WILMINGTON, Mass. (AP) – Bruins coach Dave Lewis has a simple goal for his hockey team as he heads into his first season behind the Boston bench.

“Just be that team that’s hard to play against,” Lewis said on Thursday after he put his veterans through their first formal workout of training camp.

The Bruins, who missed the playoffs last season and haven’t made it past the first round of the postseason since 1999, have a new management team in place as they try to re-establish themselves on the Boston sports scene.

Lewis and his staff are new, general manager Peter Chiarelli is new and longtime Bruins leader Harry Sinden has retired into a consultant’s role to owner Jeremy Jacobs.

There also has been a big change on the roster, where free-agent signees Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard come in as big names in new shirts.

Management showed the players video clips Sunday night of Boston sports success in recent years – the Patriots and Red Sox.

The Bruins haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1972 and this group is aiming on bringing the B’s back to prominence.

It all starts with work ethic.

“It’s pretty simple and I think we have to apply it,” said center Patrice Bergeron. “To be hard to play against, you have to be physical, you have to get the puck back each and every time there’s a battle in the corners or wherever it is. That’s a mindset that we need to have during training camp and during the year.”

Brad Boyes was thrilled to see almost the entire roster show up early, getting ready for a brief but brisk opening day.

“I think the guys were excited to come in and see the new Bruins and new faces,” said Boyes, a forward who had 26 goals and a team-high 43 assists for Boston last season.

The imposing Chara, who stands 6-9 and weighs 260 pounds, comes, with Chiarelli, from the Ottawa Senators and gives the Bruins a major presence on the backline. Chara signed a five-year, $37.5 million contract.

“The first thing you notice is his size,” said Chiarelli, quick to add how talented Chara is and how much he will lead this team.

Chara, who had 16 goals and 27 assists last season for Ottawa, said he’s comfortable taking a leadership role.

“For sure, that’s one of the roles I have to fill in,” he said. “I have to lead this team and have the responsibility to take charge, but, for sure, I think it’s not just me, I think it’s everybody else.”

Chara, 29, was one of the leaders of the early workouts.

“I think it’s important to be here early, to get some of the little things organized and not have everything at the same time on the first day of training camp,” he said.

“I think it’s very important to come early, get to know the town, the players and just establish yourself – and you feel, probably, a little more comfortable.”

Talking about the Boston sports video, Chara said, “It means a lot to us and I think for everybody in the town, especially the fans that there’s a lot of history (here) and I think we all realize that we want to bring it back. We want to get back on the winning track and have the fans coming to the games and be excited to come to the games.”

The Bruins, who open the regular season with a five-game road trip, begin preseason play Sunday in Lowell against New Jersey.

AP-ES-09-14-06 1746EDT