Nobody takes fitness more seriously than Zdeno Chara, so amidst expectations that players will be out of shape and generally sloppy when the season begins later this month, it's no surprise that the Bruins captain has something else in mind. 

"I'm expecting everyone to be in shape and to be ready," Chara said Wednesday. "I think we are still one of the better teams that had most of the players involved and playing [during the lockout]. Some guys couldn't, but they're still in shape and they look good. I think it's a responsibility you have to have going into camp, to be in good shape and ready to go."

Indeed, 11 Bruins played overseas during the lockout, a group that included such top players as Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin, Dennis Seidenberg and Tuukka Rask. In addition to the 11 who played in Europe (tied with the Flyers for the most among NHL teams), the B's also will have rookie Dougie Hamilton, who has been playing in the OHL and the World Junior Championships this season. Players competing for the team's open forward spot (Jordan Caron, Ryan Spooner, Chris Bourque, etc.) also have spent the season in the AHL. 

Assuming everyone is in shape and ready to go by the time the puck is dropped, the season still figures to be highly physically taxing. Forty-eight games in a shorter period of time means more games per week -- and all of them are going to mean a lot more considering a bad month would do a lot more damage in a short season than it would in an 82-game campaign. 

"It's going to be a challenge," Chara said. "I think that it's something that we're all going to have to look at the schedule once the schedule is out and see how many games we're going to have, how many back-to-backs, and so on and so forth. It's going to be very crucial for us to start the season and get on the right track. When you have such a short season, you have to make sure you do your best not to fall behind." 

The good news for the Bruins is that they won't have much learning to do. The only newcomers on the roster figure to be Hamilton, whoever claims the open spot on the third line and an extra forward and blueliner. 

Other teams will be learning new systems implemented by new coaches and adjusting to new players, making the upcoming and shortened training camp extremely important. The B's will be dealing with far more familiarity than other squads, which will at least make the next couple of weeks a little less stressful. 

"That's one of the luxuries that we have, is that everyone's back," said Chris Kelly, who returned to Boston from Ottawa on Tuesday night. "The coaching staff hasn't changed, and I think it's one of those things that in camp you're not going through the style of play, the systems and things like that, but maybe it will be. 

"Maybe Claude [Julien] and the coaching staff will have different systems for us, but we're all familiar with one another. We can pick things up fairly quickly. A lot of other teams have new players, coaches, new management, so it will be fun for them." 

"Fun" is one way to put it, but "chaotic" might be a little more accurate. Chara expects it to be hectic for everybody either way, despite the fact that Boston still has the vast majority of its Cup-winning roster heading into this season. 

"I don't think it's going to be easy on anybody," he said. "I think when you have such a quick start with that many games it's going to be hard no matter what. The whole thing is going to be different, and you've just got to be ready to go." 

More and more Bruins have shown up to Agganis Arena over the last few days as they return from Europe or wherever they spent the lockout. Dennis Seidenberg and Johnny Boychuk showed up Tuesday, while Chara, Kelly and Bergeron were the new additions Wednesday. That brought the total of Bruins practicing at Boston University to 11, with players such as Nathan Horton expected to join them in the coming days so they can be closer to rust-free when training camp begins. 

“A week is not very long to get ready, but at the same time I know at this level guys are very good and very smart,” Bergeron said. “I think it helped us to have that many guys playing in real games. Obviously it's not as physical, but you get involved and it's different than practicing.

“I think it’s a plus, but you still need to bring your 'A' game right away. I think the fact that we have all the guys coming back is going to help with chemistry.”