Opportunities, Opportunities ...

Adam Proteau beat me to it, but I was totally thinking the same thing about the Tom Brady effect in the Boston sports world.

Naturally I was devastated along with the entire city when Brady succumbed to injury. It was like a living nightmare waiting to hear the test results. Everyone in Boston went through three stages: complete denial -> nail-biting wait for confirmation -> mourning. Needless to say, the Pats will move on, and for all we know Matt Cassel could turn this seemingly doomed season into a great story.

In the wake of all this, a lot of Boston fans have re-focused back on the ever-so-close-to-first-place Red Sox for comfort. It's not that they necessarily ruled the Pats out, but there is less reason to be excited (and perhaps even some apprehension?) about the rest of the season.

We all know that the Bruins are not high on Hub fans' list of teams, so why not take advantage of this open window to get people excited about them? After missing the play-offs for two consecutive years, the B's did have an exciting first round in 2008. Even though they lost, they rallied against Montreal to take it to seven games. With the exception of the outcome, it was a good moment for the team. Why not ride that into the regular season? Generate more interest. Get people going. With Brady out, there is room for other franchises in the area to move in. Kicking off the home opener against Pittsburgh will be great as well.

Of course, the best way to do this is to start the season off by winning a bunch of games. After all, Beantown loves its winning teams. The Bruins need Boston. And if the Pats start to sink, Boston will need the Bruins.