LA Kings Championship 2014 Banner, Ring Ceremony Twitter Reaction and Highlights

The Los Angeles Kings celebrated like, well, kings on Wednesday night ahead of their regular-season opener against the San Jose Sharks.

As is the custom for every championship-winning team, the Kings raised their Stanley Cup banner into the rafters of the Staples Center, and the fans had one last opportunity to honor last year's success before the 2014-15 campaign began.

For San Jose, the celebration served as a reminder of last year's first-round loss to the Kings in seven games. Jim Crandell of Fox 40 in Sacramento, California, felt for the Sharks players who had to relive last year's postseason collapse:

The ceremony nearly took a turn toward the disastrous after left wing Kyle Clifford tripped on the carpet leading to the rink. Dan Rosen of NHL.com tweeted out that only Clifford's ego was bruised:

The Kings adopted the "act like you've been there before" approach for their celebration. Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times reported earlier in the day that the team didn't want a lot of pomp and circumstance.

"We want to get this over with. Get the game going and start it up," said defenseman Matt Greene. "I think guys are ready to get the season underway. We’ve had enough meetings and enough days of camp. We just want to start playing."

According to Elliott, the ceremony was scheduled to be 24 minutes, only one minute shorter than their 2012 celebration. However, the players would spend less time on the ice and more time in the locker room preparing for the game.

ESPN's Keith Olbermann felt that despite whatever was said beforehand, the team took its time with Wednesday's bash:

The players' business-like attitude was evident in the warm-ups. Some played a little keepie-uppie in the hallway:

Many remained stoic during the celebration. Captain Dustin Brown made as little spectacle as possible lifting the Stanley Cup one more time, per Craig Custance of ESPN The Magazine:

Kings legends Marcel Dionne and Rogie Vachon, both of whom have their numbers retired, assisted in the banner raising, per the team:

You can see the championship banner ascending to the rafters below, courtesy of the NHL's Instagram page.

Kings players received their championship rings in a team ceremony on Monday. Los Angeles posted a photo of the ring on Instagram.

That picture is nearly a life-sized representation of the ring, as you can see center Jeff Carter displaying the monstrous bling on his right hand.

Kings play-by-play announcer Bob Miller wore the ring during the pregame ceremony, per Cork Gaines of BusinessInsider.com:

"

That #Kings championship ring is not subtle. pic.twitter.com/addGmOx7cA

— Cork Gaines (@CorkGaines) October 9, 2014"

You can understand why the Kings would want to focus on the season ahead rather than spend any more time reliving past glories. The Detroit Red Wings in 1998 are the last team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.

As Rosen also pointed out, Los Angeles didn't have the best of starts immediately after celebrating its 2012 win:

As the defending champions, the Kings will carry massive expectations for 2014-15. Bleacher Report's Jonathan Willis listed them atop his preseason power rankings.

If Wednesday's celebration is any indication, the rest of the league can't count on the Kings resting on their laurels. They only have eyes for a third Stanley Cup title in four years.