The Bruins are in for an interesting year as they look to defend their Stanley Cup title. Thursday will feature one last celebration of the team's historic 2010-11 season, but the Bruins will have their hands full after that.

Here are five questions facing the team as the season begins:

Which team will be their biggest challenge?

In general, every team will be a challenge for the Bruins this year, as the cliché of teams coming out extra hard against defending champs is true. 

As far as teams that will battle the B’s for Eastern Conference supremacy, Washington did itself a huge favor by adding Tomas Vokoun to give the Capitals a legitimate goalie. The Sabres lost their minds when it came to spending, but they came out of it with Christian Ehrhoff, Robyn Regehr and Ville Leino. I’m not necessarily sold on the Sabres, or the new and possibly improved Flyers, for that matter. Philadelphia got themselves a goaltender, but nine years and $51 million for Ilya Bryzgalov? Pass. 

Then there’s the Lightning, the team the B’s defeated in seven games in the conference finals. They certainly have the offensive talent and a crazy coach that players love, but Dwayne Roloson will be 42 next week. 

Will the power play be better?

The Bruins showed last season that the secret to reaching the Stanley Cup finals is having a terrible power play, and for that reason Tomas Kaberle should have extra diamonds on his ring.  

In all seriousness, the Bruins were actually very strong special-teams-wise against the Canucks in the finals. The power play went 5-for-27 in that series, and this year it will get a couple of boosts in Tyler Seguin, who played on the man advantage at times as a rookie, and Joe Corvo, who was acquired from Carolina the day that Kaberle signed with the Hurricanes.

Corvo will be a welcomed addition to the power play, as he has a good shot from the point and isn’t afraid to use it. In recent practices, Corvo has been on the second power-play unit. The first one featured Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg with David Krejci, Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton. The second unit features Corvo and Patrice Bergeron with Seguin, Rich Peverley and Brad Marchand

Will this be Tyler Seguin’s breakout season?

Some will argue that Seguin already broke out in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, but it’s easy to see goals scored and get carried away.  

What the Bruins need to see from Seguin is a little more toughness and a willingness to take contact. For all the talk about the adversity he faced when he was a healthy scratch, it was a move Claude Julien had to make given how timid the rookie was on the ice. Now, Seguin says he’s more comfortable, and Julien says going in the corners has become second nature to Seguin. One would think that with the rest of his game will come more scoring, so if a confident and aggressive Seguin shows up on the ice this year, expect the big numbers to follow.

Will Tuukka Rask play more?

Duh. This should be the season where the reins are slowly handed to Rask. He might not have them by the end of the season, but look for Tim Thomas to make around 50 starts or less, with Rask starting more than the 27 games he got the nod in last season. 

Rust was an issue at times last year with Rask, as he would have to wait more than a week at a time for his starts. He also had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in the offseason. With more starts and better health, he could go back to performing at the level that earned him the league’s best save percentage and goals against average in 2009-10. 

To suggest Rask should play more is by no means a knock on Thomas, but the fact of the matter is that the Bruins have one of the better young goalies in the game, and Thomas won’t be an option two years down the road. 

Can (and) will they repeat?

The Bruins came a bounce or two away from losing in the first round. Really, think about that. Could you imagine how many people (players, coaches, etc.) would have new homes by now if that were the case?

That should essentially answer the question. For as much of a grueling three-month process as a Cup run is, it can also be a crapshoot at times. 

The roster is pretty much the same, and there’s no reason to believe the B’s won’t win the Northeast again. With as proven a squad as the Bruins have, they’ll be tough to bet against, but they certainly shouldn’t expect it to be easy.