In the wake of Monday’s Boston Marathon bombings, the Bruins and Celtics both called off their originally scheduled home games. The teams returned to practice Tuesday, and players and coaches took the opportunity to express their love for the city they call home.

“Boston, for me personally and my family, is a city we’ve fallen in love with,” Bruins head coach Claude Julien said. “So when you see something like that happen, there’s no doubt it affects you as an individual and even for us as a group.”

Julien’s basketball counterpart, Doc Rivers, echoed his sentiments, expressing the pride he feels to represent the people of Boston.

“Being in the city, the one thing I will say is that you’re just really proud to be a part of Boston,” the Celtics coach said. “I saw people who didn’t work for the police or anything like that directing traffic, showing people where to go. I just thought the spirit of Boston was phenomenal last night.”

To hear more from Julien, Rivers and their players, see the video above.

Jackie Bradley Jr. has been making a strong case this spring to be considered for an Opening Day roster spot with the Red Sox.

Bradley Jr. got his first start of the spring in the outfield Sunday against the Phillies. He hit a three-run homer in the second inning off Phillies left-hander Cliff Lee and finished with four RBIs in the matchup.

Sox assistant hitting coach Victor Rodriguez has worked with Bradley Jr. in the minors and is not at all surprised by the 22-year old’s success.

Hear what Rodriguez had to say in the video above.

After all the trouble that Mike Napoli‘s hip issues caused this offseason, it’s pretty ironic that he’s never suffered a symptom from the degenerative condition.

That all being said, Napoli is in camp with the Red Sox just trying to get his work in and preparing for the season just like anyone else. Still getting his legs under him, Napoli made a diving stop at first base on Thursday, showing he’s coming along with his defensive work. The former Angel and Ranger also says that he likes the way the Sox are coming together, and their business-like attitude on the field.

Check out everything Napoli had to say to NESN Daily‘s Jamie Erdahl in the video above.

Stephen Drew

Drew was scratched from the Red Sox lineup Friday after experiencing “mild” concussion-like symptoms, as reported by NESN’s Jamie Erdahl in Fort Myers. He was replaced in the lineup by fellow shortstop Jose Iglesias.

Drew was hit in the head by a pitch on Thursday, likely leading to the symptoms. The 29-year-old signed a one-year, $9.5 million contract with the Red Sox this offseason and is penciled in as the team’s starting shortstop come Opening Day.

Stephen Drew is the younger brother of former Red Sox outfielder J.D. Drew, who was labelled as injury-prone during his time in Boston. Fans will certainly be holding their collective breath in hopes that label does not run in the family.

The Red Sox’ presumptive fifth starter finally made his first start of spring training Monday, and manager John Farrell was pleased with his pitcher’s performance.

Felix Doubront pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings against the Rays, allowing a hit and two walks while striking out two. The left-hander’s debut was delayed after he experienced shoulder troubles earlier in camp, but he was able complete his outing with with no pain on Monday. Doubront was also treated to a special surprise when his mother Nancy flew to Fort Myers from Venezuela to catch the game — her first since he joined the Red Sox.

For more on the 25-year-old’s spring debut, check out the video above.

David Ortiz has yet to suit up for the Red Sox in a game this spring, but Big Papi’s debut may not be far away. The designated hitter has reportedly seen steady forward progress in his rehab from an Achilles injury and is expected to return to the lineup by the end of next week.

“It feels good today,” Ortiz told NESN’s Jamie Erdahl on Saturday. “We have a little bit of ups and downs, but they’re trying to manage my situation really well. It’s going good. … I can’t wait to get back on the bases. But you know, injuries, you’ve got to be smart about it. You don’t want to have any setback or anything that’ll take your time away.”

For more on Ortiz’s recovery as well as reactions from Clay Buchholz‘s spring debut, check out the video above.

The Bruins have fully recovered from the injury bug that hit the team earlier this season, but another bug held several B’s players out of practice this week.

Seven skaters (and one assistant coach) sat out Tuesday’s workout with flu-like symptoms. Luckily for the team, this moment of poor help falls during a three-day off period, as Boston will not play its next game until Thursday. Claude Julien‘s squad will also get a chance to enjoy a warmer climate this weekend, as the team travels to Florida to face the Lightning and the Panthers in its next two contests.

The ice may not have been crowded on Tuesday, but the stands sure were, with more than 1,000 fans turning out to watch the B’s practice. Check out NESN’s Jamie Erdahl report from Ristuccia Arena in the video above.

Red Sox fans have plenty of questions about this year’s team heading into the new season after a tumultuous 2012 campaign and a busy offseason. Luckily, they will have a chance to see some of those questions answered by some key members of the Red Sox organization.

New Red Sox manager John Farrell and second-year general manager Ben Cherington will appear at this year’s Red Sox Town Hall presented by Cape Air on Saturday, Jan. 19, at 11 p.m. It will air on NESN.

Tom Caron will host the interactive event between the Red Sox and their fans along with reporters Adam Pellerin and Jamie Erdahl.

Additionally, fans at home can participate in the Q&A by submitting questions for Farrell and Cherington to answer using a #RedSoxTownHall hashtag on Twitter.

Doc Rivers was a man of many emotions on Wednesday night, coaching against his son Austin for the first time.

With the Hornets beating the Celtics — snapping Boston’s six-game winning streak in the process — the elder Rivers was caught in a conundrum. Should he be happy that his son had played well? Or, did he have to be upset with the end result for his team?

Luckily, Doc won’t have to wrestle with his feelings again for a while and can go back to rooting for his son until March 20, when the Celtics travel to face the Hornets in New Orleans.

For more reaction from the Celtics’ coach, check out the above video from NESN Daily.

Tyler Seguin led the Bruins in scoring last season, and showed that he was on the verge of becoming the playmaker that Boston envisioned upon taking him with the second overall selection in 2010. Now, with another year of development, Seguin could be a nightmare for opposing teams in 2013.

Seguin, who is still just 20 years old, enters his third season with a great deal of confidence, but the Bruins forward admits he’s still trying to improve. In fact, Seguin already showed plenty of improvement while playing overseas during the NHL lockout.

Seguin played in Switzerland and led EHC Biel in scoring during the lockout, but the rising star insists it was the life lessons he took from the experience that could prove to be just as valuable as his on-ice development.

Check out the video above from NESN Daily to hear more about Seguin’s upcoming season.

Every team wants to start hot every season, so this year is no different in that regard. However, with a shortened 48-game schedule on tap, getting off to a quick start might actually be a bit more important this time around.

That’s the mindset of the Bruins going into this lockout-shortened campaign. The B’s understand that starting off slow could be disastrous, as there’s very little time to make up ground should they fall too far behind early.

The Bruins have had mixed results in recent years when it comes to early in the season. Last year, the Black and Gold sputtered to a 3-7 start through the first 10 games. During their Stanley Cup-winning 2010-11 season, though, Boston jumped out to a 7-3 start.

Check out the video above from NESN Daily to hear more from Brad Marchand, Tyler Seguin and Tuukka Rask about the importance of a hot start.

Click here for an opinion on the Bruins’ start to the season >>

When you break the Patriots-Texans matchup down to Tom Brady and Bill Belichick against Matt Schaub and Gary Kubiak, well, you start to think that maybe Dan Shaughnessy had a point in his column blasting Houston’s chances against New England.

It’s obvious that the Patriots’ quarterback and head coach hold an advantage over the Texans’ combination, but the question is, which is bigger? In Brady versus Schaub, you have a three-time Super Bowl Champion, who’s proven himself over and over again in the postseason, against a quarterback who won his first playoff game just days ago.

Kubiak has one more playoff win than his quarterback, but he still doesn’t stack up to Belichick, especially after the Texans dropped three of the last four games of the regular season and lost their first-round bye.

In NESN’s Two Sides debate, Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald took Brady over Schaub, while Mike Mutnansky of WEEI took Belichick over Kubiak. The two also tackle whether Mike Shanahan should have taken Robert Griffin III out against the Seahawks on Sunday.

Mutnansky won the debate, according to NESN Daily viewers, but which side are you taking? Watch the video above to watch Howe and Mutnansky tackle the important NFL issues.

While it’s encouraging that the NHL and NHLPA are meeting face to face again, a resolution to the league’s lockout could still be a ways off.

John Shannon of Sportsnet told Adam Pellerin and Jamie Erdahl on NESN Daily that it could be days or weeks before the NHL lockout comes to an end, and that’s dependent on the two sides reaching an agreement on some major issues.

Shannon said the NHL and NHLPA still have to agree on a salary cap — where they’re currently $10 million apart — pension and escrow. The two sides are expected to meet again on Wednesday.

Watch the video above to hear all of Shannon’s thoughts on when the NHL lockout could come to an end.

Coming off a strong performance against the Brooklyn Nets on Christmas Day, it was easy to think that some of the Celtics’ good fortune may translate into momentum going into a West Coast road trip. That did not happen.

The Celtics got demolished by the Clippers, Warriors and Kings on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The reason why, Celtics beat writer Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe says, is that the Celtics got caught off-guard by those California teams, and the NBA is not afraid of Boston anymore.

At two games under .500 and currently on the bubble in the Eastern Conference, it’s safe to say the Celtics need answers. Washburn says the team needs to get better defensively, and while the return of Avery Bradley should help that aspect, it might not be the difference alone.

Watch the video above to hear what Washburn thinks the Celtics must do to compete in 2013.

It seems that the NHL and NHLPA are finally making progress in talks to end the NHL lockout, but Sportsnet’s John Shannon says, “Not so fast.”

The two sides are meeting on Monday for the first time since the first week of December, but that doesn’t mean anything will actually get accomplished in their face-to-face talks. Shannon says the league will listen to the players’ response to the owners’ latest offer, but there will likely be no negotiations.

Shannon says there will likely still be no urgency between the two sides, especially on the players’ side. With a proposed start date in mid-January, there is still some time to get an agreement together.

The two biggest stumbling blocks left are salary cap and escrow. Neither of those issues will likely be brought up on Monday.

Hear what Shannon has to say on Monday’s meeting in the video above from NESN Daily.

It’s coming slowly, but the NHL and NHLPA are making progress in their lockout talks.

The two sides spoke via conference call Saturday — not for negotiation purposes, but to go over the proposal the league made to the players’ association. SportsNet’s John Shannon said the talks were “uneventful,” but they could lead to some progress Sunday or Monday.

The two sides could meet face-to-face in the next two days — the first time the NHL and NHLPA would be meeting in person since the first week of December. If Donald Fehr and Gary Bettman are present, it would be the first time those two have met since Nov. 29.

Shannon still won’t say whether he thinks there will be a season in 2013, but it appears there are at least moving pieces in place.

Watch the video above to hear all of Shannon’s thoughts on the NHL lockout negotiations.

It’s the holiday season and many athletes — even locked out ones — are in the holiday spirit. But Flyers forward Scott Hartnell and Maple Leafs left winger James van Riemsdyk added a little creativity to their gift-giving.

The two NHLers started an effort on social media to raise money for Hurricane Sandy relief and managed to raise more than $40,000. However, there was a wager involved, and van Riemsdyk came out on the losing end. Thus, he was forced to go shopping through Minnesota’s famous Mall of America wearing full hockey gear.

Check out NESN Daily‘s Jamie Erdahl‘s report in the video above.

Ben Cherington thinks that Ryan Dempster is the kind of player who will embrace pitching in Boston. The 35-year-old may have limited experience pitching in the American League, but his seven seasons of 200-plus innings are certainly a sign of a quality arm.

Red Sox Now caught up with Cherington and then Dempster, himself, who has some interesting memories of his past time in Boston. It seems that the right-hander won’t just be slinging baseballs, but jokes as well, as Dempster once performed some standup comedy at a Boston club — with Mike Lowell in attendance, of course.

Check out both interviews in the video above.

Kevin Youkilis was back in Boston and doing what he does best on Thursday.

No, Youk wasn’t hustling down the line or working the count. Instead, the gritty infielder was giving back to the community by taking part in his annual charity event.

Youkilis’ charity, Youk’s Kids, aims to create a community of support, increase awareness and advocate for the health and well-being of children. It’s something Youkilis is extremely passionate about, so no trade is going to put a stop to his charitable efforts in Beantown.

Joining Youkilis at the event were Bruins forward Shawn Thornton and goaltender Tuukka Rask. NESN’s Jamie Erdahl caught up with the trio to get their thoughts on various topics.

Check it all out in the video above.

Every Red Sox fan has a moment that got him or her hooked on the team forever.

NESN’s Jamie Erdahl talked to one fan who said that Red Sox radio broadcasts used to put her to sleep as a baby in her crib. The team is hoping this year’s games are a little more exciting.

One team Red Sox fans may already be pumped up for is the Cleveland Indians, who come to town May 23 for a four-game series. Fans will be able to welcome back old friend Terry Francona, the new Indians manager. Former Sox catcher Kevin Cash and former bench coach Brad Mills are also on Francona’s staff, while former players Lars Anderson, Mike Aviles and Justin Masterson are on the Indians’ 40-man roster.

Watch the video above to hear one fan’s story of how she became a Red Sox fan.