ATLANTIC CITY - Now that Dave Babych's $2.3 million lawsuit has come down to a dispute between the former Flyers defenseman and the team's former orthopedist, the focus has shifted almost exclusively to their locker-room conversation shortly before the start of the 1998 playoffs.

Arthur Bartolozzi, whom Babych is suing for lost wages and damages in Atlantic County Civil Court, testified yesterday that the player never told him he was in too much pain to play before Game 1 of the 1998 opening-round series between the Flyers and Buffalo Sabres.

Babych contends in his suit that his 18-year professional hockey career was cut short by two or three seasons after he was pressured into performing with a broken foot during the Buffalo series.

Last week, on the opening day of this trial before Judge William Todd and a jury of six women and three men, he testified that he was persuaded to take several pain-numbing injections after he had told Bartlozzi he "could not go."

Bartolozzi testified yesterday that he did not try to push players onto the ice if they weren't ready.

"If any player ever told me he couldn't play, I would never let him. He'd be on the ineligible list," said Bartolozzi, who this year stepped down as the team orthopedist for both the Flyers and Eagles. "I've never done that and I never would... . I don't get paid any extra if he plays."

Closing arguments in this case are set for Wednesday. The verdict could have broad implications for the way in which professional athletes and team physicians relate. Last week, one of Canada's largest insurers said it would no longer write policies for NHL team physicians.

Babych's suit initially also named the Flyers' owner, Comcast-Spectacor. But Todd dismissed the corporation as a defendant earlier this week, saying no proof of its liability had been presented.

Bartolozzi and the day's other defense witness, noted foot specialist Mark Myerson of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, countered some of Babych's arguments during their testimony.

Both said it was their opinion that Babych did not need a cast, could not have harmed the fracture further by playing, and was not at risk at all from the many pain-numbing injections he was given before the five playoff games.

Babych contends all those things contributed to the persistent foot problems that ended his career after the 1998-99 season.

"That [navicular] bone is encased by ligaments," Myerson said. "There was no way he could have damaged it. It doesn't move."

During cross-examination by Patrick D'Arcy, Babych's attorney, Bartolozzi said he was paid $15,000 annually by the Flyers and was given various opportunities to market his private practice.

He said he had never been told by Flyers general manager Bob Clarke how to treat an injured player.

"Has Bob Clarke ever asked you to give a player an injection?" D'Arcy asked.

"No, he has not," Bartolozzi said.

Bartolozzi's demeanor on the witness stand was dispassionate except when he was asked if Babych had told him he could not play that night, April 22, 1998.

"I'm not going to put him on the ice if he's hurt," Bartolozzi said emphatically. "Dave Babych wanted to play. My thought process then as always is, 'Can I help him play without causing him harm?' "

Bartolozzi also testified that when he saw Babych at the preseason physical before the start of training camp the next season, 1998-99, "he at no time indicated to me that he was having a problem with the foot."

However, a Flyers medical form for the defenseman noted that his orthopedic examination by the Flyers' medical staff had been "abnormal."

Bartolozzi admitted that except for administered pregame injections of an anti-inflammatory and a novocaine-like medication, he had very little personal contact with Babych. Most of the player's follow-up treatments and examinations, he said, were performed by Flyers trainer John Worley.

"Did John Worley keep daily notes?" D'Arcy asked him.

"I do not know."

"Did you ever see any notes from John Worley?"

"No I have not," Bartolozzi said.

Babych suffered two other broken bones in the same foot the following season. But that took place in January and, as D'Arcy pointed out, Bartolozzi put him on the injured-reserve list shortly thereafter.

"That was not playoff time, was it?" D'Arcy asked sarcastically.