Game On Magazine 2017 Nov Game On low res | Page 44

Hitmen had back-to-back
fourth round selections in
that 2005 WHL Draft, in
which they used to select
Stone and Jones – talk about
value in the fourth round!
In relying on Jones’
steady goaltending, Stone
helped lead Calgary to a
WHL title and a berth in
the 2010 Memorial Cup.
Interestingly, that year, the
Memorial Cup was hosted by
the Brandon Wheat Kings,
thus giving Michael the
chance to face-off against
his little brother, Mark.
“In all honesty, playing
against Mark is kind of old
news now,” Michael said.
“We’ve just played so much
against each other in the
past, even in junior we’ve
had a whole bunch of playoff
series against each other.
But it definitely is cool to
see your brother on the
other team now when you’re
playing in the NHL. I am sure
he’d say the same thing.”
As Michael suggested, the
Brothers Stone have taken
their respective games to
the professional level, but
even as highly paid athletes,
4 4 | G AM E ON | N OVEM BER 2017
“
I WAS QUITE
THRILLED TO HEAR
THAT I WAS TRADED
TO THE FLAMES
Michael and Mark never forget
their humble beginnings.
“For us, it was just the way
that my brother and I pushed
each other, no matter what
we were doing,” the elder
Stone said. “Whether that was
playing hockey in the front
yard, playing baseball in the
back yard, or just racing up
the stairs to get out the door
first, we didn’t want to lose
to each other. I think that
the competitiveness between
the two of us definitely
helped push us along the
path quicker than most.”
Clearly all of the time
spent at Keith Bodley Arena
and the St. James Civic
Centre paid off, as did their
summers working out at
Richard Burr Fitness.
Following the end of his
WHL career, Michael stepped
right up to the NHL level.
After spending parts of three
I love the city of Calgary, and
now after this many years it
has kind of turned into a little
bit of a home-away-from-
home kind of thing for me.”
But where does Michael
Stone really call home?
“For me, I spend a good
seasons in the AHL with
chunk of my off-time in
Portland and San Antonio, the Calgary actually,” Stone
6-foot-3, 210 pound blueliner said. “But when we do come
became a mainstay on the
out east, we spend most of
Phoenix/Arizona back-end.
our time out at Lake of the
In putting together 36
Woods. My family has a cabin
points and 62 penalty minutes there, so in all honesty, we
in 75 games for the Coyotes
really don’t spend much time
during the 2015-16 season,
in Winnipeg anymore.”
Stone clearly caught the
He may not frequent the
attention of his former GM,
‘Peg as much as he did as
Brad Treliving in Calgary, who a youngster, but Michael
in turn traded two upcoming
Stone still looks forward to
draft picks for his services in
his visits to Bell MTS Place.
mid-February of 2016. Stone
“It’s a little bit different
packed his bags and headed
now that I’ve been back so
back to Calgary – a city he had often,” he said. “I will always
come to love for many reasons. remember that first-time
“You know, I was quite
feeling in the NHL and how
thrilled to hear that I was
special it was. I did play a
traded to the Flames,” he said. couple of games here in the
“It’s been awesome for me
American League against
both hockey wise and family
the Moose, but it is always
wise. My wife is originally
very exciting coming back
from Calgary and we have
to play here in front of your
two young kids now, so it’s
family and friends. I look
nice with her family in town.
forward to it every year.” ❍
”