Stone talks retirement, future with Flames in Q&A with NHL.com

CALGARY — Michael Stone played 552 regular-season games in his 12 NHL seasons, along with 15 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The 33-year-old likely could have added to that total this season, but the offer to work in player development with the Calgary Flames, affording him more time with his young family, was too good to refuse.

A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Stone had 11 points (six goals, five assists) in 48 games for the Flames last season. He announced his retirement July 5 to take a position in Calgary’s player development department.

“It was just one of those decisions that I thought was time and made easier with the opportunity to move into this role,” Stone said. “I know I’m still young, relatively speaking, but I just thought the timing was good, based off of everything I’ve gone through in the last few years and my kids being the age they are, and not wanting to move around. I just thought it was the right time.”

Stone will be working with Flames defensemen prospects, among them Yan Kuznetsov, 21; Ilya Solovyov, 22; and Jeremie Poirier, 21.

“I’m going to work along with the other people we have on the development staff and try to complement them as best I can,” Stone said. “I think me being not far removed from playing is going to help things.”

Selected by the Pheonix Coyotes in the third round (No. 69) in the 2008 NHL Draft, Stone played there for six seasons before being traded to Calgary on Feb. 20, 2017. He had played his junior hockey with the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League, so he was familiar with the city he now calls home.

Stone and his wife, Michelle, have three children, twins Jolie and Wyatt, who turn 7 in September, along with 5-year-old Rhett. The new position will allow Stone to stay involved in hockey without sacrificing time with his family.

“My kids are still young and that’s one of the reasons I decided it was time to step away from playing and move into this,” he said. “I’m at home more and can help out with their sports, whether that’s hockey and baseball for my boys and my daughter’s in swimming. I just want to be around more.”

Stone talked with NHL.com in-depth about his decision to step away from playing, how much the Flames and the city of Calgary mean to him, and what it was like watching his younger brother, Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone, win the Stanley Cup.

Was retiring a decision you made going into last season or something that you thought about as the year went along?

“I really didn’t know. I kind of left it open. Even in the last game of the season I wasn’t 100 percent sure, I just knew it was a possibility. Going into the season, I came to training camp on a tryout, so I wasn’t sure I was going to have a job there either, and I just wasn’t willing to move anywhere. That was a decision that I made, and if it didn’t work out, it didn’t work out. I don’t want to say I was prepared to stop playing, but I knew it was going to be a possibility.”

Is getting into management or coaching something you wanted to do? And is this new position in player development a step in that direction?

“I had never really thought about it until this opportunity came about. I don’t have any real other interests other than the game of hockey, so the fact that I can do it and still be a part of an NHL team in some capacity really was a no-brainer for me.”

What does it say about the Flames and new general manager Craig Conroy that they were willing to give you this opportunity?

“Yeah, I really appreciate it. I think Craig is just a great person and I think he’s going to do a great job with this team. I’ve got good relationships with the people that are involved (in management) and were involved before. I have a good relationship with (former GM) Brad (Treliving) and Ray Edwards (director of player development), he was my head coach in the minors, so I’ve been with him a long time as well. It was a comfortable thing for everybody because everybody knows each other. I think they know what they’re going to get out of me and I understand what’s expected of me.”

Have you looked back and reflected on the successful playing career you had?

“Not a whole lot. I think it was a lengthy career, but in some ways shortened at the end, by my own doing and everything I’ve gone through in the last little bit. The games played is not as high as it could have been based on the seasons I’ve accumulated. But there’s not a whole lot of people that get to say they played in the NHL for as long as I did. Would I have liked to have been a 1,000-game player and a Stanley Cup winner? For sure, but not everybody gets to do that either.”

Not a lot of people get to play in the NHL in the same city they played junior hockey. You played four seasons with the Calgary Hitmen before returning to play with the Flames. What’s that like?

“Calgary’s a great place to live and a great place to play hockey. I know the Saddledome gets a lot of flak for being old and outdated, but I grew up there, so it’s got a special place for me. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles or anything like that, but it’s got a good atmosphere. When the team is playing well and the fans are in it, it’s just an awesome place to be.”

You were a third-round pick and it took some time to get to the NHL, including your time in junior and then the American Hockey League. Is that something that you’ll pass along to some of the prospects you’ll be working with, that it doesn’t matter where you get selected, it’s about putting in the work and persevering?

“My brother would be the first one I would talk about in that regard. He is the prototypical kid that was told he couldn’t play because he couldn’t skate, they couldn’t do this because they weren’t elite at whatever. But if you just keep working at it and continue to try and better yourself, you’re going to be just fine. He’s a highly paid player, captain of a Stanley Cup champion and he was a sixth-round pick who also wasn’t sure he was going to get picked.”

How did it feel for you watching him win the Stanley Cup? I imagine you were both very competitive with each other growing up, as brothers tend to be.

“It was awesome. Obviously I’m incredibly jealous, but I just know the type of person he is and the type of player he is and how competitive he is. I don’t think either of us would be at the point we ended up without each other. The fact that we pushed and pushed and pushed is purely based on trying to better each other.”

How much of his playoff run did you see live? And did you get to celebrate with him?

“I waited until they had a chance to clinch the Stanley Cup, so I was at Game 5. I didn’t go to any of the other ones; I wasn’t doing the Brady Tkachuk tour (watching brother Matthew Tkachuk with Florida Panthers). I was down on the ice after they won, but that’s all I did. I didn’t go to any of the parties afterward because I was there for my brother and just for my brother and I wasn’t a part of that team.”