Skid Costs Holmgren Post With Whalers

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.

The Whalers began the year with four consecutive victories but went 1-6-1 after that, losing on Sunday to the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-1.

Holmgren came to the Whalers in 1992 after four seasons as coach in Philadelphia.

Tennis

Pete Sampras returned to the top spot in the ATP Tour in rankings released the day after he’d won the Paris Open.

It marks the first time he has held the No. 1 slot since April.

Sampras beat Boris Becker in Sunday’s final. With last year’s winner, Andre Agassi, sidelined and losing the ATP Tour ranking points, Sampras gained enough to pass him for the No. 1 spot.

Jurisprudence

With Mike Tyson watching, boxing promoter Don King blamed his accountant for making up $350,000 in expenses to cheat Lloyd’s of London of the money after a 1991 championship bout was canceled.

The defense rested late in the day after King completed three days of testimony. He was the only witness called by defense lawyer Peter Fleming Jr.

Closing arguments are set for Wednesday.

King, 64, continued to blame his employees for filing an insurance claim after a 1991 bout between Julio Cesar Chavez and Harold Brazier was canceled because Chavez cut his nose while training.

King said he knew nothing about his company, Don King Productions Inc., filing documents with insurance adjusters claiming Chavez had been paid $350,000 in training expenses that could not be recovered.

College Basketball

The NCAA has requested transcripts from interviews and other documentation from California in the case involving basketball star Tremaine Fowlkes, who admitted receiving money from former sports agent James Casey to help buy a sport-utility vehicle last spring.

There are conflicting stories in the case, which was submitted by Cal to the NCAA Eligibility Committee in hopes of restoring Fowlkes’ playing status. Usually a school reaches a conclusion before the case is submitted to the NCAA.

Fowlkes said Casey is a longtime family friend and the gift was not in violation of NCAA rules.

Fowlkes, from Crenshaw High, was declared ineligible by the school Oct. 5 and will be unable to play in Cal’s first exhibition game Friday night against a Brazilian team unless a conclusion in his favor is reached before then.

Baseball

Anheuser-Busch secretly contacted prospective buyers for the St. Louis Cardinals weeks before it announced it was selling the ballclub, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Chairman August Busch III and chief financial officer Jerry Ritter quietly began contacting potential buyers the team several weeks before the company said Oct. 25 that the team was for sale, the paper reported.

Texas Ranger Manager Johnny Oates has received a one-year contract extension through the 1997 season.

Names in the News

Basketball Coach Joey Meyer has signed a new four-year contract, DePaul University announced.

Retired racer Bill Cheesbourg, who drove in the Indianapolis 500 seven times in the late 1950s and early 1960s, died of cancer in Tucson at 68.

Kirk Wilson’s Bay Wolf from Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club held a strong lead among monohulls halfway through the Long Beach YC’s 804-mile sailing race to Cabo San Lucas.

John Lilley has been lent by the Mighty Ducks to the Ice Dogs for an indefinite period. Lilley, 23, played with the Ducks in 22 games between 1993 and 1995 and scored three goals with eight assists. Most recently he was with Baltimore in the American Hockey League.

Viatcheslav Ekimov of Russia made up an eight-second deficit on Daniele Nardello of Italy in the final day’s time trial to win the inaugural Kent Tour of China cycling race.