Remember how it used to work?

The Patriots would go deep into the postseason -- maybe to the Super Bowl, maybe just short, but almost always to late January -- before handing the sports keys to the city over to the Red Sox, who would take command until October and pass it back to the Patriots, who would already be four or five weeks into another 13-, 14-win season. 

And on and on it went for the better part of a decade. From 2003-11, the Red Sox and Patriots combined for four championships and 14 postseason appearances. Sure, the other teams in town had their moments -- the Garnett-Allen-Pierce Celtics occupied full attention in 2007-08 -- but the day-in, day-out driving forces have been the Patriots and Red Sox, Brady and Ortiz, Moss and Schilling, Tito and Belichick, trading Seymour and trading Manny, losing Vinatieri and Damon, Spygate and Lucchino vs. Theo, all the personalities and (some organic, plenty manufactured) drama that goes along with a period of staggering success. It was a two-sport run in one city that very likely won't be matched for decades.

And now it's over. We can debate when it ended -- you could pick one of two dates in 2011, June 15 (more on that one later) or Sept. 28 (when it officially became The Collapse) -- but it's indisputably over. No fault of the Patriots, obviously, argue if you wish the merits of basing the success or failure of a season solely on capturing the Lombardi Trophy (I think it's a ludicrous standard) but this franchise continues to churn out division titles and trips to conference championship games and the occasional Super Bowl showing. Not too shabby, to put it mildly. 

Nope, the Red Sox have failed to hold up their end of the deal, and that's not going to change this year. A collapse plus 69 wins plus an underwhelming offseason plus very serious doubts about the folks in the front office and those writing the checks equal what we've seen from the public regarding the 2013 Red Sox -- apathy. Put it another way: If this team starts out, say, 13-22 people are going to check out and not come back until next April. This franchise, not so long ago a model, is clawing around somewhere south of relevance. That won't change simply by signing four or five good guys, they actually have to start winning again. And this team isn't going to win 90 games. 

Still, there remain two teams that matter in the current Boston sports conversation, but the keys have been taken from the Red Sox and given to the Bruins, who won again on Sunday in Florida to move to 11-2-2 on the season. From now until whenever they win or lose their final playoff game, this is a Bruins town. No other team enters the mix until the Bruins exit. They have the stage completely to themselves for the longest period I can remember in my lifetime as a sports follower in Boston.

Sure, we'll keep an admiring eye on the Celtics, but we all know they'll lose in the first or second round of the playoffs (or whenever they face LeBron James, who is submitting the best season of any player in the post-Jordan era, just brilliant stuff every single night). Not so with the Bruins, this is a team with obvious Stanley Cup aspirations. And there's also this: They are young, they have guys ready to burst into stardom, they are fun to watch (it's become appointment television for even the casual fan), they have legitimate rivals and they are an immensely likable bunch. 

To my knowledge, there were no focus groups used to help construct this roster, just organizational intelligence mixed in with some always-needed luck. Chara, Marchand (who is not so quietly blossoming into a 40-goal scorer), Seguin, Horton, Rask, Bergeron, Krejci -- this is just part of the core of a team that won the Stanley Cup two years ago (June 15, 2011) and, barring injury or some unforeseen change that would eventually be reported by Bob Hohler, should be on the shortlist to win again for at least the next half-decade. 

I wasn't alive when Bobby Orr was king, so this is a first for me. Think about it: When Ray Bourque and Cam Neely were leading the Bruins to a pair of Stanley Cup finals appearances in 1988 and 1990 there was still Larry Bird and the Celtics (Bird averaged a 29.9-9.3-6.1 for the 57-25 Celtics in 1988) and Roger Clemens and the Red Sox (postseason in 1988 and 1990) to at least share some of the summer headlines. And even in 2011, Tim Thomas (yes, still posting on Facebook and still semi-bonkers) and his historic run through the postseason occurred while the Red Sox were seemingly rolling to 100 wins and the Celtics won 56 games. 

This is different, this is all Bruins, all the time for potentially the next four months or so. You'll check in and see John Farrell say all the right things and Shane Victorino hustle and Jon Lester pat his own back after a quality start, but there will be no urgency. Same goes for this year's version of the last run for Garnett and Pierce -- we basically know how it will end, we just need one or two bits of information before moving on to the next series of trade rumors.

We have witnessed a shift, a move away from the Red Sox and to the Bruins. Part of that is the fault of the Red Sox, but a great majority more is because of this group of players for the Bruins, a group that perhaps even tests higher on the likability chart than the champions of 2011. They are the last team in this city to win a championship and are the favorite to be the next one. 

Patriots to the Bruins and then wait for training camp. That's how it now works in Boston. 

And call me a cynic, but I don't think Stephen Drew and Ryan Dempster are going to restore order anytime soon.