If you weep over the Red Sox' inability to land Mark Teixeira, if you look up to the heavens and ask, ``Why, oh why, could the Pats go 11-5 and not make the playoffs?'' then you are missing the big picture.

And the big picture is this: It's pretty much paradise every day around here if you're a Boston sports fan.

And now, let the record show that on the first day of this new year, it was the Bruins who kept the good times rolling.

With their 4-2 victory against the Penguins last night at the packed, festive Garden, the B's have now won 10 straight, their longest streak since early 1971, which means we're talking Orr, Espo, the Chief and those guys.

The Bruins also have won 14 consecutive home games. That means if you decide to step out of the cold and into the Garden when the Bruins are playing, there's a pretty good chance you'll get your dough's worth. And guess what? Of the Bruins' 13 games to open this year, 10 are at home.

Since yesterday was Jan. 1, 2009, it seemed appropriate to ask the following question: Is this the year of the Bruins?

``Time will tell,'' Milan Lucic said. ``We're going to have to work hard for it. It's not going to come easy. We can't look too far ahead. There's a big chunk of the season left, and we have to worry about that first and go on from there.''

Zdeno Chara was even more cautious.

``Boston is a great city with a lot of sports history . . . once you earn the (fans') trust, it's more fun,'' he said. ``That's what we're doing.''

Ahh, but the well-traveled Aaron Ward dived into the question as though he'd been waiting all season for somebody to pose it. At first, he got off to a slow start . . . pacing himself . . . as veterans will do.

``You can play well one month, but you understand, if you've been in the league long enough, there will be some highs and some lows,'' he said. ``You have to capitalize on your highs.

``We're giving the fans a four-letter word - H-O-P-E. We've been around town and we've heard about the fans' lack of desire to support the Bruins in the past.

``And now we have an opportunity to represent the city like the other teams. So when you ask me about 2009 being our year, my answer is that we're providing hope.''

It is clear, based on that answer, that Aaron Ward did more than play hockey while at the University of Michigan.

Think about it. Aside from Curt Schilling doing the car commercial in which he said he was coming to town to end a curse (or something like that) did the Red Sox ever guarantee a championship? No.

Even when they trumpeted their newly crowned Big Three, did last year's Celtics guarantee a fresh, new banner? No.

And no sense going into this with the Patriots; Bill Belichick wouldn't guarantee sunrise at dawn.

So when a battle-scarred veteran such as Aaron Ward puts it out there that 2009 is all about hope, and not hopelessness, you can believe him. He's been there.

Soon, everybody will be there. It's 2009, baby, the year of the Bruins.

God, it's been nearly seven months since someone around here won a championship. And Boston fans hope - that's H-O-P-E - it'll be the Bruins who end the drought.

- sbuckley@bostonherald.com