Considering their banner-raising celebration for the 2012 Stanley Cup victory ended only a few hours ago, the Los Angeles Kings went with a more subdued party as they honored the 2014 championship team on Wednesday night.
Before dropping the puck against the San Jose Sharks, the Kings' ceremony featured a couple of highlight videos, speeches from Luc Robitaille and Bob Miller, and the introduction of the 2014-15 opening night roster. The star of the show, however, had a different entrance than the players.
Once the Kings were all introduced, the Cup made its way to center ice in a unique way: lowered from the rafters in a glass case:

Somewhere inside Staples Center Cup keeper Phil Pritchard closed his eyes and hoped for the best.
We were actually expecting a surprise appearance by Willie Mitchell rappelling down to present the Cup to his now-former teammates. Oh well.

Once the Cup made it down safely, up went another Cup banner:

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy