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“Everyone is looking at this and I think most fans are thinking this is pretty negative news,” Stone said. “I think both sides left Toronto happy that we still have the opportunity to work something out.

“Everybody knows the way that arbitration can go sometimes and the fact that both sides were able to leave on good terms is a good sign.”

Stone said he was prepared for the hearing but really didn’t want it to take place, and was pleased when talks resumed Friday morning and a deal was agreed to in fairly short order.

“I knew we worked hard and we weren’t able to get a deal done, but then Friday we worked quick and we were able to get something done that I think both sides are happy about,” Stone said.

He was actually happy the arbitration process was in place because it set a deadline for the two sides. He mentioned midway through last season he knew, one way or another, he’d be in training camp in September and the hearing allowed both sides to make a compromise.

Now, Stone, who returned to Ottawa from his off-season home in Winnipeg on the weekend, will spend the next month skating at the Bell Sensplex in Kanata with some of his teammates and other local pros to prepare to report to the Canadian Tire Centre next month.

“We’re just over a month away from camp and it’s kind of nice having a date set where you know everything is going to be done,” Stone said. “I don’t have to worry about it anymore.

“It’s a lot of hours, you’re spending a lot of time on the phone and you’re thinking about what you should do and how you should approach things. It’s actually mentally exhausting. Being a hockey player, you grow up thinking about one thing, and that’s hockey.