Joe Frazier, assisted by a walking cane, looked battle weary as he hobbled into the Flyers' dressing room and enlivened their training camp in Voorhees yesterday.

The former heavyweight boxing champion used one of his favorite rhymes and applied it to hockey.

"You can get your brain shook, your money took, and your name on the undertaker book," he cracked.

Frazier, 65, was later presented a No. 1 Flyers jersey by new goalie Ray Emery. Emery, who has gotten into a few scraps over the years, said Frazier had been one of his boxing idols, and he had Frazier's likeness painted on his helmet. ("I look like I have Chinese eyes," Frazier said.)

"It's really cool. I didn't expect this at all," Emery said. "I'm a big boxing fan, and he's a very historical figure in the sport, someone I've learned a lot about. And coming to Philadelphia, I knew he spent a lot of time here and trained here, and I thought it was fitting to throw him on the helmet. But I definitely didn't expect to have him sitting next to me."

Frazier doesn't know much about hockey. He called Emery the "goal man" and asked to look at his "puck stick." From what he has seen of the sport, he said, he thinks it's tougher than boxing.

"You've got five more guys that hit you at one time," he said. "It's too rough for me. My game is only one guy. One on one. . . . These guys got a different kind of heartbeat from mine."

Emery, who spent the previous night watching films of Frazier's bouts on YouTube, disagreed.

"Boxing I think for sure" is more difficult, he said. "That's the reason I like the sport; there's a lot of skill, a lot of technique involved. Sometimes, you just have to battle."

Frazier, who weighs 215 pounds and claims he could still box three or four rounds, said he was taking 12 pills daily to control diabetes. He lives in North Philly and said he recently closed his gym in that part of the city. The building is for sale.

"The memorabilia in the gym is worth more than the gym," he said. "Rings, pictures, and stuff of champions from all over the world."

Frazier presented Emery with a signed Thrilla in Manila DVD from his classic 1975 fight against his bitter rival, Muhammad Ali.

Before he left, Frazier took a playful jab at Ali.

"He said he's got Parkinson's," Frazier said as he rolled up his left shirtsleeve and showcased his biceps. "Feel that. He's got left hookitis."

Breakaways. The Flyers will bring 33 or 34 players on the road for three exhibitions, starting tomorrow in Detroit. Coach John Stevens plans to bring numerous veterans, "and we'll surround them with players who are trying to make the team." Winger/center Mika Pyorala, 28, who scored 21 goals in Finland last season, is among the newcomers who has impressed Stevens. . . . Stevens is also excited to watch veteran winger Mark Bell in action. "He's a big guy with good hands who thinks the game well," Stevens said. Bell has been working on a line with center Blair Betts and Arron Asham. . . . Defenseman Logan Stephenson, trying to make the team on a tryout contract, won the Flyers' two-mile run in 11 minutes, 30 seconds. Other top finishers: Jon Kalinski (11:32), Mika Pyorala (11:42), Claude Giroux (11:45), Darroll Powe (11:52), and Johan Backlund (11:53). . . . Claude Giroux said that after the Flyers were eliminated by the Penguins in last season's opening round, "I didn't really watch the rest of the playoffs. I was too [ticked] off to watch the games. It'll be a motivator for us this year."