Pats kicker Stephen Gostkowski, a good friend of Bruins forward Shawn Thornton, said Tuesday it's not hard to be driven by the Bruins' recent run to claim the Stanley Cup. Gostkowski attended Thornton's Cup party and has seen first-hand how excited the Bruins were after taking over the hockey universe.
"[Thornton] has wished me good luck," Gostkowski said. "It definitely drives you to see how excited people get about a championship, about a trophy. Those guys obviously handled everything with class, and they kept an even keel. The way they handled themselves in [playoff] games, they were ready to play. We can definitely learn something from that."
The Patriots invited the Bruins to take part in a pregame ceremony for the home opener at Gillette Stadium in September, and they're hoping to get an opportunity to return the favor at the TD Garden.
Strangely, the Patriots' run of three Super Bowls in four years spurned Boston's historic run of championship success, but they're now the team with the longest title drought in the region, as the Red Sox (2004, 2007), Celtics (2008) and Bruins (2011) have all claimed more recent crowns.
"It's special," Gostkowski said. "This team is excited for every New England team that has success, but at the same time, we want to have our own. We want to be called champions, too. Boston is one of the greatest sports cities, if not the best right now in the U.S., and we need to try to bring a championship home to them."
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