The Bruins have to be happy with much of what they were able to accomplish this past season, returning to the playoffs after a two-year absence and coming back from a 3-1 game deficit to force a Game 7 with Montreal. But that can't hide the fact there's work to be done.

And, every time people talk about next season -- about building on whatever gains were made in the crowded and wildly successful Boston sports scene -- the same name seems to surface.

Marian Hossa.

The unrestricted free agent-to-be, never known as being a goal scorer in big games, scored two in a Game 5 elimination of the Rangers, giving him five (and 10 points) in nine playoff games as the Penguins headed into the Eastern Conference finals against Philadelphia.

The Penguins, who acquired Hossa from Atlanta for the stretch run, would appear to already have too much in the way of big-name players and money, which could make Hossa a true rent-a-player. It could also make him highly desirable to several teams, including the Bruins.

"It's always nice when you can do that if you have the room to do it, but in the same sense we proved that this year we (already) have guys that can do it," said Bruins center Marc Savard, Hossa's teammate in Atlanta, on the day the Bruins packed up and went home. "But any time you can make your team better, that's always a positive and if that happens, that'd be great -- but if not, we know what we have in here and we're capable of doing good things."

The Boston Globe reported May 4 that Dallas and Los Angeles could go heavily after Hossa, but you have to wonder if the Rangers, who will have money to spend, might be in the mix, too.

For his part, Hossa told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "I'm not a pure goal scorer. I'm not like (Alexander) Ovechkin or (Ilya) Kovalchuk. I'm not in that category. I'm more of a two-way guy."

A "two-way guy" who, at age 28, has 299 goals and 648 NHL points in a 701-game (regular season) career that's seen him amass a plus-85 rating. Sounds like all the things the Bruins are looking for.

SEASON HIGHLIGHT
When you haven't made the playoffs the last two seasons, the highlight is the night you made the playoffs, and the Bruins did that with a 2-1 win at Ottawa in Game 81 of the 82-game season.

TURNING POINT
This was a battle throughout, but Bruins' folks point to a weekend home-and-home series with the New York Rangers, Jan. 19-20. The Bruins won at home, 4-3 in a shootout, Saturday and then went down to New York and won 3-1 the next day. It started a streak of five wins in six games.

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