance to go on a long run,» said Stone. Probably would have been better off putting ourselves in a better position in the regular season. Never easy coming in as the 8-seed and trying to beat all the top teams at the start.»"

While the Knights clearly played their LTIR plan to perfection, with Stone the perfect example of how they do it in three years running, and now he's upset with the way it happened. They may have pushed the Dallas Stars, a genuine Stanley Cup contender but in seven games, they just didn't have the chemistry or the toughness to keep up.

With few assets moving forward and the team being right at the salary cap, this summer will be interesting for Vegas, as they look to continue pushing for a Stanley Cup, while also keeping their future in mind. It's clear though that they may have a difference in philosophy with their captain, so this may be a story to keep an eye on moving forward.

Source: Blade of Steel

Mark Stone unhappy with how his team handled the regular season