The NHL and NBA seasons are off to historic starts. The NHL's San Jose Sharks completed the greatest start in league's history, reaching 52 points in 30 games.
Meanwhile, the NBA's Boston Celtics extended their win streak to 15 games and now sit three wins away from the greatest start in NBA history.
Both teams deserve to be commended for their terrific runs, but neither has won anything important yet.
Going into the NHL season, most commentators believed the Detroit Red Wings to be the best team on ice, so it's encouraging to see that the Wing's second consecutive Cup won't come easy. Still, there should be a lot of caution, as there are 50+ regular season games to be played and the Sharks have yet to be significantly hit by the injury bug. However, to put things in perspective, the Wings had the best regular season record last year, recording 115 points. The Sharks need to record an additional 63 points in their last 52 games to tie that mark. It's tough imagining them not tying or exceeding that mark.
In the grand scheme of things, I'm sure the Shark players could care less about their record start. This team has been one of the elite teams in the Western Conference for many years, but they always struggle to excel in the postseason. Maybe this is their year.
Personally, I'm more impressed with the Celtics start. This team is the reigning NBA champs, and the only thing tougher than winning a championship, is winning back-to-back titles. It's clear that the Celtics won't accept anything but an 18th world championship banner.
It's obvious that Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Co. realize that if they win another title, they will be said within the same breath of Bill Russell, Larry Bird and Kevin McHale. This is an example of what a team should be. Unlike most NBA teams, the Celtics refuse to be selfish and have truly bought into Doc Rivers' plan. It wouldn't be surprising to see the Celtics bettering the Chicago Bulls NBA greatest regular season record of 72-10.
It's great time to be a sports fan.
