Stanley Cup Final blog: Carter Verhaeghe

Florida Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe will be keeping his own blog throughout the 2023 Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights. He will check in regularly with behind-the-scenes access. In his first entry, Verhaeghe discusses Media Day at T-Mobile Arena on Friday and the preparations his team has made.

The best-of-7 series starts here Saturday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, TBS, truTV, CBC, SN, TVAS) as each team battles to win the Cup for the first time in franchise history.

The Stanley Cup Final is such an exciting time as a player. It is what you work for. To be here is just amazing.

We try to keep it as normal a day as possible. We are on the road, and we try to treat it that way. Wake up and have breakfast at the hotel with the guys and then we had a good practice here. It is a little different today because of all the media here for Media Day and we don't usually have that, but it is fun.

We have been waiting so long for this, ever since we beat the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final. We had nine days off and we were sitting there in Florida and we didn't even have an opponent, and it was hard to imagine it all. But once we had an opponent, it became a little more real and then when you get to this city, you start to feel it and you start to get that sense of energy. Now, everyone is really excited to get this thing going.

It is the Stanley Cup Final, something we all watched growing up. Some of us waited our whole life to get here and play in these kinds of games. That is the biggest thing to remember, the opportunity we have before us to do something special.

RELATED: [Complete 2023 Stanley Cup Final coverage]

In the end, it is hockey like we have played our whole life, the rink is the same size, there are the same number of players. Nothing has changed about the game. Both teams will be competing out there. Our group, we just like to compete. That is kind of our thing, we just want to compete and we can't wait to start to do that.

A day like today is cool to remember where we are and how big a stage this is. It is cool to see all of the media here and to be in this kind of spotlight, but we are a bit used to it after playing the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs in the first two rounds, and there was a lot of interest in those two series. So, this is the same kind of thing, only bigger.

You know, you see all the pictures here of other players with the Stanley Cup and the history they made, and it is cool to be around. It is an awesome experience and an awesome opportunity for us. It is something a lot of guys are going through for the first time and has been amazing to be on this journey with them.

I can't wait to get the process started tomorrow in Game 1 against Vegas.