City of Champions

Over the last decade (2001 - 2011), the City of Boston has dominated the professional sports landscape like no other city before it.

In that time span, Boston has celebrated three Super Bowls, two World Series, an NBA title and, after last night, a Stanley Cup championship.  It has been a decade of dominance. 

The Patriots have dominated the NFL, winning titles in 2001, 2003, and 2004 and nearly winning a fourth in 2007.  The Red Sox ended years of disappointment for their fans by winning it all in 2004 and 2007.  The Celtics erased a 22-year drought when they won in 2008.

And now the Bruins have ended their title drought by defeating the Canucks in Game 7. 

For the record, Boston has won every major professional sports championship over the last seven years.  No other city can make that claim.

Last night's win was the first time in Bruins history that they won a Game 7 on the road and they became the first Cup champion to ever win three Game 7's in a single postseason.  It is the type of clutch performance that some cities would be shocked by but in Boston it has become expected that their teams will do the unexpected in pursuit of glory.

Tim Thomas set a Stanley Cup Playoffs record for saves (the official tally was 798 but it seemed more like a million) and was the Conn Smythe trophy winner as MVP of the playoffs.  He now joins the likes of Tom Brady, David Ortiz, and Paul Pierce as recent championship heroes and will go down in history with Bobby Orr, Bill Russell, Larry Bird and all the other great names that won titles in Boston.

What a night, what a decade, what a city.