DHL Dan CLXXII - What Could Have Been

Alternate title - Shank finds a way to milk another column from the playoff exits of the Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics:

For Boston sports fans, this weekend is one huge what-could-have-been, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while thinking about the prospect of DeAndre Hopkins with the Patriots …

▪ This should have been the mother of all Father’s Day weekends.

I know the mature thing is to acknowledge that the Celtics and Bruins have work to do and simply celebrate the Denver Nuggets and Vegas Golden Knights. But we are sports people and we are not mature and I can’t get the thought out of my head:

The Celtics and Bruins were favored to win the championship in their respective sports.

Which is why we should be getting ready for Game 7 of the NBA Finals at the Garden Sunday night, wondering whether Joe Mazzulla can figure out a defense to stop Nikola Jokic. The Celtics should be getting ready to raise Banner No. 18 over the parquet floor.

Game 7 was supposed to be on Causeway Street on Father’s Day night. And the Celtics would have been favored. Just as they were heavily favored in Game 7 against the Miami Heat … before Jayson Tatum turned into a pumpkin and Jaylen Brown a turnover machine.

Ah, and the Bruins? If all had gone according to plan, they’d have played Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final in Vegas Friday, squaring their series, 3-3. Game 7 would have been at the Garden Monday night — after the bull gang packed away the parquet for the summer and cleaned Celtic confetti from the lower bowl.