In the case of the 2010 Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, the hangover was driven by team management decisions to get rid of some vital players as a result of salary-cap issues.
Valuable players like Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel and Ben Eager were traded weeks after the Hawks beat the Philadelphia Flyers in six games to win their first Stanley Cup since 1961. Stan Bowman had to make additional moves to get Chicago in line with the salary cap and the team barely made the playoffs in 2010-11.
The Boston Bruins ended 39 years of frustration when they defeated the Vancouver Canucks in seven games to win the 2011 Stanley Cup.
After a long summer of celebrating the victory, the Bruins got off to a pedestrian start in 2011-12. While they would turn things around and get hot in November and December, the poor October was laid at the feet of the dreaded Stanley Cup hangover.
The Bruins had a solid 2011-12, but something was missing when the postseason started and they were eliminated by the Washington Capitals in the first round of the playoffs.
The Los Angeles Kings should not face a similar dilemma when (if) the season finally gets underway.
They rose from the No. 8 seed in the West to win their first Stanley Cup.
A hangover situation could have been likely if this was an ordinary offseason, where training camp started in September and the season in October.
But this is clearly not an ordinary offseason.
The season will likely be quite compressed when it gets underway.
The Kings will be under the demanding watch of head coach Darryl Sutter, and he's not one to run a lax ship under any circumstances.
Once the season gets underway, he will no longer be impressed with his team's achievement.
