After multiple decades of complete domination, Boston sports have regressed in some aspects. Despite this, the Bruins and the Celtics are off to terrific starts for this season and both look to be championship contenders. With disappointing seasons for the Patriots and Red Sox, Boston fans now rest their hopes and dreams on hockey and basketball.
The Bruins came into this season with expectations of falling back in the standings. Former captain and long-time star Patrice Bergeron retired this past off-season, along with many other pivotal players from last year’s team left in free agency. In the face of this criticism, the Bruins have relied on young talent and veteran leadership to obtain an impressive fourteen wins and four losses as of November 29th. The team is led by star forward David Pasternak and young talent Matthew Poitras. Despite a disappointing loss on November 20th, the team should be in the middle of the race for the Stanley Cup.
On the other hand, the expectation for the Celtics was similar to the past few years. With trades for Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingus in the off-season, the Celtics have among the highest odds for a championship title. With these expectations, the team has not disappointed, holding a similar record of fourteen wins and seven losses as of November 29th. Despite the losses, the team has yet to be blown out in a game and has overall looked very competitive. On November 20th, the team suffered perhaps their most frustrating loss to the Charlotte Hornets, a perennial bottom-feeder of the league. Ben Adams ’25 said, “I truly believe that this is the Celtics year, and we will see them raise their 18th banner. They have perhaps the most complete team they have had in years and I believe in Joe Mazulla as our head coach. In a year with almost no prep time he led us to the Eastern Conference Finals and almost won.”
With a long season ahead of both teams, nothing is certain, but it seems that Boston sports will be in good hands for the next several months. Hopefully, come June, Boston will raise two new banners at TD Garden.
