The Life of Being a Boston Bruins Fan

When the Boston Bruins took home Lord Stanley’s Cup on my birthday in 2011, it seemed as if it was the start of another string of dominance by a Boston sports franchise. The Patriots had won three Super Bowls in the early 2000s and were – and still are – always a championship or bust team; the Red Sox celebrated World Series victories in 2004 and 2007, and then again in 2013 and 2018 as we would later find out; and the Celtics had just come off a championship win of their own in 2008 and another Finals appearance in 2010. So naturally, it was the Bruins’ turn to run the table, right?

Up until Game 4 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final, it sure seemed as if that was the case! After a triple-overtime loss in Game 1 that the B’s undoubtedly should’ve won, they came back strongly with wins in Games 2 and 3 before faltering in their next three contests.

Ever since then, the same vicious cycle has repeated itself time and time again. The team gets the fan base’s hopes up with an above-average regular season performance that secures home-ice advantage for the opening round of the playoffs, they win a series or two – or three – and then fail to get it done in the game that matters the most. After that, the club regroups, picks up some decent free agents in the offseason and then before you know it the regular season rolls around with the same expectations just like the year prior.

Rinse. Repeat.

2019.

Rinse. Repeat.

One of these years it has to be different. (At least that’s what I’m going to tell myself until they finally win again.) The dwindling core group can’t go into retirement with just one cup to their respective names. It just can’t happen. I won’t allow it. I simply cannot be in a world where Patrick Maroon has three times the number of Stanley Cups as Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Tuukka Rask.

All I know is that we’re at the point in the infamous cycle where the preseason is just three short weeks away and the expectations are beginning to build. Will it be followed by an above-average regular season, home-ice advantage in the first round and maybe even FOUR playoff series wins? Probably not – but I can’t wait to find out.