This was a wild year in Boston sports. As we wrap up 2015, there’s no doubt this is still the Golden Age for local teams. There are many reasons to raise a glass and toast the year as it winds down, and even more to look forward to in 2016.

The Patriots wrap up the year as reigning Super Bowl champs. The NFL is the biggest, most profitable league in the history of our country, and the Krafts have built a dynasty that sits atop this massive sports empire.

Workers are busy turning Gillette Stadium into an outdoor hockey arena for the Winter Classic between the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens on New Year’s Day. The Associated Press

Still, much of the country sees the Patriots as a team that plays hard and fast with the rules. While we think of 2015 as the year of Malcolm Butler and a remarkable win in the franchise’s fourth Super Bowl in 15 years, most people outside of New England think 2015 was all about the team circling the wagons in Deflategate. As we usher in 2016, no team – not even the New York Yankees – is as hated as the Patriots.

As the saying goes, “They hate us because they ain’t us.” As long as Bill Belichick is standing on the sideline and Tom Brady is standing over center, the team will be among the league’s elite. That said, as we saw in an overtime loss to the Jets on Sunday, this team will be hard-pressed to win its fifth title with a growing list of key players on the injured list.

The Bruins will welcome 2016 with an outdoor game against the Canadiens. The Winter Classic is the marquee event of the NHL’s regular season, and there will be nearly 70,000 fans at Gillette Stadium cheering on these two Original Six rivals.

It’s been a strange year for the Bruins. They didn’t make the playoffs last spring, fired the general manager and traded Dougie Hamilton and Milan Lucic.

All of that has led to an inconsistent first half of the 2015-16 season. A three-game losing streak has us wondering just what this team can accomplish in the months ahead. A win at Gillette will create some momentum for the second half of the season, but it will take shrewd moves from new GM Don Sweeney before the trade deadline to give this team a chance at a deep playoff run.

For the Celtics, its all about the future. And we’re not talking about the near future. GM Danny Ainge is sitting on eight potential first-round picks in the next three years. He has hinted that he wants to turn some of those picks into players who can make an immediate impact. He failed at doing that this summer when he couldn’t make any moves at the draft. We’ll be watching closely to see if he can speed up the rebuilding effort or if we’ll be waiting through a few more new years to see any fruition in his vision.

The Red Sox had a newsworthy and tumultuous 2015. They finished last for the second consecutive year, and for the third time in four seasons. They fired Ben Cherington as general manager in August, and brought in Dave Dombrowski to rebuild the team into a contender.

In the meantime, Manager John Farrell shocked everyone with the announcement that he was undergoing cancer treatment. Interim manager Torey Lovullo proceeded to guide a young lineup that excited us in September.

Dombrowski then got right to work in the off-season, spending $217 million to sign David Price, and giving up four strong prospects to obtain an elite closer in Craig Kimbrel.

It’s a steep climb from last to first, but the Sox did it in 2013. They’ve spent the money to rebuild. Only time will tell if they spent it wisely.

For now, it’s time to watch a little outdoor hockey and dream of even bigger games to come in Foxborough. And to thank our lucky stars we live in the best sports region in America.

Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.

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