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by bridgetds

Love them or hate them, & around here its mostly hate, the New York Yankees are as solid of an organization as it gets.

You can debate the payroll of the team all you want, but take a look at what the owners of other teams are actually worth vs what they financially decide to invest in their own team. You can go all around the country from the lowly Pirates to the premier Rays, most owners just don’t pay. Same goes with other sports, owner are hard pressed to give their young talent long term contracts so they rarely hold on to the players that end up in Boston or New York. The Yankees pay, over pay but still pay. They also develop, as you can see by the up and coming players currently making a run at the World Series. And last of all they build. The new stadium is an investment made by the City of New York along with the Steinbrenner family to keep the money flowing in and their organization elite.

So how does this relate to our Boston Bruins you say? I know most Boston fans are instantly bothered that I am not comparing the Bruins to another Boston team like the Red Sox, Patriots or Boston Celtics but lets look at the facts. The Red Sox hit their peak of popularity after the 2004 World Series. 2005 Was the biggest year for ratings, pink hats, ticket sales as well as tying up 90% of all sports talk radio with calls about the Sox. Since then, even though the 2007 year ended with a World Series run and victory, the popularity of the team and the overall “buzz” in the city has been slowly going down. The Bruins on the other hand if anything, are more like the 2001-2003 Red Sox. The buzz is finally back and you can just feel a championship is within their grasp… just not yet. You certainly can’t compare them to the Patriots or the Celtics who are both at the tail end of their “dynasty” and heading straight into rebuilding mode. Both teams are in the process of finding and developing new, younger talent.

So this brings us back to the team I think the Bruins are more likely to become, the NY Yankees. Over the past few years the Bruins have drafted young guys like Milan Lucic, David Krejci, the new powerhouse goalie Tuukka Rask & our stud to be Tyler Seguin who have all become the foundation to their lineup. They have also shown that they will pay, and I mean PAY with the million given to Tim Thomas last year. The 7 year .5 million contract extension handed over to Zdeno Chara, who happens to be & looks to stay the team captain for the remainder of his career. The million 3 year extension given to Patrice Bergeron and I can go on and on. This organization has proven, at least to me as a hockey fan that they will continue to pursue the Stanley Cup with full speed. The closest organization I could think of, that in the next 2 to 3 years, has a solid if not Vegas odds on favorite chance to be fighting for a trophy is the New York Yankees.

The Boston Bruins have the City of Boston and their entire fan base all around the country buzzing with excitement. The fans believe in the team, they believe in the owners and they believe in the organization. Its a great place to be in as a fan, a place most Yankees fans know fairly well.