Fred Shero

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.

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.

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.

He hadn't started a game in nearly a month. He hadn't played more than 20 minutes in the last seven days. Given that, no one would have blamed Flyers goalie Brian Boucher if his lanky legs and glove hand had gotten so rusty that he couldn't play a sound game last night against the Chicago Blackhawks. Just the opposite was the case. Boucher played his strongest game in more than three months. He was brilliant much of the way at the United Center as the Flyers won their third consecutive game, 5-1. "Brian played absolutely stellar for us," coach Bill Barber said.

Larry Bowa's selection as National League manager of the year gave Philadelphia a sweep in the major professional sports in the last year. Bill Barber is the reigning NHL coach of the year, Larry Brown holds that honor in the NBA, and Andy Reid was the NFL coach of the year. They were asked to talk about success and coaching styles. 1. How do you define coaching success? BILL BARBER: "It's trying to get your players to buy into a situation that best suits you and your team and maybe not necessarily their individual game.

At this point, it might take more than Keith Primeau to make the Flyers the team they were a couple of months ago. Primeau, out since suffering a left knee sprain on March 26, practiced yesterday and once again voiced optimism about playing in tonight's Game 3 of the Flyers' first-round playoff series against Buffalo. The Flyers trail the Sabres, 2-0, going into games on back-to-back nights at HSBC Arena. "If you ask me, pretty darn close to 100 percent," Primeau said when asked about his chances of being in the lineup tonight after skating for a fifth successive day. "We have to win this game," coach Bill Barber said yesterday, and Primeau said he did not want to sit and watch a full season of hard work possibly go for nothing.

Flyers would have been on thin ice without Bobby Fans forget how significant general manager Bobby Clarke has been in transforming Philadelphia into one of North America's most respected hockey bastions. Attending Game One of the opening playoff round, I was thrilled to see Clarke in the upper deck, and to have my son see a living legend. What a shock then, when the Flyers were losing, to have a fan yell, "Hey, Clarke, I want my money back!" The Flyers were a lackluster expansion team until they "took a chance" on Clarke, a diabetic overlooked by all the other National Hockey League teams.

The Eagles' 13-12 victory over Dallas had Philadelphia fans floating down Broad Street. However, Fox analysts John Madden and Howie Long believe it is too early to bury the 'Boys. Madden said yesterday it's "premature" to rule out the 4-4 Cowboys making the playoffs. Madden and longtime partner Pat Summerall will be calling the Dallas-San Francisco game on Sunday (Channel 29, 4 p.m.) "If they were in a division where someone else was in position to take it over, you could say that they're starting to slip," Madden said.

Terry Murray is running another Flyers practice. It is kind of hard to tell. Murray hardly blows his whistle. And when he does, he barely makes the little pea inside it move. He often points a player to a spot on the ice by using the tip of his stick. He rarely shouts, other than to say, "Here we go!" or "Let's go, guys!" He mostly looks at his stopwatch when his team does windsprints. You would think that Murray would be mighty tempted to whip the Flyers into a mad-dog froth now that they need only four more victories to reach the Stanley Cup finals.

Fifteen years ago, when Bobby Taylor was playing even less than Mark Laforest is now, Fred Shero was asked why he picked the day of an NBC- televised game in Boston to give Bernie Parent what seemed like his first rest since the initial sabbath. "Because it's Taylor's turn," Shero said. After watching Ron Hextall for the last 15 games, it was Laforest's turn last night. He had a good one, too, unquestionably as thrilling as one of those amusement rides that spin you around until the floor drops out and you are left pinned to the wall.