A certain element. That's diplomatic hockey-speak for a player whose job is to drop his gloves and pound the stuffing out of an opponent who is often the other team's guy who brings that certain element.

The Flyers brawled their way to two Stanley Cup championships in the mid-1970s. Some of those Flyers were even hauled into court in Toronto.

The club still glorifies fighting on the video board at the Wachovia Center, but the game has changed dramatically since the Broad Street Bullies captured the hearts of their fans by ripping the hearts out of any team that got in their way.

Bench-clearing brawls have been legislated out of the game, and the third man in on a fight faces a game misconduct. Still, there remains a place in the NHL for the guys who bring that certain element.

The Penguins, the Flyers' opponent in the Eastern Conference finals that begin tomorrow night in Pittsburgh, have the game's most feared fighter in Georges Laraque, who carries 245 pounds behind his bad intentions. Laraque's tough-guy reputation is such that few among the league's fighters will even take him on. One of them is the Flyers' Riley Cote.

Laraque and Cote fought twice this season. Laraque won each time, but Cote held his own and gained the respect of the Penguins winger, who called Cote the toughest guy in the league pound-for-pound and expressed his admiration for him.

"It was a huge compliment coming from him," Cote said yesterday. "You know, fighters fight, but there's a respect there. I mean, he's been doing his job for a number of years. If I saw him off the ice, I'm sure we'd be buddies. But going into games, we do our jobs.

"I guess he respects that I don't back down. I hang in there, and not too many guys do that with him. He's a huge guy, probably the toughest in the league. And he plays hard. He's a classy, respectful guy."

What impact does fighting have on a game? On one's teammates? And does it matter whether your guy wins or loses?

"The impact of fighting can be positive in a lot of ways," said Keith Jones, a former Flyer who is a studio analyst for Versus. "And I don't think it really matters who wins. It can change the momentum of a game or even a series. And fighting can go a long way in boosting your teammates. The crowds love it, and the energy they get from it can be transferred to the players."

Even though fights break out simply because guys get on each other's nerves, Jones believes that most hockey fights take place for a reason. Mess with the star players, crash the goalie, and there's often a price to pay. In the locker room, fighters are frequently the most beloved players on the team because of their willingness to literally put their heads on the line for their teammates.

"To go out there and bare-knuckle brawl on a rink is not the easiest thing to do," Flyers coach John Stevens said. "So whether he wins or loses, just the fact that he's willing to do it inspires his team."

Although there were no fights in the Flyers-Montreal series, Jones said the Canadiens came to Philadelphia for Game 3 with their heads on swivels after Montreal's Tom Kostopoulos sucker-punched the pacifistic Kimmo Timonen in the face after R.J. Umberger cinched the Flyers' Game 2 win in Montreal with a goal.

"With all the media coverage that punch got, I'm convinced the Canadiens were expecting the Flyers to retaliate when the series came to Philly for Game 3," Jones said. "And I think some of their top players were intimidated by that."

The Flyers won the next two games.

Fighting in the playoffs has become less frequent over the years. The stakes are too high. Power-play units are too good. So a fighter who fights in a close game simply to settle a personal score is perceived as selfish because he has put his team at a disadvantage.

So far, Stevens has played Cote in only three of the Flyers' 12 playoff games. The coach hasn't said whether he plans to use him against Pittsburgh. Laraque, who can do more with his hands than ball them into fists, has yet to fight in the playoffs. He has only two minor penalties and is getting the least ice time among the Penguins.

"If I get in the playoffs, it's not going to be about me going after Georges Laraque or him coming after me," Cote said. "I can do more than that to benefit my team by being a physical presence and checking, wearing out their [defensemen] and just keeping things honest. It doesn't mean we have to fight right off the bat for no reason. That's not what the playoffs are all about. You deal with things as they come. It's a different game in the playoffs. You have to be responsible and disciplined. And they've got a killer power play.

"If something needs to be taken care of, it kind of works itself out. That's the business."