New England Patriots Links 6/16/11 - Congratulations Bruins! Patriots' Turn Next

Mike Reiss highlights some Patriots players congratulatory twitter responses to the Bruins winning the Stanley Cup last night.

Julian Edelman (Edelman11) -- "Had a blast watching the B's this year. Congrats to the players and coaches! ... Just left sonny mclceans.. Boston fans are awesome.. And yes the fire alarm was pulled, people were dancing, and it was raining champagne."

Dane Fletcher (Dane_Fletcher) -- "If you're not rooting for a Bruins W tonight, chances are exceedingly high that I don't like you!"

BenJarvus Green-Ellis (TheLawFirmBJGE) -- "Congrats to the Bruins for bringing home the Stanley Cup and ending their 39 year drought!!!"

Brian Hoyer (bhoyer8) -- "Congratulations Bruins! Stanley cup champions! What a run! #StanleyCupChamps" Kyle Love (KyleLove74) -- "Let's go BRUINS! CLAP, CLAP, CLAP CLAP CLAP!"

Brandon Meriweather (BMeriweather31) -- "Let's go B's -- one more."

Zoltan Mesko (ZoltanMesko) -- "Game Time! Way to go B's!!!"

Devin McCourty (McCourtyTwins) -- "Teams who make guarantees and bite fingers usually end up losing when on the biggest stage!!"

Vince Wilfork (wilfork75) "Man what state has 7 championship trophies in pro sports over the past 10 years....idk about yours but mine does. Boston does it Big."

Patriots official Twitter (realpatriots) -- "Welcome to Title Town, Lord Stanley...@NHLBruins bring 7th championship trophy to Boston in 10 years!"

Karen Guregian notes Stephen Gostkowski, who attended Game 6 at the Garden, was moved by the appearance of Nathan Horton, who sent the crowd into a frenzy.

"That was awesome. I had no idea (he was there)," Gostkowski said of the Bruins winger, who suffered a severe concussion in Game 3. "But they started playing that video. You could tell something was up. And then they showed him. I feel bad for the guy that he got knocked out (of the playoffs), but you see how much the team loves him, and the city loves him. It was just such a cool thing to be a part of."

Ian Rapoport notes Jerod Mayo really enjoyed helping the kids at Bruschi's youth camp at Gillette.

"It’s a great cause," Mayo said. "Any time Tedy calls, I try to answer, especially if I’m around. He did so much for me as far as growing up, being a player, and as far as (learning about) giving back to the community. He’s always trying to do stuff for the community up here in the Boston area. Even though he’s not from around here, I look at him as a Bostonian. … "

"Plus, I miss the field," Mayo continued. "It’s a long time since I been here. So I said, why not?’‘

TEAM TALK

• PFW looks at the young and developing Patriots players with the greatest expectations heading into this fall.
• Paul Perillo predicted a 4-1 Bruins win last night and he was only one goal off, giving the Canucks a bit too much credit.
• New England Patriots announce a 'Football For You' free youth clinic is coming to Providence Saturday.
• Patriots Today - Bruschi expresses optimism. (2.01 min. video)
• New England Patriots report 1960s All-Decade team member Tom Addison passed away.

LOCAL LINKS

• Ian Rapoport says that suddenly the Patriots have the longest title drought of the Boston sports teams.  Slackers.
• Christopher Price looks at how the Patriots RBs did when it came to breaking tackles in 2010.
• Mike Reiss discusses the Football Outsiders chart of the NFL leaders in broken tackles with respect to the Patriots RBs.
• Mike Reiss gives his take on Nolan Nawrocki's article that categorizes the 32 offenses in the NFL.
• Ian Rapoport speculates Patriots Training Camp could start on time, if the lockout ended in early July.
• Christopher Price posts the joint "yadda yadda yadda" statement by the NFL and NFLPA after two days of talks aimed at ending the lockout.
• Ian Rapoport notes Tedy Bruschi believes the lockout gives the Patriots an edge.
• Tom E. Curran says that with the lockout's end drawing closer, undrafted players still have a chance to hook on with teams.
• Kathleen Pierce reports that as the lockout continues, businesses that depend on the Patriots are beginning to sweat.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Pats are suddenly the black sheep of Beantown.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Time to get on the stick, Patriots.
• ESPN posts a poll for fans to rank the Boston professional sports titles since 2002.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) AFC East O-linemen atop the heap.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) NFL committed to improving Super Bowl experience.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Code of fan conduct comes under legal attack.

LABOR LUNACY

• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) NFL,NFLPA say talks will continue.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Drew Brees says talks are "getting to crunch time."
• Clark Judge (CBS Sports) Calendar, courts, money quicken pace of NFL talks.
• Mike Freeman (CBS Sports) Players cautiously optimistic as tenuous labor talks progress.
• AP Report: Recent progress has sparked a sense of optimism, with one source saying an agreement could be reached by July 4.
• Greg Bishop (NY Times) Labor talks offer signs of optimism for the NFL.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Next CBA likely will require plenty of teams to spend plenty of cash.
• NFLLabor.com Pash: Proposal to players offered unprecedented 90 percent of salary cap in cash.
• James Varney (Times-Picayune) Expected windfall from next NFL broadcast deal a key issue as labor negotiations reach critical juncture.
• Clark Judge (CBS Sports) Lockout workouts can offer more than you'd believe.