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When poor Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers failed Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys, there were certainly fans in the Northeast who remembered the glory days of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. .
But I don’t think there are many. Just like Brady and, more recently, Red, his Sox shortstop Xander, and his Bogaerts, his elite pro athletes have reasons to move forward. fan Three professional athletes also have reasons to change careers. And the timing couldn’t be better to make the point.
As Brady and the Bucks looked to lose to the Cowboys in the season-ending 31-14 playoffs, Boston sports fans were happy to consider the two developments early in the day.
• Veteran center David Craich, who played in 1,000 NHL games, had three assists in the Bruins’ 6-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
• Meanwhile, in Charlotte, North Carolina, Jason Tatum scored 51 points in the Celtics’ 130-118 win over the Hornets.
I don’t need to tell you that the Bruins (34-5-4) and Celtics (33-12) are doing well this season. The Bruins scored 72 points, the most in the NHL, against the New York Islanders on Wednesday night. The Celtics, who host Golden State his Warriors in the Garden on Thursday night, have the best winning percentage (.733) in the NBA.but what you can do No If these winning methods carry over into the playoffs, we know we might see something that hasn’t happened since the spring of 1988: The Bruins and Celtics advanced all the way to the league’s conference finals. rice field. in the same season.
wait, what . . 1988? Crazy, right? It was the era of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parrish, and then Raymond Burke, Cam Neely, and Rick Middleton. As the Patriots emerged from his turbulent 1986 campaign, he went 8-7 in a season that stalled with labor unrest and several weeks of player changes, and Boston sports his fans. “Morgan Magic” Red is still months away from winning his Sox. The American League East, Bruins, and Celtics owned the stage in his ’88 spring.
The ’87-88 Bruins went 44-30-6 in the regular season, but it wasn’t spectacular. No Earn one of those little Adams Division banners that everyone hated. However, they beat the Sabers, Canadiens and Devils to reach the cup finals. JerseyHis series will be remembered for his coach’s one-game suspension after calling umpire Don Kochalski a “fat pig”. right. But the win over the Canadiens was especially great for the Bruins, as the Hubbs won their 18th straight playoff series against the Bruins.
Ray Burke was sandwiched between the Devils’ Kirk Muller and Pat Verbeek in 1988 when Boston won 7-1. The Bruins took a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals. (Elise Amendola/Associated Press)
Alas, the Bruins have beaten the Oilers four straight times in the Cup Finals. The series suffered a power outage at the old Garden, suspending Game 4 in the second period and stalemate the Bs and the Oilers at his 3-3. The game restarted with him two days later from scratch and the Oilers won the cup with his 6-3 win.
The ’87-88 Celtics went 57-25 to finish first in the Atlantic Division. They won a best-of-five opening-round series against the Knicks in his four games, and beat the Atlanta Hawks on the strength of a memorable 118-116 Game 7 victory in the Garden. In an epic 4th quarter showdown between his two future Hall of Famers, Bird scored 20 points for the Celtics and Dominique Wilkins scored 16 for the Hawks. They were in a world to themselves and all the other players on the floor became choir singers. The late Reggie Lewis, who was a rookie that season, told The Boston Globe: Fred Kerber of The New York Daily News gave it his own twist, calling it “a shootout between Larry and Niek in a parquet enclosure.”
The Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. They lost to the Lakers in the NBA Finals, but then lost to up-and-coming Detroit his Pistons, who have won two consecutive titles, in his six games. Boston’s Big He three, Byrd, McHale and Parrish era was coming to an end, but no one knew it at the time.
In the spring of 1988, the Bruins (11 games) and Celtics (9 games) played a total of 20 postseason games at the Old Boston Garden, including Game 4 of the suspended Cup final. No one had a better perspective and appreciation of what was going on than Jon Guselczyk, a longtime member of the old and new Garden ‘bull gang’ who was on hand at both team’s games. bottom.
Grzelcyk is the father of current Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk. But this was 1988, six years before Matt was born, and the old man was driving a Zamboni in the garden.
“I remember 1988 being a busy time, but it wasn’t a busy time,” said John Guzelczyk, who is from nearby Charlestown, as is his son Matt. “Most people were fans of both teams, so they took a lot of pride in the work we did.”
Grzelcyk, who turns 73 in March, said players from both teams and both sports practiced at the garden during the 1988 postseason. “I’m not sure, but there may have been a couple of concerts there,” he said. “But it was easier to switch in the old garden than in the new garden. The new garden, the TD garden, has more exits and entrances.
“For example, in the old building, the entrance for the visiting basketball team was the same as the visiting hockey team,” he said. “The whole thing wasn’t as elaborate as it is now. Two hours or he can take it all apart in two and a half hours.”
Grzelcyk’s stint with Zamboni allowed him to become involved in neighborhood gossip in the spring of 1988. 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympics He played hockey He played on the team , from 1987 to 1988 he was a member of the Devils.
“We talked mostly before practice,” Grzelcyk said. “Jack was one of the guys in Charlestown that I would talk to anyone about. It’s one of my best memories of that spring. I remember wondering, they used college students named Craig Janney from Boston University and Bob Joyce from North Dakota, and I was like, ‘Why are they using all college students? What?” he said. But they played very well.”
Arriving in Palm Beach, Fla., on Tuesday night, O’Callaghan has another memory of the playoff series against the Bruins before having dinner with fellow Miracle on Ice hero Mike Erzione. .
“I knew Johnny when I was a kid, when a group of us went to the garden and they gave us a few bucks to help,” he said. “Johnny had a little alcove under the stands that he sat in after making the ice. During that playoff series, after one of the games, Game 5, I jumped into that alcove and sat there and he I had two beers with two Charlestown guys.”
Grzelcyk was asked the million dollar question. Given how well the Bruins and Celtics are playing, will we see a repeat of 1988?
“These two are such good teams that I don’t see why not,” he said. “But I think the Bruins are going to have a tougher time than the Celtics. , which is not surprising.
“I think the Celtics might take it a little easier,” he said. But if Tatum keeps playing the way he’s played and[Robert]Williams is healthy, it’s going to be hard to beat them.”
If you’re wondering how so much time has passed without the Bruins and Celtics reaching the conference finals in the same year, it’s all thanks to the late Celtics great player, coach, and television analyst Tommy. It boils down to what Heinson yells every spring at the beginning of the playoff season: “It’s just not the same.”
Just like it’s not the same as the regular season. In the first round of the 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Bruins finished first in his division with 101 points in the Northeast, but in the first round he scored six games in which he finished first. Think about losing to the No. 4 Canadiens. The Celtic-centric has no record of what (if any) Heinsohn had to say about his 2001-02 Bruins, but we can speculate: Coming playoff time, it was not the same.
Here’s a postseason breakdown since 1988, when the Celtics made it to the Conference Finals and the Bruins were eliminated:
2021-22 — Celtics lose to Warriors in NBA Finals. The Bruins lost to the Hurricanes in the first round.
2019-20 — Celtics lose to Heat in Eastern Conference Finals. The Bruins lose to the Lightning in the second round.
2017-18 — Celtics lose to Cavaliers in Eastern Conference Finals. The Bruins lose to the Lightning in the second round.
2016-17 — Celtics lose to Cavaliers in Eastern Conference Finals. The Bruins lose to the Senators in the first round.
2011-12 — Celtics lose to Heat in Eastern Conference Finals. The Bruins lost to the Capitals in the first round.
2009-10 — Celtics lose to Lakers in NBA Finals. The Bruins lost to the Flyers in the second round.
August 2007 — Celtics beat Lakers in NBA Finals. The Bruins lost to the Canadiens in the first round.
2001-02 — Celtics lose to Nets in Eastern Conference Finals. The Bruins lost to the Canadiens in the first round.
And here’s what happened in a season where only the Bruins made it to the Conference Finals, or in any season since.
2018-19 — Bruins lose to Blues in Stanley Cup final. Celtics lose to Bucks in second round.
2012-13 — Bruins lose to Blackhawks in Stanley Cup Finals. Celtics lose to Knicks in first round.
2010-11 — The Bruins defeat the Canucks in the Stanley Cup final. The Celtics lose to the Heat in the second round.
1991-92 — The Bruins lose to the Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics lost to the Cavaliers in the second round.
1990-91 — The Bruins lose to the Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics will lose to the Pistons in the second round.
1989-90 — Bruins lose to Oilers in Stanley Cup final. The Celtics lose to the Knicks in the first round.
The 2022-23 playoffs are a long road ahead for the Bruins and Celtics. But based on their current records, it’s possible the stars will line up for this year to finally be the year both teams play deep in the spring. , well, you know…
(Top photo of Larry Bird and Dominic Wilkins during Game 7 of the Conference Semifinals at Boston Garden in 1988: David E. Klutho / Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
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