Watch the Los Angeles Kings finally raise their 2011-12 Stanley Cup banner (VIDEO)

Last season on NHL Hockey...

The LA Kings, the eighth seed heading into the playoffs, caught fire. 20 games later, they were the surprise Stanley Cup champions.

They played the same six defencemen in every game. They never trailed in a series. Really, the only bit of adversity the Kings faced on their way to raising the Stanley Cup banner was the lockout, which put the whole ceremony off for four months. But the lockout is over, and the Kings finally got to send the banner to the Staples Center rafters Saturday. Here's what it looked like going up:

Affixing a GoPro camera to the top of the banner is a fabulous idea. As soon as the bird's eye view footage hits the web, we'll have it for you here.

The Kings also received their Stanley Cup rings, which are, as usual, opulent as all Hell and covered in jewels. Bernie Nicholls tweeted a photo of his:

Opulent.

I'll admit I felt a little weird about at least one element of the ceremony: the Kings passing the Stanley Cup around a second time. Was that weird to anyone else? I get that they get to touch it, since they've won it, but isn't the Cup lift reserved for the end of the season, not the beginning?

So help me if this curses them. I've picked them to repeat.

Follow Harrison Mooney on Twitter at @HarrisonMooney