No matter how much teams in the NHL do not want to admit it, there is a hangover after a team wins the Stanley Cup. For the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks this fact is a reality. They both appear to have a hangover after finishing the season in June, but every player on the team will not talk about it. This philosophy is good practice by players as they should not talk about the effects of a hangover from last season. Hockey is just as mental as it is a physical sport. If the locker room believes there is a Stanley Cup hangover then the team will struggle. The players must block out the notion of a hangover and last season’s results and they need to focus on this year.
In the NHL after a grueling Stanley Cup Playoffs, where the possibility of playing seven games in each round can happen, teams are tired by the end of the playoffs. The finals end in mid June. The champion and runner-up only have three months to recover. That is one reason why it is so difficult to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions. The Detroit Red Wings were the last team to repeat as champions in 1997 and 1998. The Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins are the last two teams to make it to back to back Stanley Cup Finals. An interesting note on the 2009 Penguins, they were the first team since the 1984 Oilers to win the Stanley Cup the year after they lost in the final. It takes a strong mental team and players’ attitude to make it through an 82 game regular season plus playoffs.
**2011-2012 Boston Bruins Tickets **
If there is any consolation to the Bruins and Canucks, the Penguins and Red Wings following appearances in the finals also struggled. All four conference finalists from last season are a combined 6-22 to start the season. The Canucks are 2-3-1 and the Bruins are 2-4 through six games. Each team is going through a sluggish start. However, in this day and age in the NHL where every point matters, a slow start can put the best of teams behind the eight ball. Before the Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2009, the team was 10th in the Eastern Conference and they fired their coach in February. The Penguins went on a hot streak and won the Stanley Cup. The Chicago Blackhawks last year lost half their team due to salary cap problems and they were just able to back into the playoffs. The New Jersey Devils had a slow start last year and in 1996. On both occasions the team missed the playoffs.
2011-2012 Vancouver Canucks Tickets
Claude Julien was not happy with the Bruins’ mental state heading into the season and he warned his players to be focused on the job of this year. The Bruins and Canucks know they are the hunted. Both teams need to act as if last year did not happen and the players need to start fresh this season. The Canucks are still out to prove that last season their organization has what it takes to win the Stanley Cup. Vancouver knows that talent will not win anything. The Stanley Cup Champion must grind it out over four grueling rounds and the hard work will pay off. Vancouver knows that no matter how many individual trophies the team wins, it will not add up to winning the Stanley Cup. Both teams have the ability to break out of their slumps and right the ship. But until that happens another chapter will be written in the Stanley Cup Hangover book.