Fred Shero

ON TUESDAY, the Hockey Hall of Fame's 15 voting members will meet in secrecy in Toronto to vote on the 2012 induction class. Former Flyers coach Pat Quinn and Jim Gregory, co-chairs of the selection committee, will announce the class just after 3 o'clock on Tuesday afternoon in a live news conference. The class undoubtedly should include Fred Shero, the man who led the Flyers to back-to-back Stanley Cups. Here's a snippet from a column that this writer wrote, which appeared in the Daily News on Nov. 10, 2010: It's time.

Former Flyer Terry Crisp reportedly has emerged as one of the leading candidates to replace Butch Goring as coach of the Boston Bruins. Goring was fired Wednesday night after the Bruins, off to a 5-7-1 start, lost in Buffalo, 8-3. Crisp, 43, currently under contract to the Calgary Flames, is the coach of Moncton in the American Hockey League, an affiliate the Bruins and Calgary share. The Boston Globe reported yesterday that Crisp is one of the candidates being considered by general manager Harry Sinden, and possibly could be the leading candidate.

The 1974 and '75 Flyers won back-to-back Stanley Cups and captivated the city. The Broad Street Bullies will live forever in Philadelphia, much as coach Fred Shero promised the players that if they won the deciding Game 6 over Boston in '74, they would walk together forever. Given the remarkable way this season's Flyers have advanced to the finals, the Daily News asked members of the 1974-75 teams to talk about their counterparts. On this page, owner Ed Snider talks about how he has changed, his champions and the team he hopes will join them in Philadelphia sports lore.

Phantoms forward Tony Voce was dismissed from the club this week by general manager Paul Holmgren after instigating a fight with coach Kjell Samuelsson following an argument at practice. "They had a disagreement on the ice over how the practice was going," Holmgren said yesterday. "Most of it was on the ice. Sammy tried to say, 'Hold on and I'll talk to you in my office' and it never got to that point. " Holmgren met with the 26-year-old left wing to discuss the matter and then sent him home.

The Flyers will have a favorable early-season schedule - nine of their first 13 games are at home - when they open defense of their Eastern Conference championship in 2010-11. It will be the Flyers' first full season under coach Peter Laviolette, who took over Dec. 4 and directed the team to within two wins of their first Stanley Cup since 1975. The team released its schedule Tuesday for its 44th season, and it includes one matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks, who defeated the Flyers, four games to two, in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Bob McCammon and Pat Quinn are two men who never figured to wind up at the same place at the same time. In 1978, the Flyers chose McCammon over Quinn when they were looking for a coach to replace Fred Shero. Quinn went to Maine, where he coached the Flyers' minor league team until being promoted when McCammon was fired halfway through his first season. McCammon eventually returned to coach at Maine, and then replaced the fired Quinn late in the Flyers' 1981-82 season. Yesterday, Vancouver Canucks president Quinn announced the selection of his new head coach replacing Tom Watt: Bob McCammon.

As expected, Flyers coach Bill Barber is a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, given to the NHL coach of the year, and Roman Cechmanek is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, given to the league's top goalie. Barber is competing with Ottawa's Jacques Martin and Detroit's Scotty Bowman, the league announced yesterday. Cechmanek is up against New Jersey's Martin Brodeur and Buffalo's Dominik Hasek. Bowman and Martin are previous Adams winners; Hasek has won five of the previous seven Vezinas.

Twelve-time all-star Joe Sakic was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Tuesday in his first year of eligibility, joining Mats Sundin, Pavel Bure and Adam Oates as the newest class of inductees. Oates' election capped a spectacular day as he had been named coach of the Washington Nationals on Tuesday morning. The four former NHL stars were chosen by the Hall's 18-member selection committee in Toronto. The induction ceremony will be held Nov. 12. Most prominent among those passed over was former Flyers and Rangers coach Fred Shero.

What could be a perfect encore to the Flyers' announcing that John LeClair had re-signed with them? How about Bill Barber being named coach of the year in his rookie session? The 48-year-old Flyers coach won the Jack Adams Award last night at the NHL award ceremony at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Barber's victory gives Philadelphia three coach-of-the-year winners this year, along with the Eagles' Andy Reid and the Sixers' Larry Brown. "It really hasn't hit home yet," Barber said after the ceremonies.

Twelve-time all-star Joe Sakic was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Tuesday in his first year of eligibility, joining Mats Sundin, Pavel Bure and Adam Oates as the newest class of inductees. Oates' election capped a spectacular day as he had been named coach of the Washington Nationals on Tuesday morning. The four former NHL stars were chosen by the Hall's 18-member selection committee in Toronto. The induction ceremony will be held Nov. 12. Most prominent among those passed over was former Flyers and Rangers coach Fred Shero.

ON TUESDAY, the Hockey Hall of Fame's 15 voting members will meet in secrecy in Toronto to vote on the 2012 induction class. Former Flyers coach Pat Quinn and Jim Gregory, co-chairs of the selection committee, will announce the class just after 3 o'clock on Tuesday afternoon in a live news conference. The class undoubtedly should include Fred Shero, the man who led the Flyers to back-to-back Stanley Cups. Here's a snippet from a column that this writer wrote, which appeared in the Daily News on Nov. 10, 2010: It's time.

THE DAY WAS May 9, 1974. Bobby Clarke had just scored two goals against the Boston Bruins in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals, including the game-winner in overtime. The Flyers had not won a game in Boston in 7 years and 19 attempts, and that moment is widely viewed as the turning point of a series that brought the Flyers their first Cup. That day, his coach, Fred Shero, said, "You know, Clarke is the best player in the league, not just from me . . . [The Russians think] Clarke, he's the best we have over here.

DETROIT - The Flyers tried to protect a special segment in the franchise's history Sunday night. But despite the first two-goal game of Brayden Schenn's young career, it didn't happen. The Detroit Red Wings tied an NHL record with their 20th consecutive home win, 4-3, at the reverberating Joe Louis Arena. They equaled the record shared by the 1975-76 Flyers and 1929-30 Boston Bruins. Johan Franzen snapped a 3-3 tie just 52 seconds into the third period, taking a touch pass from Nicklas Lidstrom in front and tapping it past Sergei Bobrovsky.

SUNRISE, Fla. - Fifteen games into the season, Team Makeover has more pluses than minuses, more reasons to believe they are on the right track. The Flyers have had to overcome a slew of injuries - most notably to captain Chris Pronger - and an uneven beginning to goalie Ilya Bryzgalov's tenure here. They haven't been as efficient as their hated intrastate rivals - the Dan Bylsma-coached Penguins haven't skipped a beat despite their own injury woes - but they have managed to get points in 11 of 15 games.

AS A PROGNOSTICATOR, Chuck Newman made a great sportswriter. The occasion was the dramatic run-up to the Flyers' stunning first Stanley Cup win in 1974. Chuck had confidently picked the New York Rangers in the semifinals and the Boston Bruins for the Cup. The Flyers beat the Rangers in seven games and then the Bruins, despite the presence of the immortal Bobby Orr, in six to take the Cup. "Even the bookies won't handle my action anymore," Chuck wrote in his column in the Inquirer.

Penguins general manager Ray Shero , whose deft handling of the salary cap and midseason hiring of coach Dan Bylsma in 2008-09 helped Pittsburgh win its first Stanley Cup in 17 years, has agreed to a five-year contract extension that runs through the 2015-16 season. Shero's current five-year contract, signed at the start of the 2006-07 season, would have expired at the end of this season. The Penguins have twice played for the Stanley Cup and won it once under Shero, an assistant general manager in the NHL for 14 seasons before being hired by the Penguins.

The Flyers will have a favorable early-season schedule - nine of their first 13 games are at home - when they open defense of their Eastern Conference championship in 2010-11. It will be the Flyers' first full season under coach Peter Laviolette, who took over Dec. 4 and directed the team to within two wins of their first Stanley Cup since 1975. The team released its schedule Tuesday for its 44th season, and it includes one matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks, who defeated the Flyers, four games to two, in the Stanley Cup Finals.

DON'T FRET about those "Broad Street Bullies," that rowdy gang of Flyers who won it all, back-to-back. They will continue to walk together forever, because the mystical coach promised them that. And because they are beloved for who they were and what they accomplished. If the current Flyers rally to win the Stanley Cup, they will walk right alongside them for who they are and the way they spit in the eye of adversity. Just don't ask the current bunch to brawl their way to a championship.