Vegas has made it, and they likely had to cheat to do it

Image Credits: Abbie Parr, Associated Press

I have not been shy about voicing my criticisms towards the Vegas Golden Knights and Gary Bettman about the LTIR cap circumvention, and that criticism will not cease until the Golden Knights and the NHL can prove that this is not blatant favoritism. I have my doubts about whether Mark Stone's injury was even legitimate, knowing that both of the last 2 years he has been magically healed in time for Game 1.

I have to be careful when writing this article, because I do not want to be accused of slander, and I have worked very hard to get my facts right about this, so bear with me, and if I get anything wrong, please point it out in the comment section below.

What we know about this year's timely injury is that the Golden Knights are saying that it was a lacerated spleen, and while I am a knowledgeable hockey fan, I am not a medical professional. However, I know a lacerated spleen, according to many medical professionals, should take 3-6 months to heal. To put this into context, he has been out for 2 months, so he theoretically shouldn't even be back until the Western Conference Final at the very earliest, if they can even get past Dallas and Colorado or Winnipeg.

At this point now though, the lies are wearing thin. The last 2 years before were believable, as the injuries were true, even if they were exaggerated for cap relief, but they are growing more bold by the year, to the point where they will let it be known that they are openly cheating. The fact that they may have sent a fraudulent letter to the NHL to prove that Mark Stone had a lacerated spleen shows how much corruption is at the top of the NHL. Gary Bettman has treated each team according to how much he values them, and he's watching idly by as Vegas sits out healthy players to stack up at the deadline. In reality, the cap should carry over to the playoffs, but that wouldn't do the Golden Knights any good, so it won't happen.

I want to make it very clear that I am not questioning Mark Stone's medical history, but I am questioning how it has been manipulated to take advantage of a 2-tiered rulebook. I don't doubt that there is some truth to his back injuries, but he probably just had a broken rib that was fraudulently presented as a lacerated spleen. This is a case that I intend on following up on, so this will not be the last I write of this.