Stanley Cup Final blog: Zach Whitecloud

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud will be keeping his own blog throughout the 2023 Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers. He will check in regularly with behind-the-scenes access.

In his sixth entry, Whitecloud discusses the Golden Knights' open practice at City National Arena on Monday and how he mentally prepares for Game 5 on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, truTV, CBC, SN, TVAS), when Vegas can win the Stanley Cup.

The open practice, it's been like that for five or six years. When it's in the winter, it's tough. Your weekends are a little bit busier, but even on a Tuesday or Wednesday we still have 50 to 100 people out there. You grow to expect that out of our fan base. They're so tuned into practice and all that sort of stuff. Being out there, it's fun, and they are supporting us throughout the whole process. It's cool to see everyone come out and see the line in front of the building. Our fan base, there are a lot of words to describe them, how they support us and how they travel and you're just grateful for friends like that.

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I've gotten asked a lot if I'm looking ahead to tomorrow night, and the answer is no. It's so cliché, but it's so true, especially at this time of the year. You have to keep taking it day by day, so now we come into practice, we focus on what we didn't do so well last game, what we can fix, maybe what they are doing differently and try to adapt or try different things to get our work in. And then take the time today to recover and do whatever you've got to do and then come tomorrow, you can start focusing in.

As for tonight, I don't really watch sports on TV unless the Major League Baseball playoffs are on. I dial into that or golf. The thing I do is try to hang out with family, take the dogs for a walk and do whatever you have to do. Some guys are different, some guys like to watch TV for the afternoon and into the night, some guys like to do for dinner, it depends on what works for you.

My friends will talk hockey. You can't overlook stuff. You have to remember it's an exciting time for friends and family having people they know that are part of it, and that's the exciting time. You get to share with all your brothers in the locker room and the fan base and you get share with your friends and family, too.

As for tomorrow, you have to do what you to do to get ready. Some guys approach things differently, but it's the same thing, come in, get the work in, be focused on what we are doing at the rink, and do what you need to be prepared and to go and execute it.