Music: {allcanada} SENS' STONE OVERCOMING SKATING SHORTCOMINGS

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

{allcanada} SENS' STONE OVERCOMING SKATING SHORTCOMINGS

Senators prospect Mark Stone tells The Ottawa Citizen his ankle sprain recovery has been coming along nicely after a slow start and he feels like he's skating better than he did at the end of last season.

Though he has doggedly worked to improve it over the last five seasons, and has, he still needs to be quicker in an NHL that is getting faster by the day. Stone knows this, though he believes his offensive abilities make up for any skating deficiencies.

"Obviously the question marks have been about me getting quicker, but I feel like I have a lot of tools to overcome that," he said. "I understand the game pretty well and I'm good with my stick. I find I have qualities to make up for (my skating) that some guys may not have.

"I'm not the most fluid skater, but I have improved quite a bit over the last four, five seasons, and I know I can overcome my skating issues."

He feels like he's close.

"I know I'm knocking on the door. It's just a matter of me putting together some consistent hockey and showing I can play at this level for an 82-game season."