For the Black n’ Gold, the simplest precedent comes in black and white. A year ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins effectively sleepwalked through the first four and half months of the NHL season. Today, they are the reigning Stanley Cup champions.

Get the picture?

"You can write the story of a season a lot of different ways," Pittsburgh wonderboy Sidney Crosby said yesterday morning at the TD Garden before the Bruins shut out the Penguins, 3-0. "It’s not October and November or March and April. It’s a season. It’s a long road and you’re going to face tough times sometimes. Maybe you’re better off facing them early."

No analogy is perfect, of course, and the obvious truth is that there are significant differences between these Bruins and those Penguins, who were a mediocre 27-25-5 on Feb. 15 of last season. For starters, those Pens had Crosby. They had Evgeni Malkin, Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz, and the last two proved critical after being acquired just before the trading deadline. Then there was the cataclysm that was the firing of head coach Michel Therrien, the man who had taken the Pens to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007-08.

Following Therrien’s dismissal, the Penguins went a sterling 18-3-4 in their final 25 regular season games, going from an also-ran to fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Pittsburgh then needed 24 more games to hoist the Cup – six, seven, four, seven – completing a dramatic story that unfolded over the span of nearly nine months.

Crosby himself left no doubt when asked to identify the pivotal moment of that Penguins season.

"The coaching change," said The Kid, referring to the upheaval that led to the hiring of Dan Bylsma. "That was kind of our last-ditch effort. We knew we didn’t have a lot of time."

So here we are now, amid the most hyped Boston hockey season in years, and one cannot help but wonder if New England should find great solace in the words of a 22-year-old sage. You can write the story of a season a lot of different ways. Last night’s win over the Penguins gave the Bruins back-to-back victories for the first time this season, an astonishingly modest achievement for a club that finished first in the Eastern Conference a year ago. At various points this year, the Bruins have suffered from injury and ineptitude. At the worst moments, they have suffered from both.

Let’s make this clear: barring an entirely shocking development, head coach Claude Julien isn’t going anywhere. For one thing, Julien is the reigning Jack Adams Award winner as Coach of the Year. For another, the Bruins rewarded him with a contract extension before the season began. If these Bruins are indeed destined to win the Stanley Cup this season, they will have to write the story of their season in a different way than those Pens.

Still, the Bruins would be fools for failing to recognize that the reigning Stanley Cup champions plodded through the first half (and then some) of last season as if bored, complacent or both.

"We have talked about that, about how Pittsburgh did just that," Bruins vice president Cam Neely said yesterday afternoon during his weekly appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub. "They didn’t start the season very well … and they won the Cup."

Does that ensure that these Bruins can do the same? Of course not. What it does mean, however, is the early stages of this Bruins season should in no way be seen as a barometer of things to come. Before last night, the Bruins played a recent stretch of games without Marc Savard, David Krejci and Milan Lucic. Factor in the absence of Phil Kessel, who was traded to Toronto, and the result was that entire first line from last season was entirely erased from the mix. The Bruins went nearly three full games without scoring a goal, and they went a preposterous 0 for 20 on the misnamed power play.

Whether those problems will persist in the spring is certainly open to debate, but in the interim, know this: Lucic is aiming to be back in slightly more than a week. Savard may not be much further behind. Meanwhile, the Bruins have allowed seven goals in their last seven regulation games, and general manager Peter Chiarelli has made it clear that he intends to use a cache of bargaining chips to fortify the roster through trade before the deadline. As a result of the Kessel trade, Chiarelli has piled up more draft picks than Bill Belichick, meaning that a Guerin or a Kunitz (or both) appear to be in the Bruins’ future.

Certainly, the Bruins would have preferred an easier, smoother path to their first Cup since the Nixon administration. But then, the Penguins probably felt the same way last season.

"We’ve got to make sure we don’t make it like that every year," Crosby mused.

But ultimately, we’re willing to bet that all he really cares about is a happy ending.

When it was over, when the most anticipated Bruins season in recent memory officially had begun, Claude Julien must have been smiling on the inside. The coach of the Bruins must have concluded his press conference, as he did at the TD Garden last night, knowing that he already possessed all the ammunition he would need over his hockey team.

"I’d be very disappointed if I had to go in there and explain to them what happened,’’ Julien had said – rather succinctly, in fact – only a short time earlier. Added the coach, "I don’t think that’s the kind of game you want to play in your home building in front of your home fans."

And what kind of game was that? A stinker, really – the kind of game that made you think back to the Dave Lewis era, when the Bruins always seemed to have too many men on the ice and when three-goal defeats were the rule rather than the exception. The Bruins of last season lost just six home games in regulation, just one of those by as many as three goals. That was a 5-2 defeat to the San Jose Sharks and Joe Thornton (ugh) on Feb. 10 during which the Bruins gave up four goals in the third period.

And so now, one game into the Bruins season of great hype and expectation, Julien already has had the opportunity to walk into his team’s locker room after the game and deliver the a most clear and direct message: You’re good, but you’re not that good.

At least not yet.

This year as much as any other in recent memory, we all know the stakes in what colleague Kevin Paul Dupont long ago dubbed the Hub of Hockey. It’s pretty much Cup or bust. Everyone from Julien to general manager Peter Chiarelli to owner Jeremy Jacobs has acknowledged that the Bruins have lofty expectations this season, which is something most developing teams do not do. And yet the Bruins have admitted that the entire success of their season will be determined in the spring, that time of year last season when they when were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs last year by the Carolina Hurricanes.

Here’s the obvious problem: between now and then, the Bruins still have 81 more games to play. Maybe getting positively spanked in the opener is a healthy reminder more than it is a bad omen. The Bruins of 2008-09 were talented and disciplined, hard-working and unrelenting. As disappointing as it was for their season to end against Carolina, they probably weren’t going to beat Pittsburgh or Detroit (or both) to win their first Cup since the Nixon administration.

Between then and now, despite the departure of Phil Kessel, expectations grew. In retrospect, the hype really was starting to get a little ridiculous. Goalie Tim Thomas said as much following an Opening night defeat that clearly stuck in his craw, which is hardly surprising given the kind of career Thomas has built, where he has come from, what he has learned.

Almost nothing comes easily, let alone success.

"You know what? It’s out of the way and we can stop talking about opening night now," Thomas said with a touch of irritability. He added, "We have to be prepared. You have to play hard. That’s how we had out success last year and that’s how we have to have our success this year. Any thoughts that it was going to be easy have been proven wrong."

With regard to last night’s game, in particular, the Bruins looked interested for about 10 minutes. After that, the B’s got schwacked by a Washington team that has every bit the championship hopes the Bruins do. After being credited with 10 shots on goal in the first 12:57 of play, the Bruins managed just 10 more in the next 47:03. In five power play opportunities encompassing 8 minutes, 25 seconds, the Bruins managed one shot on goal. One. The one Bruins goal was a gift, Patrice Bergeron sneaking off on a breakaway from center ice after Washington defenseman John Erskine whiffed on a bouncing puck.

By that point, thanks largely to the efforts of windup toy Alex Ovechkin and the far more committed Capitals, the Bruins were down 4-0. Possessors of a 2-0 lead after two periods, the Caps decked the B’s with a pair of goals in the first two minutes of the third period. One of those was scored by Ovechkin, who had a pair of goals on the night and played with more speed, ferocity and, well, energy than just about the entire Bruins roster.

The bottom line? If the Bruins were starting to believe all the wonderful things people were saying about them, they certainly shouldn’t believe them now. Managing the expectations of this season were the chief concern of Chiarelli and Julien entering this season, and last night the Bruins got pushed off the ice as if the Caps were toting squeegees. If the Bruins are going to meet those expectations, they certainly must look far more interested than they did in Game 1.

In the end, what more ammunition does a coach need than that?

When it was over, when Tim Thomas abruptly and dejectedly skated from the net toward the Bruins bench, there was silence. The loudest Bruins season in recent memory was whittled to something less than a whisper. It was so quiet you could hear a Cup drop.

The old refrain, the one that has stuck in our heads like the Nutcracker Suite and includes those familiar words same old Bruins? Doesn't apply to this team.

"Overall, I think we’re improving,’’ Bruins defenseman and captain Zdeno Chara said last night following a gut-wrenching 3-2 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. "It’s just a sad way to end it right now. Obviously, we had much different goals, higher goals, better expectations. It’s a tough one.’’

So the Bruins officially are out again, and for the 37th consecutive spring there will be no Stanley Cup celebration in Boston. Truth be told, we’ve endured droughts much longer than this one. Top seed or no top seed, the Bruins were outplayed in the second round by a Carolina team that has been among the league’s best since the beginning of March, a club that had the Bruins consistently and frantically skating around their own end as if preparing for a hurricane.

That’s the thing about the playoffs, be it in hockey, football, basketball, or baseball. The games are different. The slightest weaknesses are exposed and exploited. Seeding is one thing, reality is quite another. And no matter how much people would like to believe that the Bruins are on par with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings at this stage, the truth is that they are not.

Yet.

Said coach Claude Julien in the aftermath of last night’s loss: "This is what we need to learn that it’s going to take a lot more than what we accomplished this year.’’

The hurt? That goes away after a while. It almost always does. A year ago at this time, the Bruins were a team fortunate to secure the last seed in the playoffs, a collection of youngsters that improbably forced a seventh game against the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs. Game 6 still lives on. The Bruins still showed up for training camp as our Fourth Franchise and amid relatively modest outside expectations, then began carving their way through the regular season so methodically that we began to ask one of the most important questions in sports.

Are they for real?

Well, now we know. The Bruins are for real all right, and they should be real for some time. In many ways, next season will be the one that truly marks their growth, though we may not be able to assess that until next spring. The Bruins suddenly appear young and talented, well coached and well managed. They have good goaltending. They have size and skill. They have decisions to make, to be sure, but that should serve as further indication of just how far they have come. Bad teams don’t have difficult decisions to make because they don’t have enough good players to worry about. The Bruins do.

"Hopefully we’ll keep going in the right direction,’’ Julien said, "and not take any steps backwards.’’

As for this year, have no doubt that this was an enormous step forward. Bruins diehards have been waiting far too long already for another Stanley Cup, and Julien himself knows that championships require a combination of luck, talent, health and karma. In 2008-09, the Bruins seemed to have most of those. Yet to lump these Bruins in with those of 2003-04 would be terribly unjust and unfair.

Last night, scattered in front of their lockers following the defeat, the Bruins seemed utterly devastated, wholly unfulfilled. This can be a very good thing. One by one, from Chara and Marc Savard to Tim Thomas and Milan Lucic, the Bruins said the hurt prevented them from focusing on the positives of their season, from recognizing what they did to revive hockey here, from celebrating the renaissance that brought them one step closer to the Celtics, Red Sox, and Patriots.

Next year, the hurt should be what drives them.

"It’s not a great feeling at all. That’s pretty much it,’’ Lucic said when asked about the immediate impact of Carolina forward Scott Walker’s decisive goal. "It sucks the life out of you.’’

Indeed it does.

But then, for more than seven months, the Bruins breathed so much life back into Boston, too.

Another year, another season, another seventh game. And as yet another representative of our fair home rests on the cusp of both glory and heartbreak, we are reminded that there is no sports city in America that more regularly tests its limits.

Where else does one of the best managers in baseball walk off the field, as Red Sox skipper Terry Francona did following his team's win on Tuesday night, and immediately inquire about the fortunes of his basketball counterpart?

"When I walked into the clubhouse," Francona said yesterday by phone when asked whether he paid attention to the outcome of the Celtics-Magic Game 5, which involved his friend, Doc Rivers, "that's the first question I asked: 'Who won the game?'"

The answer was, as it frequently has been during this millennium: Boston.

Winning, however, has not been everything, and it has not been the only thing either. Tonight's seventh game between the Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes will mark the 30th time this decade that a Boston team will play a decisive postseason game in which both sides quite literally have a season at stake. And while a large chunk of those contests have been Patriots playoff games (13) or Super Bowls (four), the Celtics (five), Red Sox (five), and Bruins (No. 3 tonight) also have reached a Game 7 (or, in some cases, a Game 5) for the right to advance ... or not.

In the last year, especially, we all have been reminded that there is dignity in defeat, too. Last spring, despite losing to the Montreal Canadiens in the seventh game of their first-round playoff series, the Bruins overcame a 3-1 series deficit and may have resurrected hockey in Boston; their victory in Game 6 continues to stand out as a potential franchise-altering moment. The Red Sox, despite injuries to Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell and David Ortiz, pushed the Tampa Bay Rays to a seventh game in the American League Championship Series; their Game 5 comeback at Fenway Park last fall goes down as one of the great postseason rallies in baseball history. And the Patriots, even in the wake of a season-ending injury to reigning MVP Tom Brady in the first quarter of their very first game, resiliently strode to an 11-5 finish; their absence from the postseason was as much a statistical oddity as anything else.

And now the Celtics, forging on without Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe, are one win from a repeat trip to the Eastern Conference finals following Tuesday's blood-rushing Game 5 at the TD Banknorth Garden. Their latest comeback ensures that there will be at least one more basketball game played at the Garden this season, potentially another Game 7 on Sunday, depending on what happens in Game 6 tonight in Orlando.

Along the way, Boston has not merely fortified its image as Sportstown USA. What the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins have done is to give Boston teams a reputation as a required checkpoint on the way to any world title, the kind of opponent that necessitates an exceptional, exhaustive effort in order to be defeated.

The odds are against you if you are a visiting team here, but you still might be able to win. Regardless, you're not going to do it without going the distance.

"We're not afraid to play in this building in Game 7," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy assured following his team's Game 5 collapse on Tuesday.

But then, what choice did he have?

It's either that or the Magic lose in six.

The Bruins tonight are in unusual territory. Following a renaissance regular season, Boston entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins then wiped out the Montreal Canadiens and jumped to a 1-0 series lead against these Hurricanes, then lost three in a row. To their credit, coach Claude Julien's Bruins have regrouped to outscore the Hurricanes by an 8-2 margin in the last two games, forcing tonight's all-in affair on the ice beneath the Garden parquet. Because the Bruins are the favorites and because they have rallied to force a seventh game -- at home, no less -- the instinct is to say that a loss would be disappointing.

Yet, given the unpredictable nature of any one-game playoff -- this seems especially true in hockey -- the simple truth is that Game 7, in many ways, is not the real challenge. The hard part is getting there. The Bruins started training camp roughly eight months ago as a team that was, if nothing else, interesting, and have since blossomed into full-blown Stanley Cup contenders. Boston's fourth franchise has forced its way back onto the map and into our consciousness, and now the rest of the country knows that Boston is a hard-hitting hockey town again, too.

If the Bruins win? The Eastern Conference finals will begin here next week against the defending conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins in a series that could produce yet another Game 7.

Unless, of course, the Celtics deliver one first.

One year later, the Bruins and Montreal Canadiens have completely exchanged identities. Maybe Phil Kessel similarly has been transformed. This spring, maybe Kessel intends to force his way onto the ice rather facilitating his way off.

The new and improved Bruins made their return to playoff hockey at the TD Banknorth Garden last night, and Kessel was the most dynamic, electrifying player on the ice. Playing with the initial burst of a windup toy, Kessel finished with two goals and an assist as the Bruins improved to 8-1-1 against Montreal in the teams’ last 10 meetings beginning with Game 5 of last year’s quarterfinal series.

For Kessel and the Bruins, it seems, last year's series might as well be another lifetime ago.

"It’s been a real pleasure playing with him all season," Bruins center Marc Savard said of Kessel, who will be a restricted free agent this summer. "He really brings that dynamic to our line with his speed and his shot. Hopefully, he sticks around and he plays for another six years here."

Six years? For Kessel, that might as well be another lifetime. He is still just 21. He still may be just scratching the surface. His Bruins career seemingly has consisted of one drama after the next -- testicular cancer, mononucleosis, trade talk -- and yet only 11 players in the NHL scored more goals this year. During his three seasons with the Bruins, Kessel has gone from 11 goals to 18 to 36, his plus-minus similarly going from minus-12 to minus-6 to plus-23 this season.

And yet, as much as anything, last spring stands out as a defining moment in Kessel’s topsy-turvy career. After Game 1 of the playoffs last spring, an affair in which Kessel managed two shots on goal and played lethargically on both ends of the ice, he was unceremoniously benched by coach Claude Julien, frozen out of the biggest games of the season. Kessel returned to the lineup to score a goal in Game 5 and two more in Game 6, and he really hasn’t stopped scoring since.

Beginning with Game 5 a year ago, Kessel has scored 41 goals in his last 74 games. His only real drought came from Jan. 6 through Feb. 21, a 14-game period that generally coincided with his return after a bout with mono. In the Bruins’ final 14 games of the regular season, Kessel scored 12 goals. Last night, he popped home two more.

In the modern NHL, how many players like Kessel really are there? How many others play for the Bruins? Maybe this is all too elementary, but can it be solely a coincidence that the Bruins of mid-March regained their early-season form when Kessel reclaimed his scoring touch?

"Phil on the spot," Julien said after the game, referring to Kessel’s first goal last night, a play on which Kessel followed his shot and knocked home the rebound to give the Bruins a 1-0 advantage. "He was in the right place and he scores goals that way."

Julien meant those words as compliment, of course, but even then, the irony was impossible to ignore. Kessel has been on the spot for much of his Bruins career. In 2006, he was the fifth pick in the annual draft. As recently as this year’s trading deadline, the possibility of trading him seemed a very real option. Depending on whom (or what) you believe, the Bruins were thisclose to trading Kessel to the St. Louis Blues for youngster David Perron and veteran Keith Tkachuk.

In the end, Kessel remained in Boston, and he has become the Bruins’ best goal scorer in what could be construed as an impossible dream season. Two years ago, the Bruins were one of the worst teams in hockey. Last year, they squeaked into the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins appeared on the verge of being ousted from the playoffs in five games before putting together a pair of victories, the second in an unforgettable Game 6 performance that all but resuscitated and revived hockey in Sportstown USA.

With an empty-netter last night on a selfless feed from Milan Lucic, Kessel increased his playoff output to five goals in his last four postseason games. Savard was quick to note that Kessel played a big role in the Bruins’ third goal, too, magnetically drawing defenders during a power play that left Zdeno Chara open for the goal that broke a 2-2 tie and proved to be the game-winner.

After the game, standing before his locker, the most breathtaking skater on the Bruins spoke the way he always speaks: in short sentences devoid of passion, creativity, or life. That is simply who he is. The contrast in Kessel’s play and his persona are impossible to overlook, though it is a paradox the Bruins are happy to live with as long as this miraculous role reversal continues.

As long as the Kessel who makes news is the one on the ice.

Injuries, injuries, injuries. They’ve been piling up around here like recycled newspapers. From Dustin Pedroia’s abdominal strain to Julio Lugo’s knee to Glen Davis’s ankle to Tony Allen’s thumb, Boston's athletes have a list of ailments that looks like Evil Knievel’s medical history.

Let’s review the anatomical diagram, from head to toe, beginning with . . .

• Scalabrine’s head and neck, heretofore known as Scal-e-osis, not to be confused with scoliosis, a curvature of the spine. Injured in a 114-76 win at Denver on Feb. 23, Scalabrine has not played since and is not expected back until April. Diagnosis can be difficult because, quite frankly, Scalabrine was a little loopy to begin with.
• John Smoltz’s shoulder. A member of the Atlanta Braves for two decades, the classy righthander is trying to come back from shoulder surgery. He is out until late May or early June, largely as a precautionary measure so that he can be ready to pitch at the end of the year. In a best-case scenario of Smoltz shoulder, all symptoms generally are expected to subside by late summer, leading to a healthy autumn (assuming the Red Sox get there).
• Brad Penny’s shoulder, otherwise known as Acute A-Penny-itis, which can result (but not always) from a general muscle weakness relating to insufficient conditioning. Penny seems a good bet to open the season on the disabled list given that he has yet to pitch in a spring game. Somewhere, Larry Bowa is snickering.
• David Ortiz’s shoulder, wrist and mind, a combination of physical and psychological concerns that fall under the classification of general David-ia. Hampered by a torn tendon sheath in his wrist last season, Ortiz also developed a sore shoulder early this spring from, of all things, throwing. Yet, in the absence of Manny Ramirez, the greater concern is his mental health, particularly as he pined for lineup help during his inaugural spring training address. He is nonetheless expected to be ready for the season.
• Stephane Yelle’s undisclosed ailment, otherwise known as the Yelle Fever, somewhat similar to the Hellenic Flu in that the cause or severity of the injury is unknown. Yelle has seven goals, 11 assists and a plus-9 rating this season for the Bruins. He has been out since March 4.

Laurence Maroney’s body. Though Maroney was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury last season, a succession of ailments throughout his career leaves his entire body in doubt. This condition, known as Walking Maron-ia, results in an extreme shortage of confidence on the part of personnel directors and/or coaches. Hence, Fred Taylor is now a Patriot. Long-term prognosis: unclear.

• Dustin Pedroia’s abdomen. The starting second baseman for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, Pedroia unexpectedly rejoined the Red Sox over the weekend with a slight abdominal strain categorized as a minor ventral problem or MVP. (Ventral: "near, or on the belly.’’) Often confused with an oblique strain that sideline athletes for weeks, the MVP shouldn’t keep Pedroia out for more than a few days. You can exhale now.
• Tony Allen’s thumb. Otherwise known as Green thumb, the problem generally consists of ligament damage requiring surgery. In Allen’s case, his availability for the postseason is in question, leading to varying degrees of concern about his potential loss. Despite popular belief, Green thumb cannot be blamed for erratic jump-shooting tendencies beyond, say, 12 feet.
• Mike Lowell’s hip. After undergoing surgery last fall to repair a torn labrum, Lowell has returned to the field recently, though he still seems to moving somewhat gingerly. Given the central location of the hip, the player has been diagnosed with Inflammation of the Lowell connector, which frequently can result in stagnancy or "traffic’’ through the middle of the body. Long-term prognosis: Unknown.



• J.D. Drew’s back, a potentially chronic condition that can leave doctors and team officials mystified. Sometimes referred to as J.D.D. given Drew’s dorsal issues, the problem can crop up an anytime -- and usually does. Problems can persist for hours or months depending on the severity of the issue and time of season.
• Mark Kotsay’s back, a problem, in this case, expected to keep Kotsay off the active roster until approximately May 1. An issue that can arise without any warning and require an abrupt change in plan -- hence the popular term Skid Marks Disease -- Kotsay’s ailment inspired the Red Sox to sign Brad Wilkerson, who is expected to open the season as Kotsay’s replacement on the 25-man roster.
• Julio Lugo’s knee, believed to be a tear of the cartilage or "meniscus,’’ is generally as a relatively minor ailment that should sideline the player for roughly a month. Though Lugo could be out until the middle or end of April pending the results of an arthroscopic procedure tomorrow, Red Sox officials seemed relieved that there was no ligament -- or, in this case, Lugo-ment -- damage.
• Tom Brady’s knee. In this region, no other injury has received coverage so intense, and for good reason. Brady tore both the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) in last year’s season opener, though all indications are that he will be ready for 2009. The good news? He has a new stable of receives that includes Joey Galloway and Greg Lewis. Besides, it’s not as if he ever ran like a Gisele.
• Kevin Garnett’s knee. Though technically a knee injury, this ailment -- commonly known as Ticket-itis -- can dramatically damage the backbone of any team. Just ask the Celtics, now just 6-6 since Feb. 19, the night Garnett was injured against Utah. The struggling Celtics expect him back later this week, perhaps against San Antonio, but his absence may have cost the Celtics home court advantage in the postseason. (Translation: Can lead to road rash.)
• Marco Sturm’s knee. In the case of the Bruins, Sturm’s injury was a season-ender that stripped the B’s of one their better sets of legs. Playfully named Marco’s polio by one longtime doctor, Sturm’s ailment only re-opened emotional scars resulting from the trade that brought him to Boston, a connection of the physical and psychological that some experts refer to as Thornton’s Law.
• Rajon Rondo’s ankle. Though Rondo returned to the lineup Friday, he played poorly (five turnovers) against Milwaukee yesterday. Celtics officials clearly felt that Rondo had recovered sufficiently from a sprained ankle to return to the court over the weekend, but the effects of his injury -- sometimes referred to as Rondoids -- still seem present. Prognosis: Good.
• Glen Davis’s ankle. The big forward, who has helped fill in for Garnett, sprained his ankle in a loss against Orlando March 8. There has been some speculation that such ankle injuries can prompt a spontaneous outbreak of tears, though most believe that Davis’s emotional outbreak resulted more from ostracism. Said one fictional specialist: "Nobody puts Baby in a corner.’’
• Eddie House’s ankle and heel. Injured in yesterday’s loss to Milwaukee, House is optimistic he will return to the court quickly. Nonetheless, the Celtics seem to be suffering an alarming number of limb and extremity injuries after playing into the middle of June last year, leading some to foolishly speculate that the team is suffering from the well-known hand-and-foot-in-mouth disease that has plagued, among others, wide receiver Terrell Owens.

For the new Bruins, this is only the beginning. This is not the end. This is not the time to trade away young talent from a team with a future that rose suddenly from a dark and barren horizon.

Now faced with the prospect of a Cup for the first time in 37 years, the Bruins acquired defenseman Steve Montador and forward Mark Recchi today for the stretch run of this NHL season. So they didn’t get Chris Pronger. So they didn’t get the Recchi of maybe 10 years ago. But what they got was better in the short term without getting worse in the long, which is precisely what they needed to do at this point in their rapid and ongoing development.

The Cup? You don’t win it in just one year. With any type of championship, you rarely do. Two years ago at this time, the Bruins were one of the worst teams in professional sports, short on both talent and discipline. A year ago at this time, we thought they were just short on talent. We held that belief right up to and through Game 6 of the first round of the playoffs, when the eighth-seeded B’s improbably forced a seventh game against the top-seeded Canadiens before being cleaned from the ice as if run over by a Zamboni.

Somewhere in there, the B’s rediscovered what they had for so long lacked.

Hope.

So really, what were they supposed to do now? Trade Phil Kessel? No, no, no. A thousand times no. The Bruins may or may not win the Cup this year, but there is now reason to believe that they will be Cup contenders for the foreseeable future. Kessel is just 21. David Krejci is 22. Milan Lucic is 20. Tuukka Rask is 21 and more promising than ever before, and Matt Hunwick is 23. The Bruins have a general manager with a long-term plan and a coach worthy of respect, and they a blend of youth and experience that every teams covets.

At the moment, Chiarelli deserves a tremendous amount of credit for staying the course. Bruins fans now have become like Red Sox fans of six years ago, anxious and desperate and impossible. Title deprivation can do that to a fandom. Chiarelli gave up former first-round pick Matt Lashoff (22d overall) in acquiring Recchi, though he also got a 2010 second-round pick in return. He really did not give up any of his guys, which is to say that the nucleus of the Bruins remains intact.

Think about it: Lashoff was drafted in 2005 and Chiarelli took over in 2006. That summer, between the draft and free agency, the Bruins added, among others, Zdeno Chara, Marc Savard, Lucic, and Kessel to the Boston organization. The last two came via the draft. Earlier this season, while the Bruins were catching the rest of the league by storm, Chiarelli all but made it clear that he had no intention of mortgaging the future.

"There's nothing magic about this," he told the Globe in early December. "You've got to go out and beat the bushes for the players, make sure people are on the same page internally and on the ice and grind it out. It's hard to do that Celtics-type trade [that brought Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to Boston in 2007 and revitalized the basketball franchise]. You can't do that in hockey."

So now here we are, on March 4 of the 2008-09 NHL season, and a funny thing has happened on the way to Opening Day at Fenway Park: Hockey is part of the spring curriculum again. The Bruins have struggled of late in the dead zone of every professional season -- those days just before the trading deadline, when the season's end remains just far enough away -- and Julien himself said he is eager to see how the team responds tomorrow night against the wretched Phoenix Coyotes. Now, with Recchi and Montador added to the roster, the Bruins may have even more reason to play.

As for the Cup, do not raise your expectations to unreasonable levels. The Bruins need to glide some before they can skate. Once postseason participants for 29 consecutive seasons -- during the last 24 of those, the Bruins failed to win a Cup -- the B’s have won just one playoff series in the last 13 full seasons. They have not won any series in the last eight. Anyone in any sport will tell you that the regular season and the postseason are two very different things, and we need look no further than the Bruins of 2003-04 to remember that lesson.

Know what the Bruins did after that disappointing finish? They fell into a tailspin -- in part due to misreading the labor situation -- that required three years to right, taking us through the dark ages of Mike O’Connell and Dave Lewis and Hannu Toivonen. Now the B’s have endured the night and rediscovered the brightness, regardless of whether the light is reflecting off Lord Stanley’s sacred cup.

Do the B’s want to win now? You bet they do. Can they? They certainly can. But to sacrifice too much now would have been terribly, terribly foolish, no matter how much time has passed since a hockey player other than Ray Bourque has inspired a celebration in the city of Boston.

At this point, after all, Peter Chiarelli and the Bruins have come much too far in the last year to do anything foolish.

Tonight, with the Bruins and Celtics both on the road, the TD Banknorth Garden will be quiet. But as recently as two years ago, even when the local teams were home, they played in relative silence.

Not anymore.

"There's been a huge change, obviously,'' said Bruins center Marc Savard, whose first season in Boston was the dreadful 2006-07 campaign. "I know Boston likes a winner and they've been spoiled in that regard. Since that first year, it's been night and day with people coming out and being a lot louder.''

Spoiled? You bet we've been spoiled, with Boston teams producing an astonishing six titles in three major sports beginning in early 2002: Three Super Bowls, two World Series and one NBA title. In that span, the Patriots have played in five AFC Championship games and the Red Sox have played in four American League Championship Series, meaning this city was thisclose to 10 league championship games or series during the administration of George W. Bush.

In these parts, Barack Obama clearly has a great deal to live up to.

But the Garden? Until recently, it might as well have come equipped with a drive-thru window. Two years ago at this time, the B's and C's were both earning D's (at best), the Celtics mired in a franchise-record 18-game losing streak and the Bruins taking the ice without any apparent plan or discipline, routinely skating around in circles under the passive watch of vagabond coach Dave Lewis.

Visiting clubs could simply pull up to the Garden and order up their wins, then drive away without ever really setting foot on the ground.

But not now.

Through Monday's doubleheader split at the Garden, the Bruins (17-3-2) and Celtics (21-2) are a combined 38-5-2 at home this winter season. Of the combined 45 home games they have played, they have just five outright losses. Already, the Bruins and Celtics have eclipsed their entire 2006-07 win total by 26 percent -- that's 38 wins combined now to just 30 two seasons ago -- and their current schedules are barely half complete.

In many ways, the momentum is self-sustaining. The teams win, inspiring better attendance and a more invested audience, which only makes the TD Banknorth Garden a far more difficult place to play.

Note: Drive-thru service is no longer available at this location.

"I think that makes for a huge advantage for us,'' said Savard of the increase in attendance this year. "It gives you more life and you feel a lot more pumped up. If it's flat in here, you've got to make your own energy.''

In 2008-09, at least, the Bruins are the obvious variable. They are now enjoying the kind of awakening the champion Celtics celebrated last season. The irony is that the Bruins, in some ways, have done this in an entirely different fashion than the Celtics, benefiting from the simultaneous development of several young players, from Milan Lucic, Phil Kessel, and David Krejci to Matt Hunwick, Blake Wheeler, and Mark Stuart.

The exceptions are Savard and defenseman Zdeno Chara, who came to the Bruins as major free-agent acquisitions in the aftermath of the historic NHL work stoppage that cost the league the entire 2004-05 season, making all other lockouts and strikes look like a coffee break. But where Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen immediately made the Celtics a winner -- or, rather, a champion again -- Chara and Savard have had to endure a more deliberate growth process.

Different game, different rules.

"Obviously, I first envisioned [the success] right away. It was frustrating [for a time],'' Savard admitted. "For it happen right now, this is what I envisioned. When I talked to Peter [Chiarelli, the Bruins general manager, before signing], he told me this is what they wanted to do.''

In the interim, Danny Ainge turned the Celtics from a team with the second-worst record in the league to one that secured a 17th champion, a startling metamorphosis that effectively took place overnight. Two years ago, the Celtics went 12-29 at home, a particularly dreadful mark in a league where the playing floor is all but tilted. Nonetheless, before last season, the Celtics actually set an undefeated home schedule as one of their preseason goals, ultimately settling for home marks of 35-6 (regular season) and 48-7 (including postseason, during which they went 13-1).

Now the Bruins have reached a comparable level of home success, despite Monday's frustrating overtime shootout loss. The Bruins have the dubious distinction of the city's most championship-starved franchise -- after all, it has been since 1972 -- and one of the great remaining questions about them concerns their performance in the spring, when the games truly mean something and the intensity and importance of every shift grows.

The good news? For the Bruins, like the Celtics, the majority of games likely will be played here, in Boston, an advantage each teams has earned by staking its claim as one of the elite clubs in its league. Years ago -- for you young'uns, we called that era "the '80s" -- playoff hockey and basketball were New England rites of spring, taking precedent over the NFL draft and the start of a new baseball season.

And so this year, it seems, we will renew an old tradition in the building on Causeway Street.

Besides, winter doesn't really end here until at least May, anyway.

There were 34 saves in all, some of them ordinary, some of them spectacular. But on this night, Tim Thomas made every bit the statement with one rather revealing shot.

The Bruins are 43 games into this renaissance season, and we can now all agree that certain truths are self-evident. The Bruins can attack on one end of the ice and defend on the other, and they can fight for everything in between. And when push comes to shove, when their mettle is tested, the Bruins can just as easily line up behind the 5-foot-11 Thomas as they can the 6-foot-9 Zdeno Chara, the tandem that now serves as the last line of defense in the revitalized Garden on Causeway Street.

And so, in spite of a spirited 3-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens last night that further solidified the Bruins' firm hold on the Northeast Division, maybe the most telling moment came when an angry Thomas belted the menacing Andrei Kostitsyn with a forearm to the side of the head near the end of the second period.

He shoots ... and he scores.

"I heard the hit and I saw Wardo down," said Thomas, referring to the Kostitsyn check on Aaron Ward that resulted in a five-minute major penalty (for boarding) and knocked Ward from the game. "The first thing that went through my mind was [Patrice] Bergeron and Andrew Alberts last year. Having seen the replay now, it was nowhere near as bad of a hit. But I didn't know that at the time. You just react when you see man down. It's instinct."

But then, what is goaltending if not instinct and reflex?

The Bruins are young. In some ways, they are untested. And now the Bruins are wounded, saddled with a list of injuries to everyone from Bergeron and Phil Kessel to Milan Lucic, Marco Sturm and Andrew Ference. Now Ward may be lost for a short period of time, too, the result of the rapid sequence that began with him blocking a shot and ended with him getting blindsided by Kostitsyn.

Yet, the Bruins continue to win, now the possessors of 32-7-4 record that has produced an Eastern Conference-leading 68 points. They are 17-3-1 at the TD Banknorth Garden. The Bruins now have defeated the Canadiens in each of the teams' last three meetings this season and they are now doing what most everyone hoped they would.

They are persevering.

In that area, the Bruins could learn a great deal from their soon-to-be 35-year-old goalie, who stopped 17 shots in a relatively lopsided first period, 10 more in the second, seven more in a frantic third. Montreal's only goal came on a power play, Kostitsyn jamming home a rebound from just beyond the crease with a helpless Thomas sprawled on the ice in the middle period. Thomas was otherwise perfect, turning away everything the Canadiens could muster.

By now, Thomas's story is well known, if for no other reason than the fact that he has set a new standard for someone refusing to take no for an answer. Drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in the ninth round (217th overall) of the 1994 draft, Thomas spent much of his career in the minors. To get playing time, he was forced to go to Europe, where he played in both Sweden and Finland. As recently as two offseasons ago, the Bruins traded for Manny Fernandez with the idea that he could possibly supplant Thomas as the No. 1 goalie, which has resulted in the Bruins now possessing the best goaltending tandem in the entire NHL.

At the moment, Fernandez, too, is out with an injury, which places an additional burden on Thomas, though it remains to be seen for how long. In two starts since the arrival of new backup Tuukka Rask, Thomas has stopped 63 of 65 shots, a whopping save percentage of .969. The Bruins have outscored the opposition, 8-2. Overall, the Bruins are 9-1 in Thomas's last 10 starts, though that is consistent with the absurd pace at which they have played all season.

Last night, for all of the shots Thomas turned away in the first period, he was at his very best in the third, with the Bruins clinging to a 2-1 lead. Deep in the Bruins zone, the Canadiens were rapidly firing the puck from wing to wing as Thomas frantically shuttled across the goal mouth, desperate to preserve Boston's advantage. The puck ultimately settled on the stick of Kostitsyn -- yes, him again -- who whipped a shot from the right slot that appeared destined for the top corner of Thomas' glove side.
Sprawling forward, his glove hand up and outstretched, Thomas snared the puck. Again, albeit this time as the result of a far different blow, Kostitsyn slumped. Roughly a minute later, David Krejci jammed home a pass from Michael Ryder to give the Bruins what proved an insurmountable 3-1 lead, concluding a night on which Thomas was quite literally in the middle of it all.

"He played unbelievable," Bruins defenseman Mark Stuart said of Thomas. "Take out the huge saves he made for us and it's a different game."

Said Chara, focusing on Thomas's blow to Kostityn's head in the second period, "We support each other, we back up each other, we play for each other. We know what this team's all about."

Last night, nobody conveyed that more than the man between the pipes.

New year, new rules. Hockey lives in the Hub. The Patriots are out of the playoffs and the Red Sox appear to be remaining mostly intact. The Celtics are defending champions and possess the best record in the NBA, even with a recent case of the hiccups.

Let’s be honest: The journey with those clubs is no longer as important as the destination.

And so now, despite of an embarrassment of riches over the last several years, we here in Boston even have the best team in hockey. Can you believe this stuff? With last night’s 4-2 victory over the defending Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins, the Bruins -- yes, the Bruins! -- have the best record in the NHL. This week, the Bruins beat the Pens not once but twice -- once on their pond, once on our river -- further validating what is now inarguable, even to a casual observer:

The Bruins are for real. The Bruins are loaded. The Bruins are deep, talented and extremely well-coached, and they are a legitimate threat to win -- deep breath here -- Le Coupe.

The Cup.

Right?

I mean, aren’t they?

Admit it: If you are like most Bostonians, the Bruins have had their place for a long time. They are No. 4. (This is the only similarity to Robert Gordon Orr.) Yet the simple, indisputable truth today is that Bruins are indeed No. 1, in more ways than one, meaning it is time for some of us to learn, once and for all, the true difference between a hockey puck and a Ring Ding. (Wait, is it the cream filling?)

That said -- and after watching the Bruins conducting a passing drill that led to their first goal last night while simultaneously making the Penguins look like a collection of traffic cones -- I enrolled in Hockey 101 and went to the People Who Know to tap into their wisdom. Here is what they offered . . .

Wannabe Puckhead: Are these guys for real? What has been most impressive? Can they actually win, you know, The Cup?

Fluto Shinzawa, certified Hockey Krishna, Boston Globe (hereafter identified as Krisha I): Team is absolutely for real. Two-man goaltending has been the best in the league. During the last 10-game stretch, Zdeno Chara has played the best shutdown hockey of his career. Up front, the Bruins roll four lines that can play with anybody and score on anybody. The most impressive thing about this run? The depth at every position. Pick your poison with the goaltending. Flip a coin. Pick a name out of a hat. Doesn't matter whether you play Tim Thomas or Manny Fernandez. It's a good bet you're going to give up two goals or less with either guy. On D, they were without two of their top four defensemen (Aaron Ward and Andrew Ference) for a stretch. Didn't matter. Matt Hunwick steps in. Third-pairing defenseman Shane Hnidy takes on more responsibility. Up front, when Marco Sturm and Patrice Bergeron aren't producing, pups like Blake Wheeler and David Krejci emerge. And with Sturm and Bergeron out, the No. 2 line of Wheeler, Krejci, and Michael Ryder have taken command of the offense. This is a team built to win the Cup. No question.

Kevin Paul Dupont, certified Hockey Krishna, Boston Globe (hereafter identified as Krishna II): Right now, it looks to me like the Bruins fit in nicely with the Sharks and Red Wings as the three viable candidates.

Two main reasons:

1. Goaltending. Without it, you have nothing. Teams win, and they say that goaltending is half the equation. Then, when they don't have it, it looks like 99 percent of the equation. [Tim] Thomas and [Manny] Fernandez comprise the best tandem they've had here since [Andy] Moog and [Rejean] Lemelin, back when they went to the Cup final in '88 and '90.

2. Scoring depth. At times the previous two years, they couldn't find a single line to pop in the puck. Now, on a nightly basis, at least two lines produce chances . . . some nights all four lines.

They've had some decent 'tending (Byron Dafoe) in the years since the last trip to the final. But not this kind of scoring. It's the goaltending-scoring combination, along with overall adherence to Julien's ''team toughness'' (i.e. constantly on the puck, both ways) that has made the difference.

Wannabe Puckhead: Unbelievable. And I thought Manny Fernandez was done once he retired from the Miami Dolphins. So what’s the biggest area of concern?

Krishna I: Injuries, possible trades, and defense. Injuries are inevitable. They've been able to survive every one so far, but they can't afford Chara to go down. MVP of this team. The original plan was to build up Fernandez and trade him for some help, most likely on defense, but there's no way management should touch the goaltending. Look at Detroit last year. Dominik Hasek starts the playoffs, falters, and in steps Chris Osgood. The Wings are wearing rings now. D could use one more puck-mover, but that might be a luxury, especially when considering the risk of upsetting chemistry by trading away a current piece.

Krishna II: Well, health is the biggie. They finished with 104 points in 2003-04, and looked set up for a decent run, but Joe Thornton tore some rib cartilage down the stretch. End result: they lost Round 1 to the Canadiens (93 points in the regular season), able to score only 14 goals in 7 games. Thornton's line for the series: 0-0--0 (now known as the Full Thornton).

From a personnel standpoint, the main concern going into the season was puck-moving skill among the blueliners. Would [Dennis] Wideman grow into the role? Would they have to add another puck-lugger?

Wideman has been better than I expected. Hardly perfect. But more than adequate on most nights, with flashes of brilliance (again, flashes). The biggest surprise back there has been rookie Matt Hunwick, who came in due to injuries to Andrew Ference and Aaron Ward. Hunwick looks as if he can be a dynamic, shifty skater -- always a plus. And he uses that speed to help get pucks out of the defensive zone, and also to jump into plays once the puck has been advanced over the offensive blue line. Love that. Vastly overlooked thus far, but I think you will see him get some Rookie-of-the-Year love in the second half.

Wannabe Puckhead: Let me back up for a minute. Did one of you guys say something about the Bruins having multiple scoring lines or is my helmet on too tight?

Krishna I: Scoring absolutely legit. One concern might be Phil Kessel having trouble with tight checking down the stretch, as he's their most dangerous natural scorer. But they're getting it from everywhere.

Krishna II: No big-time snipah, but truly, there are few of those guys in the game anymore, because no one scores with big shots off the wing -- other than, say, Alexander Ovechkin, and a few of us in the press corps!

They are getting the goals from 2-3-4 lines, and that's the prescription for success today. It would not have been the same 30-40 years ago, but third- and fourth-line scoring is the preferred method of success today. For many reasons, including salary cap.

Wannabe Puckhead: OK, fine, but how do I know the entire team doesn’t pull the Full Thornton come springtime? Aren't the playoffs a different animal? Is this team built to win in the spring?

Krishna I: Games tighten up big-time in the playoffs. But consider the Dec. 23 2-0 win over New Jersey. A classic example of playoff hockey, and the Bruins executed that game perfectly. Was probably the best game of the year. When they get up by several goals, they don't play as well. But give them a tight-checking game and they sparkle: tough on D, chip into the offensive zone, chase down the puck, wear down the opponents with their straight-line game.

Krishna II: No postseason in any sport presents the g-r-i-n-d of the Stanley Cup playoffs. And that remains the question here: Do they have the mental and physical toughness for a 7-8 week torture test? No way of knowing that until they get into it . . . IF they get into it.

Key questions there would be the stamina of young kids such as Phil Kessel, David Krejci and again, Hunwick. For that matter, Marc Savard has played in a career seven postseason games (all with the Bruins last spring). He is not a big body. Other clubs will load up on him, which will put the pressure on Krejci and possibly Patrice Bergeron (if he returns this year). Let's not forget how the Oilers attacked Craig Janney with Esa Tikkanen.

Of course, we have no questions here about Zdeno Chara in the can-he-handle-the-workload? department. He'll play his 30 minutes a night and then report to an all-night health club for a ''real'' workout.

Wannabe Puckhead: Love that Charo guy -- cuchi, cuchi! -- but wanted to ask about someone else: the coach. Two years ago, the Bruins were one of the worst teams in the league under Dave Lewis. Now they’re one of the best under Monsieur Claude. How much of this is the players, how much the coach?

Krishna I: Claude Julien will get Coach of the Year consideration this year, which is a shame considering he did an even better job last season. This guy is superb. Motivates his players. Has his players executing his box-plus-one system flawlessly. Allows his lines time to develop chemistry. Has drawn up a lethal No. 1 power-play unit that gives opposing PKs multiple looks that they have trouble defending. Has freed his defensemen to jump up in the play and join the rush this season. You name it, this guy has done it right.

Krishna II: I give great credit to Julien. Simple system. Commands and demands respect, not just of his position, but doesn't cater to stars and makes the kids feel vital. That's a fine line.

Julien also knows when to give it a rest, in terms of days off and optional day-of-game skates. Too many coaches get so caught up in the details, they can't see when the job wears on guys . . . and again, there isn't a sport that is this physical that has so many games. And they wonder why so many guys get hurt. No wonder here . . . every facet of the job is dangerous, and almost every aspect of it can lead to injury.

Think about it: does anyone in football get hurt from the football? Meanwhile, hockey has countless guys incur broken bones each year (see: Andrew Ference) just from pucks. Never mind the crushing checks that are near fatal, and million-and-one wrenched knees.

All that aside, it takes talent to win it all, my seamheaded friend. Case in point: 1967. Great story, the Red Sox, a true love story. But in the end it was all about the overpowering talent of Bob Gibson and a much deeper, proven Cardinals lineup. And I have the Kodak Instamatic pictures of World Series Games 1 and 7 that year to prove it.

Wannabe Puckhead: Who you calling a seamhead? Heading out now to sharpen my skates and illegally curve my stick. If I feel up to it, I might even get between the pipes and try standing on my head.

Happy New Year, boys.

Four men walk into a pub on Canal Street -- The Fours, naturally -- waiting to be seated for lunch. The host approaches and immediately recognizes the patrons, for they are perhaps the most influential men of the moment in Boston sports:

Wyc Grousbeck, John Henry, Jeremy Jacobs, and Robert Kraft -- a.k.a., The Owners. What follows is the conversation that transpired between the four members of this exclusive and remarkably successful club . . .

Host: Gentlemen, you're back! It must be that time of year again, yes?

Kraft: (In a deliberate, nasal tone) In-deed ... it ... is ... Jon-a-than. It's ... time ... for ... our ... an-nual ... lunch. This ... is ... when ... we ... give ... thanks ... for ... be-ing ... in ... the ... best ... sports ... ci-ty ... in ... A-mer-i-ca.

(Others nod.)

Grousbeck: (Eagerly) Couldn't have said it better myself, Bob. (Pause.) Can I call you Bob?

Kraft: Of ... course. Just ... don't ... call ... me ... daddy.

(Others laugh.)

Host: Right this way, gentlemen. I've reserved your usual table. Please be seated and let us know how we can serve you. Your waiter will be along shortly.

Kraft: Well ... it's ... nice ... to ... see ... you ... all ... a-gain ... boys. This ... is ... u-su-al-ly ... when ... we ... take ... time ... to ... look ... back ... on ... the ... year ... that ... was. We ... are ... tru-ly ... blessed ... to ... be ... in ... such ... a ... pass-ion-ate ... place ... for ... sports.

As ... the ... sen-ior ... rank-ing ... Bos-to-ni-an ... in ... this ... group ... let ... me ... be-gin ... by ... say-ing ... that ... it ... has ... been ... a ... glor-i-ous ... year ... for ... the ... Kraft ... fam-i-ly.

(There is awkward pause. The others look puzzled. Henry leans forward, as if to speak, when the waiter arrives with water, menus and a bread basket for the table. As the waiter promises to return for a drink order and pokes fun at Kraft, Jacobs stealthily slips a sourdough roll into his pocket.)

Henry: (His is voice so hushed the others strain to hear.) Uh, Robert, what do you mean? Hasn't this been a tough year for you? I mean, it started with the playoffs and Super Bowl. Then Spygate. Then Tom Brady got hurt. You'll be lucky if you make the playoffs.

(The others nod hesitantly.)

Kraft: Don't ... be ... sil-ly ... John. There ... is ... plen-ty ... to ... be ... thank-ful ... for. We ... were ... vin-di-ca-ted ... in ... that ... fool-ish ... Spy-gate ... non-sense ... no ... thanks ... to ... that ... stooge ... Ar-len ... Spec-ter. Tom-my's ... knee ... will ... fine. The ... game ... was ... a ... big ... dis-ap-point-ment ... but we'll ... be ... back. (Pause) Be-sides ... we ... just ... op-ened ... a new ... mall!

(Henry nods. Grousbeck smiles nervously. Jacobs slips a piece of silverware into his other pocket.)

(The waiter returns.)

Waiter: Gentlemen, I'll be happy to take any questions you have on the menu. I'm also happy to take your drink orders.

Jacobs: Do you have Buffalo wings?

Waiter: Actually, sir, we have two kinds, the traditional bone-in wings and the boneless tenders. Both come in varying degrees of hotness, with blue cheese and carrot sticks. Shall I order some for the table?

Jacobs: Which are the cheapest?

Waiter: Sir?

Jacobs: Do the hotter ones cost more? And do we have to pay more to have the bones removed? (The others hold back their laughter.)

Waiter: No sir. They all cost the same.

Jacobs: We'll have two orders of boneless for the table, then. And fire 'em up!

Waiter: Right away, sir. Drinks, gentlemen?

Grousbeck: I'll have the champagne.

Henry: I'll have a chardonnay.

Kraft: Your ... best ... scotch. On ... the ... rocks. Make ... it ... a ... dou-ble.

Jacobs: Just water, please.

Grousbeck: Do you allow cigars?

Waiter: Unfortunately no, sir
.
Grousbeck: Damn.

Henry: (Turns toward Kraft.) So wait. You actually view this as a good year? I mean, you could have had the only 19-0 season in league history. Beyond that, you didn't win the championship.

Kraft: True. ... But ... nei-ther ... did ... you. (Grins.)

Jacobs: Amen to that, Bob!

Grousbeck: Uh, boys? (Extends his right hand to reveal a colossal, downright gaudy championship ring decorated in diamonds and emeralds. The others immediately turtle. Grousbeck beams with pride.)

Jacobs: So that's what one of those looks like.

Henry:You would wear that.

Kraft: Talk ... to ... me ... when ... you ... get ... three ... of ... those ... son.

Henry: Or even two.

Grousbeck: (Turns toward Henry.) Maybe we should plan now to have lunch next summer?

(Flustered, Henry takes a sip from his water and mutters something no one else can hear.)

Jacobs: All nonsense aside, you should be proud of that, young Wycliffe. That was quite a story. For the Celtics to turn things around so quickly, you deserve a great deal of credit. You set an example for all of us. And for me, personally, you've given me hope that we can indeed turn things around and contend for a championship someday soon.

Grousbeck: Thanks, Jerry. Can I call you Jerry? I don't know where to begin. Obviously, Danny Ainge deserves a lot of the credit. I guess it's a good thing we didn't fire Doc Rivers, eh? (The owners all share a good laugh.) But really, every team should have a leader like Kevin Garnett. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, too. In fact, from top to bottom, our guys were terrific.

Henry: What happened with James Posey?

Grousbeck: Business decision.

(Kraft, Henry and Jacobs all nod knowingly.)

Kraft: Good for you, kid.

(The waiter returns with drinks and the appetizers. Kraft slugs downs his scotch. Grousbeck savors the champagne, and Henry sips his wine. Jacobs pulls a straw out of his breast pocket, peels off the wrapper and begins drinking his water while scarfing down the wings.)

Waiter: Ready to order gentlemen?

Kraft: I'll ... have ... French ... on-ion ... soup - and ... a-noth-er ... scotch.

Grousbeck: Lobster bisque and the sesame crusted ahi. Soy on the side. Can the chef add a wasabi drizzle?

Waiter: I'm sure, sir.

Grousbeck: Excellent.

Henry: I'll have the grilled chicken breast with steamed broccoli. Hold the rice, if you can, and double the broccoli.

Waiter: Will do, sir.

Jacobs: Just a side garden salad with oil and vinegar.

Waiter: Shall I bring all the food at once, gentlemen?

Grousbeck: That would be fine.

Kraft: But ... bring ... the ... scotch ... first.

(Awkward pause.)

Grousbeck: Trying to forget something, Bob? In any case, it's been a heck of a year for us. That Atlanta game last night made me especially proud. Our guys really have shown no signs of letting up and Doc has them as motivated as ever. It makes my job easy. The Garden is like a completely different place now. It's buzzing every night. Which reminds me . . .

(Grousbeck looks toward Jacobs.)

Jacobs: What?

Grousbeck: You're having a hell of a year!

Kraft: (Under his breath) It's ... a-bout ... freak-in' ... time.

Jacobs: Well, yes. It has been quite a story. I must give all of the credit to Peter Chiarelli and Claude Julien, in particular. I really do think we have the right men running our operation now. Cam, just in his presence, has made quite a difference, too. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I can sit here with all of you and feel like I belong. Really, gentlemen, I feel like we're relevant again. The coach, in particular, has made such an enormous difference. (Looks at Grousbeck.) Think of it, young Wycliffe: Two years ago at this time, neither one of us could win a game, it seemed. The Garden was not a particularly entertaining place. Now, the very best defense in professional basketball and hockey is played right here in Boston, in the TD Banknorth Garden, and the home team usually wins as a result. Defense wins, men.

Kraft: Putting his head in hands.) That's ... ex-act-ly ... what ...wor-ries ... me.

Henry: Youth is important, too.

Jacobs: I agree, especially in our sport. Speed and energy are so important. To me, a lot of this goes back to last spring, to Games 5 and 6 against Montreal, when our guys really showed some fight. Even though we lost Game 7, I think that series meant a lot to us. Our guys learned something about our coach and they learned something about themselves. They showed up looking like a different team this year. I'm proud of them.

Grousbeck: You should be.

Kraft: Now all you have to do is win a playoff series. (Laughter.)

Grousbeck: What about you, John?

(As Henry starts to speak, the waiter returns with lunch and serves each man his meal. As the others start in on their meals, Henry takes a small bite of chicken, uses his napkin to dab the sides of his mouth, and is about to speak when Jacobs interrupts.)

Jacobs: Are you really going to spend $200 million on that guy? By the way, you're buying lunch.

Henry: (Chuckles uncomfortably.) You know the rules, Jerry. We don't kiss and tell. All I can tell you is that we have always believed in putting the best team on the field. I suppose this could make it more difficult for us to peddle that nonsense about unable to spend with the Yankees, but that's a small price to pay for a world championship. And as we all know now, championships are all that matter here.

Kraft: Tell ... me ... a-bout ... it.

Grousbeck: Is it true that television ratings were down last year, by as much as 20 percent?

Jacobs: Ours are up 30 percent!

Henry: Yes, it's true. I think it was about 19.8 percent, to be exact. We think Wyc's team had something to do with that. (Smiles at Grousbeck.) We also think that our team was growing a little stale in some ways, that we needed a transfusion of sorts. That's part of the reason we're trying to do something big -- that and the fact that we have to replace Manny's bat in the lineup.

Grousbeck: Between us in the club: Was he really that much of a pain in the butt?

Henry: Think of him as, say, Allen Iverson on his worst day. But instead of skipping practice, he skipped games.

Grousbeck: Oh my.

Henry: But the goofball sure can still hit.

Jacobs: See?! Superstars aren't worth it!

(Bored, Kraft glances at his watch and mutters something that sounds like "David Bleepin' Tyree.")

Henry: This much I know, gentlemen: We're in good shape going forward. Theo has done a marvelous job with our baseball operation to position us for the short term and the long. I can't promise more championships, but I can promise more excitement and entertainment. And if Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell had been healthy in October, we might have another one of those. (Points to Grousbeck's ring.)

Kraft: What-ev-er. ... If ... A-san-te ... had ... bet-ter ... hands ... I'd ... be ... look-ing ... for ... one ... for ... my ... thumb.

(Kraft glances at his watch again, informing the others he has a meeting in Foxborough. The others chuckle, needling Kraft that he should lobbied harder for a stadium downtown. The waiter returns with the check, which Grousbeck is saddled with as the result of being the only current title-holder at the table. The others thank Grousbeck.)

Grousbeck: Happy to do it, gentlemen. With any luck, I'll be treating again next year.

Kraft: Well ... it ... prob-ab-ly ... won't ... be ... me!

Henry: (Laughing.) If we win, I'll make sure I get Tom Werner to come!

(Kraft, Henry, Grousbeck and Jacobs shake hands and exchange pleasantries, then head for the door. Jacobs lingers behind, telling the others he must use the rest room. The Bruins owner then returns to the table and asks the waiter to pack him a doggy bag with the table's leftovers, which Jacobs plans to present to the Bruins coaching staff.)

Jacobs: I told them I'd buy them lunch.

(The waiter nods. Jacobs then scurries off and the waiter begins clearing the table.)

Waiter: Hey, wait a minute. Where did all the silverware go?

* * *

The Fab Four transcript is meant to be satirical. Any similarity to real events is purely coincidental. Honest.

In the aftermath of Game 6 in April, the Bruins had an audience. They had the chance to make us sit down and take notice. They had the chance to keep us, to convince us, to prove once and for all that hockey had returned to the indisputable hub of the sports world.

Now here we are, 19 games into the 2008-09 hockey season, and the darnedest thing is happening at the TD Banknorth Garden. The Bruins have catapulted into December as if last April were a spring. Last night's thoroughly entertaining 7-4 victory over Buffalo extended the Bruins' current run to 10-1-1 in their last 12 games, widening their lead in the Northeast Division to six points and leaving them behind only the New York Rangers and San Jose Sharks for the highest point total in the entire NHL.

Don't look now, but something appears to be brewin'.

"I don't know if anybody thought we would do this well, but I knew we had the capability," Bruins goalie Tim Thomas said yesterday following the team's customary morning skate. "To be 9-1-1 in the last 11 games is pretty impressive. I don't care who you are."

Then, as Thomas watched from the bench and with Manny Fernandez between the proverbial pipes, the Bruins went out and sniped their way to a high-scoring win that might have left coach Claude Julien with an upset stomach -- what's the French word for agita, anyway? -- were it not for the simple fact that the night resulted in another two points. The Bruins faced deficits of 1-0, 3-1 and 4-2 in the first period alone, then scored the final five goals of the night to win for the 12th time this year.

So what exactly do we have here? Even the Bruins do not seem to know for sure. Maybe they are still a little too wary to wonder. Two years ago, despite having added Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard to the cause, the Bruins skated face first into the boards and finished last in the division. Under then coach Dave Lewis, that undisciplined crew allowed a whopping 289 goals, more than any team in the league but the Philadelphia Flyers. In terms of goals scored, only seven teams had fewer.

All of that began to change under Julien, who brought order, pride, and structure back to the Boston uniform. The B's started to earn their spokes again. And as much as the Bruins have yet to win a playoff series since 1999 -- they have won just one since 1994 -- what they proved last spring is that they are no longer a doormat, no longer an uninspiring bore.

Small strides, friends.

Small strides.

"The reason I signed here is because I knew they were headed in the right direction and I wanted to be a part of it," said the gifted Savard, who had a goal and three assists against the Sabres to move him into third place in the league scoring race. "Now I think we're seeing what we can be."

Exactly what that is remains to be seen, of course, and even the Bruins are smart enough to know that they would be ill-advised to look over their shoulders. Truth be told, the team simply cannot expect to win the way it did last night. In the 89 regular season and postseason games the Bruins played last season, they scored as many as seven goals on just one occasion. The year before, the B's similarly did it once. Julien preaches defense first, offense second, and he has no tolerance for anyone unwilling to buy in, no matter how great the potential payoff. Just ask Phil Kessel.

"We don't want to play like this, obviously, and Claude probably doesn't want to see that either," mused Savard. "So I think we're just doing things it takes to win right now. Obviously we want to win the games 2-1, but tonight it was a game I guess we had to win 7-4."

Nonetheless, the Bruins now haven seven players on pace to score 20 goals this season, another two or three on the cusp of that pace. Five players scored goals last night. There is not yet the kind of buzz at the Garden that there could be -- should be? -- though forgive the masses if they will need additional convincing. The Bruins have done nothing for far too long for skeptics to come flocking back to what has been a couple of good months.

Of course, all of this goes back to Game 6 of the first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens, the top seed in the Eastern Conference during last year's playoffs. The Bruins trailed the series by a 3-1 count before a resounding 5-1 victory at Montreal in Game 5, but they looked cooked entering the third period of Game 6 at home. The stingy Canadiens had a 2-1 lead entering what looked to be the final period of the 2007-08 Boston hockey season when the Bruins turned in the kind of period that could not help but make you take notice.

In the final 20 minutes of Game 6, the Bruins scored four times, twice to erase deficits, once to win the game. It was the kind of fight that made even the great Cam Neely jump from his seat and cheer. The Bruins went on to get skunked in Game 7 by a lopsided 5-0 score, but Game 6 provided more than a glimmer of hope for a team that desperately needed one.

"The playoff series was a growth step, so to speak," said Thomas, the possessor of a sterling 1.78 goals-against average this season. "Having said that, with a whole summer off, it could end up doing nothing for you. Our goal as a team was to pick where we left off and not waste that growth."

Right now, they're doing one better.

They're building on it.