ST. LOUIS – Curt Stephenson and Bob Hague were laughing about getting tattoos to commemorate their years as roommates on the road. Rob Stone was holding court at one end of the table wearing a T-shirt bearing his son’s face bordered by the words "Expressive Mark Stone." Paul Amadio was mischievously placing cocktail umbrellas in the background of a Cam Theodore selfie. And Bob Eichel wanted answers from a broadcaster on a number of hockey topics.
If pro hockey is a boys’ game played by men, an NHL dads’ road trip is men turning back the clock to when they were The Boys.
It’s become an annual rite of the hockey season in the NHL and Vegas. A stretch on the schedule where parents get to join in on the fun of a road trip. For the Golden Knights, it’s always been about the dads. The team just doesn’t lose when the pops are in town posting a 8-0-1 mark over the franchise’s history after Wednesday's win in St. Louis.
While the winning is nice (and critically important for a franchise which has been in the hunt for the Stanley Cup literally since its inception) this is one week where the good times supersede all else.
“It’s fun, first. They have fun and we have fun which makes it great. They paid a lot of money to put us through hockey. Not just money, but hours and their own time. They didn’t have to do what they did. So, it’s pretty awesome for them to see their work in action. They put a lot of work into all of us so it’s cool to see it pay off,” said VGK captain Mark Stone.
Stone woke up Tuesday in Vegas and when his dad joined him downstairs, he was wearing the Expressive Mark Stone t-shirt.
“I don’t even know where he got that shirt," Mark said. "Proud, right? My dad is proud of me. Proud of me and my brother. Sometimes he’s a little corny but it shows how much he cares about us and how much he loves us.”