BOSTON (AP) — How much longer can Zdeno Chara keep this up?

The Boston Bruins defenseman — and leader in ice time — will turn 42 this season Randy White Jersey , and sooner or later the window will close on his opportunity to skate around the ice again with the Stanley Cup. For his teammates, that means focusing on this season as their best and possibly last chance to win with him.

“The older you get, it’s just about winning,” said David Krejci, one of five holdovers from the franchise’s last title, in 2011. “We know that we’re not going to be playing in the league for 10 more years, but we have maybe three, four, five years left, who knows, but this is it. We worked really, really hard this summer to get the job done this year.”

Chara was already an eight-year veteran and two-time All-Star when he signed with Boston a dozen years ago, and the Bruins built a contender around him that went to the Stanley Cup finals twice in three years. (They lost to Chicago in 2013.)

Patrice Bergeron, Tuukka Rask, Brad Marchand and David Krejci are the only other players remaining from the 2011 champs. Bergeron is 33, Rask and Krejci will turn 32 during the playoffs, and Marchand will turn 31. (Steven Kampfer was traded away in 2012 and rejoined the Bruins this summer; he just turned 30.)

Charlie McAvoy, the 20-year-old defenseman paired with Chara for most of his career John Riggins Jersey , has seen players come and go and values the stability brought by the core.

“As long as we have those veteran guys the culture will always be the same, I really believe that,” he said. “I really think it could be another special year. You bring back all these guys, the veterans, it could be an awesome year and I’m really excited to get it going.”

Here are some other things to look for from the Bruins this season:

SOPHOMORES

Helping to take some of the pressure off the aging core is a group with about one year of experience, led by McAvoy. Also among the sophomores are Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, Matt Grzelcyk, and Sean Kuraly.

“None of us are forecasting a setback, I call tell you that,” McAvoy said. “Something about the experience of having a full season, playing a few playoff series now, seeing that element. I can use all those things to allow me to come in and play great hockey from the start. That’s my goal.”

Those five combined to score 151 points (48 goals, 103 assists) last season.

MORE NEW BLOOD

Joining the youth movement are players in their first full season like Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, Ryan Donato and Anders Bjork. Dante Carlo has two years behind him but is still just 21.

“You need those young guys,” Krejci said. “And our young guys are fast, they’re good, they’re smart Kevin King Jersey , they make plays. They deserved to make the team last year and I’m looking forward to what they’ll bring again this year, one year under their belts.”

IN NET

Rask returns for his 12th season but he has a new backup.

Jaroslav Halak signed a two-year contract to come to Boston from the Islanders, where he started 49 games last season and had a 3.19 goals-against average. He replaces Anton Khudobin, who had been the backup for two years and started last season 7-0-2 filling in while Rask had a concussion.

The fast start led fans to call for him to replace Rask, when he won just three of his first 13 games. But the 2014 Vezina Trophy winner did not lose a game in regulation from Nov. 26 until Feb. 10, finishing with a 34-14-15 record and a GAA of 2.36.

LONG TRIPS

The Bruins played two exhibition games in China against the Calgary Flames, with Cassidy and half the squad heading over to Shenzhen and Beijing for a week while the rest of the team stayed back in Boston. The split squad wasn’t ideal, but the Bruins started the 2010-11 regular season with two games in Prague and went on to win the Stanley Cup.

Cassidy said that would be a nice precedent to follow.

“Well if it’s a repeat of ’11, yes,” he said. “I’d love that to happen, trust me.”

Bob Sutton has been around football long enough to realize that every year brings turnover, even when a team is coming off back-to-back division championships for the first time in its history.

It didn't stop him from marveling at how different the Kansas City Chiefs look this year.

The Chiefs' defensive coordinator focused only on his side of the ball, and counted nearly two dozen new names among guys who could be fighting for a legitimate job.

That includes five of their six selections in the draft and Kendall Fuller, the cornerback they got in the trade of Alex Smith to Washington.

"We have a lot of new dudes," Sutton said. "They're all different. They're from young rookies to guys that came here as free agents. It really is a good group of guys. And it really is early in the process, but they seemed to have meshed really good."

It's not just new faces under helmets, either.

The Chiefs shook up coach Andy Reid's staff after their debacle of a playoff loss to Tennessee and following the departure of offensive coordinator Matt Nagy to Chicago.

Eric Bieniemy was promoted to that job from running backs coach with Mike Kafka taking over the quarterback coaching, while on defense Drew Stafford Jersey , the Chiefs replaced linebackers coach Gary Gibbs with Mark DeLeone and Mike Smith.

All those changes came on the heels of a couple of offseasons with very little turnover, both on the roster and among the coaching staff.

And that makes their three-day mandatory minicamp that began Tuesday one of the most important for Reid and Co. since he took over prior to the 2013 season.

"Whoever is in the building, you teach. That's how I look at it," Chiefs secondary coach Al Harris said. "At the end of the day, their performance falls on me. I take that approach."

Well, there's already been plenty of coaching after several weeks of voluntary workouts, and there is plenty more getting packed into the next couple of days at the Chiefs' practice facility.

The goal is to set up the team for a productive training camp beginning in late July in St. Joseph, Missouri, where all those jobs that are up for grabs will get settled.

On defense, the Chiefs are trying to decide how best to fill the outside linebacker job now that Tamba Hali has been released. Justin Houston has one spot locked down, even though he's been injury prone, while Dee Ford is expected to handle the other side despite a rough start to his career.

Then there's Breeland Speaks, their top draft pick out of Ole Miss. He also fits in the mix.

On the inside, the Chiefs are seeking a replacement for longtime middle linebacker Derrick Johnson, who was released and then signed with AFC West rival Oakland. Reggie Ragland showed promise after arriving in a trade last season and Anthony Hitchen was signed as a free agent to stand next to him.

Justin Hamilton was signed to fill the middle of the defensive line, while the defensive backfield is a complete work in progress. Star safety Eric Berry is coming back from a season-ending injury, while top cornerback Marcus Peters was traded away as the Chiefs sought to establish a better locker room atmosphere and veterans Darrelle Revis and Terrance Mitchell are gone on the other side.

Fuller joins free-agent signing David Amerson and holdover Steven Nelson in competing for those jobs.

"They are all very attentive, working hard at it Ryan McDonagh Jersey ," Sutton said. "This is hard on anybody, but it is really hard on defensive players in this time frame. You can't do a lot of things you want to do, but the guys have really embraced it and gotten as much out of it as we possibly can."

On offense, the biggest question is how well Patrick Mahomes II will fare now that he's not only the starting quarterback but possibly the face of the franchise. Mahomes spent last season learning the ropes under Smith, but he's the clear-cut starter for a team that has playoff aspirations.

So far, he's lived up to the expectations.

"He's put in a ton of hours. He's going behind the scenes, working with guys individually. I'm really proud of where he's at right now," Kafka said.

The question is will he be where the Chiefs need him when the season rolls around?

Will the rest of the new faces be ready, too?

"Everything that we do now, we're not going to take into the first game. It's something that you can pull out and learn from, all the different schemes, fundamentals," Reid said. "We're getting better every day and that's the idea. We have a lot of new faces and we welcome new faces, and they're learning."

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