Whaler

Stephane Fiset sprawled on his back like a turtle, his body spinning and his limbs flailing while anxious eyes focused on him from every corner of the Civic Center. How he made acrobatic saves on Gerald Diduck's 15-foot shot at 13:09 of the third period and Adam Burt's backhander less than two minutes later to preserve the Kings' 3-2 victory over the Hartford Whalers Saturday, no one was sure.

It looks about the same in print. Hartford 4, Mighty Ducks 1. It looked a lot better on the ice, with the Whalers up only 1-0 well into the third period Thursday before 12,328 at Hartford Civic Center. The Ducks competed. They made defensive plays. Somebody besides Teemu Selanne had some scoring chances. And they lost again. The team's six-game losing streak matches the longest in franchise history, set during the first month of the team's existence in 1993.

Defenseman Paul Coffey, acquired in a trade with Detroit on Wednesday, will practice this morning with the Hartford Whalers in Miami, and could play tonight against the Florida Panthers. . . . John Spano, a New Yorker who now lives in Dallas, emphasized that he has no plans to move his newly purchased New York Islanders out of Long Island. Spano announced Thursday the purchase of at least 82% of the Islanders for a reported $82 million from the principal owner, John O. Pickett.

Newly acquired center Keith Primeau signed a multiyear contract with the Hartford Whalers. The Whalers got the Primeau in the four-player deal Wednesday that sent forward Brendan Shanahan and defenseman Brian Glynn to Detroit for Primeau, defenseman Paul Coffey and a No. 1 draft pick. . . . The New York Islanders, who have scored five goals while going winless in their first three games, signed holdout center Travis Green to a one-year contract.

Hartford Whaler left wing Brendan Shanahan and Detroit Red Wing forward Keith Primeau got their wishes Wednesday, but Detroit's Paul Coffey got what may be only a temporary new address. Ending weeks of speculation, the Whalers traded Shanahan and defenseman Brian Glynn to the Red Wings for Coffey--the NHL's career scoring leader among defensemen--Primeau, and a 1997 first-round draft pick.

Ray Sheppard had a goal and an assist in the second period to lead the Florida Panthers to a 3-2 victory over the Hartford Whalers on Monday at Miami. Martin Straka also had two assists for the Panthers, who snapped a four-game losing streak. John Vanbiesbrouck had 25 saves. Sheppard and Straka combined to set up Robert Svehla, who beat Hartford goaltender Sean Burke 3:01 into the period to tie the game at 1-1. Scott Mellanby then gave Florida a 2-1 lead at 6:35 of the second.

The Hartford Whalers haven't made any more appearances in the Stanley Cup playoffs than the Mighty Ducks have the past three seasons. And of course, one of those seasons, the Ducks didn't exist. That doesn't mean the Whalers don't deserve any respect, and the Ducks, of all teams, should know that. Nevertheless, they lost to Hartford, 4-3, Friday night at the Pond in a performance that lacked the purposeful intensity the Ducks showed in a victory Wednesday over Colorado.

The Hartford Whalers haven't made any more appearances in the Stanley Cup playoffs than the Mighty Ducks have the last three seasons. And, of course, for one of those seasons, the Ducks didn't exist. Hartford is trying to play its way back into the postseason this year, and the Whalers won the sort of game they need to Friday night, beating the Ducks, 4-3, at the Pond of Anaheim.

The electricity that filled the Forum Tuesday night for Magic Johnson's return to the Lakers was nowhere to be found Wednesday night, when the Kings staged a flat performance before a sleepy and sometimes sullen crowd. Geoff Sanderson scored twice in the third period, as the Hartford Whalers held off several King comeback attempts and hung on for a 6-4 victory, played before an announced crowd of 11,775.

The slumping Hartford Whalers fired Coach Paul Holmgren on Monday and replaced him with Paul Maurice, a former coach of the Detroit Junior Red Wings. Holmgren had served as coach of the Whalers since 1992 with the exception of a sixth-month period between November 1993, and June 1994, when he served exclusively as the team's general manager. He was 54-93-14 as coach.