Golden Knights, Hurricanes seek focus amid Stanley Cup Final spotlight

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Seth Jarvis stepped through a black curtain and onto a podium amid the lights, cameras and action.

Monday was Stanley Cup Final Media Day, and the Arena Club on the second level of Lenovo Center was packed with reporters waiting to interview the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights ahead of Game 1 on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC).

On the walls hung huge images of captains hoisting the Stanley Cup, including Rod Brind’Amour with the Hurricanes in 2006 and Mark Stone with the Golden Knights in 2023. The Cup itself sat on display.

“This is wild,” said Jarvis, a 24-year-old Carolina forward in the Cup Final for the first time. “Yeah, a lot of people. But no, it’s fun. It’s a cool part of it. This is something fun to experience.”

It’s important to handle the hoopla well, along with the ticket requests and the family travel and everything else that comes with the Cup Final. One team has been here, done this, in recent history. The other hasn’t.

This is the third time the Golden Knights have played in the Cup Final since joining the NHL as an expansion team in 2017-18. The first time, they lost to the Washington Capitals in five games in 2018. The second time, they defeated the Florida Panthers in five games three years ago.

This is the first time the Hurricanes have played in the Cup Final in two decades.

The Vegas roster boasts a combined 134 games of Cup Final experience and 18 Cup rings. The Carolina roster has a combined 34 games of Cup Final experience and two Cup rings.

“A day like today, you don’t really understand it until you do it, and it can be a little overwhelming, so I think it’s an advantage being here a few times,” said Brayden McNabb, a 35-year-old Vegas defenseman in his third Cup Final. “You understand what’s going to happen. You know there’s ticket requests, and you know you have to keep your bubble small this time of year.”

Experience isn’t everything. Center Jack Eichel didn’t make the Stanley Cup Playoffs in his first seven seasons in the NHL -- six with the Buffalo Sabres, one with the Golden Knights. Then, in his first playoff appearance, he led the postseason with 26 points (six goals, 20 assists) in 22 games and won the Cup with Vegas in 2023.

What matters most is this:

“I think it’s important to be a bit selfish with your time and your energy and where you put your focus,” Eichel said. “Obviously, a lot of people are excited, and this is an incredible event. It’s an incredible event for the League. It’s an incredible event for both teams. You have so many people that have been in your corner and helped you get to where you are, and they want to share that experience with you, right? And that’s great. But at the same time, we have a job to do.”

You must take advantage of the opportunity, because you never know if you’ll have chance again. Carolina captain Jordan Staal is in the Cup Final for the first time since 2009, when he won the Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“It’s a lot, obviously,” Staal said. “It’s a different animal getting here and all you guys and all your questions, and then on top of that there’s extra distractions with, like, people that you want there to be a part of it. But it can be overwhelming at times, so it’s a just a matter of saying no if you can, if you need to, and really just focusing in on what you need to focus on, and that’s Game 1 when that puck drops and know that it’s a full-on sprint and you’ve got to be ready from the start.”

Brind’Amour played in the Cup Final three times as a player. The first two times, he lost to the Detroit Red Wings -- with the Philadelphia Flyers in four games in 1997, with the Hurricanes in five games in 2002. The third time, the Hurricanes defeated the Edmonton Oilers in seven games in 2006.

Now he’s in the Cup Final for the first time in eight seasons as Carolina coach.

“All of a sudden, everybody that you ever thought you knew is coming out of the woodwork, and everybody’s your friend now and trying to get to the game, and there’s a million things,” he said. “It’s all different, so you’ve got to handle that, so that’s a big thing, the distractions. But at the end of the day, both teams are going to play their game. That doesn’t change.”

In the end, the lights will dim, the cameras will leave and the action will end. The names engraved on the Cup will remain.

“I’m old now, and I can tell the guys, ‘Look, trust me. I remember a lot of the years, but I really remember the year we won,’” said Brind’Amour, 55. “I went to the (Cup Final) a couple of times, but I don’t really remember much about it. You’ve got to stamp it home, and then it stays with you for life.”