B's young, role players deliver.

Byline: Bud Barth

COLUMN: BRUINS

Really, 2004 wasn't that long ago. George Bush was president and there was a war in Iraq, just like today.

But a lot has changed since the last time Boston's hockey team played a postseason game. The B's are on their third coach, having dispatched Mike Sullivan and Dave Lewis, and only three players - Glen Murray, P.J. Axelsson and the injured Patrice Bergeron - are holdovers from that '04 team, which kept the playoff suspense going for only seven games, losing to last-seeded Montreal in the first round after leading the series, 2-0 and 3-1.

That's the legacy this team is being asked to erase, and it's quite a lot given the mitigating circumstances involved. Despite a devastating string of injuries that claimed Bergeron and goalie Manny Fernandez for virtually the entire season, forced long absences by Andrew Alberts, Andrew Ference and Murray, and sidelined leading scorer Marc Savard and 22-goal man Chuck Kobasew for the grueling stretch drive (and probably beyond), the Bruins still managed to stave off a late threat from the red-hot Washington Capitals and earn a seat at the Stanley Cup table.

However, after they clinched a spot with Friday night's 2-1 win at Ottawa, combined with Carolina's 4-3 loss to Florida, the Bruins got more bad news: The only teams they don't have a chance of meeting in the first round are the Senators - whom they have beaten four of the last five meetings, including back-to-back 4-0 shutouts by Tim Thomas - and Philadelphia, against whom Boston went 3-1 this season, winning the last three.

By the way, Thomas' run against Ottawa this season was incredible - a 4-1-1 record with a 0.99 goals-against average and .967 save percentage, stopping 180 of 186 shots. He had a shutout streak of 180 minutes, 10 seconds before Antoine Vermette scored in the third period on Friday.

But I digress. The point of all this is how some of the Bruins' young, unexpected role players have developed into legitimate NHL threats at the most demanding time of the season. Here's a quick glimpse at a few of them:

David Krejci

Any list has to start with this unflappable 21-year-old, who blossomed like a spring crocus after Savard went down with a back injury. Krejci's five-game point streak (3-6-9 totals) was snapped in Ottawa on Friday night, but it's safe to say that without his metamorphosis from marginal rookie into indispensable weapon, the B's wouldn't be where they are now.

Milan Lucic

What more can be said about this brash, mature-beyond-his years 19-year-old? He started out as a long shot in training camp and became a two-fisted curiosity during exhibitions, but he soon exhibited a surprising scoring touch and a startling ability to race up and down the left wing that goes well beyond what everyone thought the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder was capable of. And, oh yeah, he also licked some of the NHL's toughest customers. In short, Lucic has - in the space of six short months - developed into a total NHL player.

Vladimir Sobotka

Here's a guy who could give the witness protection folks some tips on anonymity. Another one of Boston's Kiddie Korps, the 20-year-old Czech always has played an annoying (to other teams), in-your-face game. But at just 5-foot-10 and 183 pounds, this pesky center has gone above and beyond the call recently, piling up more hits (16) in the Bruins' last six games than Lucic, Zdeno Chara or Aaron Ward, who launch their bodies around fearlessly. That says something big about the little Sobotka.

Phil Kessel

Being a high first-round draft pick, Kessel hardly belongs in the company of these other underdogs. But given his on-and-off struggles this season to please defensively demanding coach Claude Julien, Kessel has managed to pull his weight at both ends of the ice recently. He scored the eventual winning goal on Friday night in Ottawa, and had three goals in his last six games and 19 for the season prior to last night's regular-season finale. But the big stat: The 20-year-old has scored the deciding goal eight times this season (five in shootouts) to lead the Bruins' victory parade.

Petteri Nokelainen

He centers the tough-guy duo of Jeremy Reich and Shawn Thornton, so the line has been aptly nicknamed "Nokie and the Nockouts." The 22-year-old Nokelainen was acquired during training camp from the New York Islanders, and the fact that the Bruins gave up promising prospect Ben Walter plus a conditional second-round draft pick in 2009 tells you how much potential they feel he has. Called up from Providence in early November, Nokelainen has stuck around since, though he has been a healthy scratch 13 times. But he's been right in the thick of things the last nine games, doing all the gritty jobs that checking-line centers do while also excelling in the faceoff circle. He has had only one sub-.500 night on the draw during that time, and is 23-15 in the last five games on a team that has been known to struggle over the dot.

NAME: BOSTON BRUINS

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: Kessel