Pass or Fail: Los Angeles Kings official 2012 Stanley Cup champions hats

Mere seconds after the Los Angeles Kings were crowned champions on Monday night, waves of Stanley Cup winner swag hit online retailers and stores around LA.

That included the one piece of gear that's our annual obsession here at Puck Daddy: The official Stanley Cup champions hats.

This season's New Era hats ($32) aren't black, which is a understandable from a graphic standpoint but disappointing from a Los Angeles Kings standpoint. One imagines this was going to be a one-template-fits-all design for the New Jersey Devils or Los Angeles Kings, meaning that it would have been the second drab gray hat for a Devils' Cup champion. But thanks to Steve Bernier, that's immaterial now.

For a point of comparison, here are the last two Stanley Cup champs hats from the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks:

At a minimum, the Kings' Cup hats are an improvement over the Bruins lids, which look like rejected designs from a corporate picnic.

Despite not being the slick black hats we pictured in our minds' eye, the 2012 lids are solid. The white threading, the "CHAMPIONS" font, the balance of the whole thing … it's something every Los Angeles fan can wear with pride until the Lakers' next champions hat.

But what say you?

Pass or Fail: The Los Angeles Kings' 2012 Stanley Cup champions official hat.

Bonus question: Do you have a favorite Cup champs hat?