Deal could move Penguins to Hartford

Long-suffering Hartford Whalers fans could be forgiven for belting out a few bars of their old team's ''Brass Bonanza" theme song after hearing yesterday's news. A Massachusetts developer wants to buy the Penguins, and if he can't make a deal to keep the team in Pittsburgh, NHL hockey could return to Hartford for the first time since the Whalers went south, literally, in 1997. Lawrence Gottesdiener told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he owns a great deal of property in Hartford, so moving the team there makes sense for him. Late last year, Gottesdiener told Connecticut officials he had a plan to bring an NHL team to the city if they would help him build a 16,000-seat arena in Hartford, where his company, Northland Investment Corp., of Newton, owns about $87 million worth of real estate, according to Hartford city records. The Whalers moved to North Carolina and were renamed the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997 . . . Ottawa Senators goaltender Dominik Hasek practiced without pads and hopes to return for the playoffs after missing nearly two months with a groin injury.

Los Angeles Dodgers closer Eric Gagne will miss 6-8 weeks after having surgery to remove a nerve from his pitching elbow. The nerve that was removed was the same one that was moved during a 2005 season-ending operation June 24 . . . Infielder Brandon Phillips, a one-time starter who never fulfilled expectations in Cleveland, was traded by the Indians to the Cincinnati Reds for a player to be named or cash.

Connecticut junior forward Josh Boone said he will make himself eligible for the NBA draft. The 6-foot-10-inch Boone hasn't hired an agent, giving him the option of returning for his senior season . . . Joakim Noah, Al Horford, and Corey Brewer -- three sophomores on Florida's national championship team who had been projected as first-round NBA draft picks this summer -- will return for another season . . . Former Indiana coach Mike Davis will take over UAB's basketball program, returning to his home state after a rocky tenure with the Hoosiers.

Junior Adam Ottavino struck out a career-high 14 and walked just three en route to the eighth no-hitter in Northeastern history as the Huskies beat James Madison, 2-0, in Brookline . . . Richard Pitino, the son of Louisville coach Rick Pitino, will accompany Duquesne basketball coach Ron Everhart from Northeastern.

Shaquille O'Neal was fined $15,000 for criticizing referees and an NBA senior vice president after the Miami center was called for five fouls in the Heat's loss to New Jersey Sunday . . . The Washington Wizards placed forward Caron Butler on the inactive list with a right thumb sprain and activated forward Awvee Storey.

Quarterback Brett Favre, 36, has scheduled a morning news conference for today, during which he is expected to announce whether he'll return to play for the Green Bay Packers this season . . . Jim Clack, a guard on two Super Bowl-winning Pittsburgh Steelers teams in the 1970s who had fought neck and throat cancer for about four years, died of heart failure. He was 58.

One of Bode Miller's top sponsors said it decided not to renew its contract with the 2005 World Cup overall skiing champion. Italian pasta maker Barilla, which signed Miller in 2003, declined to pick up an option to renew the deal by the March 31 deadline. The current agreement ends July 31. One of the favorites at the Turin Olympics this winter, Miller went home empty-handed but boasted of getting to ''party and socialize at an Olympic level." . . . Kasey Kahne qualified first in Fort Worth for the Samsung/RadioShack 500 with a fast lap of 190.315 miles per hour . . . Jens Lehmann was picked by Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann over Oliver Kahn to be his starting goalkeeper at this year's World Cup.