ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, March 27, 1997               TAG: 9703270073
SECTION: SPORTS                   PAGE: B-4  EDITION: METRO 
                                             TYPE: IN SPORTS
SOURCE: FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTS

WHALERS SET TO LEAVE HARTFORD

Hartford Whalers owner Peter Karmanos raised the stakes too high. His wish list grew too long.

Gov. John G. Rowland announced Wednesday that Connecticut cannot afford to appease Karmanos any longer, and instead has decided to say goodbye to the state's only major-league sports franchise.

After two months of negotiations, the sides said they remained far apart on several issues, with the main sticking points linked to a new arena deal. The NHL team has agreed to pay a $20.5 million penalty to leave at the end of the season, a year before its four-year commitment expires.

Karmanos said he has not negotiated a deal with any other city yet, but is familiar with the presentations made to the NHL by the nine cities seeking expansion franchises.

Nashville, Tenn., St.Paul, Minn., and Columbus, Ohio, have been mentioned frequently as sites jockeying for the Whalers. Karmanos said he would like to have a new home by the end of June.

In other hockey news:

Avalanche-Red Wings: Goaltenders Patrick Roy of Colorado and Detroit's Mike Vernon were among the main combatants in a first-period brawl between the Avalanche and Red Wings that resulted in 22 penalty minutes in Wednesday night's game.

Detroit's Darren McCarty knocked down Colorado's Claude Lemieux and the Red Wings' Igor Larionov bloodied the Avalanche's Peter Forsberg during the 10-minute melee.

Wednesday night's game marked the first time Lemieux had played in Detroit since he nailed the Red Wings' Kris Draper with a backside cross check in last season's playoffs. The hit resulted in major facial and oral surgery for Draper.

For the game, Detroit was assessed 19 penalties totaling 73 minutes while the Avalanche served 75 minutes and 20 penalties.

McCarty scored the game-winner as Detroit won 6-5 in overtime.

In other Red Wings news, the team announced it had exercised its option to extend the contract of Brendan Shanahan through the 1999-2000 season. Shanahan, 28, leads the Red Wings in scoring with 45 goals and 38 assists and is eighth in the league in scoring.

LENGTH: Medium:   53 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  ASSOCIATED PRESS. Detroit goaltender Mike Vernon 
          delivers a blow to Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy during a 
          first-period melee Wednesday night in Detroit. The Red Wings won the
          fight-filled game 6-5 in overtime.