Bruins' consolation prize: a vastly improved outlook

As expected of a team that had been eliminated from the playoffs, there were frowns and hushed voices in the Bruins' dressing room at the Bell Centre following Monday night's 5-0 Game 7 loss to the Canadiens.

But there were also some smiles and heads held high. For the first time in what seems like a generation, there is hope.

"We've come a long way since the start of the year, where we weren't even on the map, according to a lot of people," said coach Claude Julien. "You hope that your organization and your team has taken some positive strides, and go from there."

Before the start of the season, most observers didn't see the Bruins as a playoff team. And that was before Manny Fernandez, projected to be the No. 1 goalie, revealed that his left knee hadn't been right since the Bruins acquired him from Minnesota July 1. That was before the Bruins lost Patrice Bergeron, their best all-around forward, for the season after only 10 games. That was before depth defenseman Andrew Alberts suffered head and neck injuries that limited him to 35 regular-season games. And that was before they lost Chuck Kobasew, their second-leading goal scorer, to a fractured left tibia for the stretch run and the playoffs.

"We had a lot of injuries in this room," said Marc Savard, who suffered a cracked bone in his back March 22 but appeared in all seven playoff games. "Everybody deals with injuries around the league, but guys sucked it up, went out there, and did what they had to do.

"We're upset, but we've got something to build on here. We know that. We've got some kids here who played their hearts out. We've got some great defensemen, talented forwards, and we're going to be excited for next year."

By the playoffs, the Bruins had discovered their identity, one that mirrored the personality of Boston teams from years long gone: tough, hard-working, and blue-collar.

"They did battle right to the end," Julien said. "Whether it was done properly or not, you never question these guys' effort, because they gave everything they had. Everything. That's been the identity of this hockey club - the character, resiliency, and everything else.

"I know that nothing I could tell them after the game would matter. But maybe in a few days from now, maybe in a week or so, they'll realize what they accomplished.

"It's where we were pegged to be at the beginning, and we took the challenge on ourselves and said, 'You know what? We're a better team than most people say we are. We've just got to go out there and prove it.' "

Consider some of the baby-faced building blocks, five of whom were drafted under the watch of director of amateur scouting Scott Bradley:

Mark Stuart, 23, the only defenseman to appear in all 89 games this season, played a hard-nosed, defense-first style. Stuart, like most young defensemen, had his struggles, but could develop into a shutdown blue liner.

Milan Lucic, 19, who was projected to spend the year in junior hockey, was on Boston's first line. Lucic, who could be a future captain, made the club out of training camp and blossomed into a power forward with some touch as well as cement blocks for fists.

David Krejci, 21, was demoted earlier this season but returned to the big club with confidence and exploded into a top-line center during Savard's absence.

Phil Kessel, 20, a healthy scratch for three straight playoff games, returned with authority, scoring once in Game 5 and twice in Game 6. Kessel was scratched because of his lack of jam, but he ended up throwing four hits in his four postseason appearances, seven shy of the total he landed during the regular season.

Vladimir Sobotka, 20, once expected to spend the entire season in Providence, instead had no issues adapting to the big league game, showing no fear when going toe-to-toe against older, tougher opponents. Sobotka could become a hard-to-play-against third-line center who can agitate but also provide some occasional offensive pop as well.

Petteri Nokelainen, 22, a former first-round pick jettisoned by the Islanders for Ben Walter and a second-round draft pick, showed signs of rounding into a grinding center or wing on a checking line. Nokelainen also saw power-play time during the playoffs.

"Right now, we've been really happy with the way our young guys have come along," said Julien. "Because of all the injuries we've had, they've had the opportunity to grow quicker. We're a lot further ahead today than we were at the beginning of the year and what we expected to be at this time when we looked at our hockey club."

Next season, Fernandez and Tim Thomas, who will compete for the starting job in goal, should be pushed by Tuukka Rask. Matt Lashoff could join the blue line.

They'll still have their veteran core in Savard, Zdeno Chara, and Marco Sturm, and general manager Peter Chiarelli will be shopping for a go-to scorer and a puck-moving defenseman.

And if all goes well, they'll have a youngster named Bergeron (he'll be 23 at the start of 2008-09) fully recovered from his career-threatening injury.

"The fact that we've still got Patrice, who we still haven't seen in our lineup," Julien said, "without a doubt is going to make our team better."

Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com