The Bruins need to learn from the Celtics.
The Boston Celtics ended their remarkable 2023-24 season on Monday night with a 106-88 win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5. With it, they won their record 18th NBA championship, much to the excitement of the city of Boston.
The Celtics finished the regular season with an NBA-best 64-18 record and then went 16-3 in the postseason. Thus, they finished with a combined 80-21 record for the entire year and sported a .792 win percentage. Only the 1985-86 Celtics had a better combined record, going 82-18.
With this championship win, the Celtics broke their 16-year championship drought. In addition, the Celtics no longer have the longest championship drought of all New England teams from the four major sports. The Bruins have taken over that spot, having won their last Stanley Cup in 2011. Thus, they are officially due.
Since their 2011 win, the Bruins have had several chances to win the Stanley Cup. They notably made two Stanley Cup Finals in 2013 and 2019 but lost both on home ice. In addition, they had a historic 2022-23 regular season in which they set multiple NHL records. However, unlike the Celtics, they couldn't get it done in the playoffs, losing to the Florida Panthers in the first round.
The Bruins have the potential to win a Stanley Cup in the future. They have great core pieces in David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, and Jeremy Swayman. However, even after another strong regular season, it is no secret that they must add a first-line center and other pieces if they hope to have more playoff success. Thankfully, they have over $20 million of cap space to work with this offseason.
Let's see if the Bruins can learn from the Celtics and make some real noise in 2024-25 from here.
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