It’s hard not to see Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin drinking beer from the Stanley Cup while suspended upside down, which he did in June, and come away with one thought: Yeah, that’s going to lead to a hangover.
Hockeywise, though, that’s not necessarily the case. While reaching the Stanley Cup Final requires NHL teams to play an extra month of games and fall behind in the offseason, that hasn’t carried over to slow starts the following seasons.
Maybe three months is still enough time for teams to rest up between the Final and training camp even if you throw in a few keg (or Cup) stands.