Sandrock, Chiefs To Talk About Defenseman’s Future

The Spokane Chiefs’ fast start and impressive depth has left Rob Sandrock at a crossroads.

Does he take a demotion to a tier II team and remain in the Chiefs’ plans, or does he press for another opportunity in the Western Hockey League this season?

Sandrock, 17-year-old defenseman, is at home in Williams Lake, British Columbia, after the Chiefs decided that he was a year away from helping them.

General manager Tim Speltz said the 6-foot, 193-pound Sandrock is a future impact player, “a guy who can eventually quarterback your power play.”

Speltz and Sandrock, who was unable to crack a lineup of veteran defensemen in Spokane, are to talk today.

The Chiefs settled on a backup goalkeeper this week.

Aren Miller is the No. 2 man behind David Lemanowicz after Blaine Russell was retuned to Kimberley of the Rocky Mountain Junior League.

Miller, bigger and a year younger than Russell, put up the better numbers in releif stints.

In 99 minutes of playing time, Miller has a 2.42 goals-against average and a .926 saves percentage.

“Russell will be traded in the next couple of days,” Chiefs coach Mike Babcock said.

Chiefs hang in Top 10

The Chiefs fell two spots, but remained in the Top 10 rankings compiled by the Canadian Hockey League, the umbrella organization for North America’s 49 major junior teams.

Four Western Hockey League clubs are ranked including the Brandon Wheat Kings (third), Kelowna Rockets (sixth), the Chiefs (eighth) and Kamloops (10th).

The Guelph Storm (14-1) of the Ontario Hockey League held the No. 1 spot.

The rich get richer

The Kamloops Blazers, whose top line of Hnat Domenichelli, Jarome Iginla and Bob Maudie racked up 14 points Monday night in a 6-1 win over the Saskatoon Blades, got some more good news Tuesday.

Defenseman Nolan Baumgartner is on his way back from the NHL Washington Capitals.

Baumgartner, 19, played sparingly with Washington - former Seattle Thunderbird Brendan Witt was ahead of him - but he’s an offensive defenseman who’ll jazz up the Blazers’ power play.

Baumgartner, who signed a 4-year agreement over the summer with the Caps that included a $700,000 signing bonus, puts Kamloops among WHL West contenders.

Notes

With eight assists in his last seven games, Sean Gillam moved past Brent Gilchrist into the ninth spot in career assists with 112 … Kris Graff’s 47 minutes in the penalty box is an average of just less than 8 minutes a game. … Defenseman Hugh Hamilton has the Chiefs’ best plus/ minus ranking (16). The Chiefs have scored 16 more goals than they’ve allowed with the steady Hamilton on the ice. Randy Favaro is second at plus-10, followed by Greg Leeb at plus-9. … The Chiefs lead the WHL in killing penalties at home. Spokane has snuffed 54 of 62 opposition power plays in the Arena, an 87 percent success rate. … It’s another story on the road, where Spokane penalty killers are next-to-last in the WHL. … Jared Hope (concussion) is experiencing dizziness and has yet to resume workouts. Hope is expected to miss another 3-5 weeks. … It’ll be another 11 weeks before Joe Cardarelli (fractured ankle) is reactivated. … At last glance, former Chief Greg Gatto was dominating the Canada West University Athletic Association. Gatto, playing for Lethbridge, was leading the league in goals, assists and power-play goals last week. … Ex-Chief Derek Descoteau is also with Lethbridge of the CWUAA.

Around the WHL

When WHL scoring champ Daymond Langkow returned to the Tri-City Americans last week it was as team captain. That didn’t go over too well with Brent Ascroft, who had worn the captain’s C until Langkow’s arrival. Ascroft left Friday night’s game with Portland after the second period. Following a Saturday morning meeting with club officials he was back for Tri-City’s win over the Chiefs on Saturday night. … Hant Domenichelli of Kamloops burned Saskatoon with a goal and 5 assists Monday night after notching a goal and 4 assists in his previous game. … Jeff Chynoweth, who worked in the office for the Spokane Chiefs a decade ago, has joined his father, Ed Chynoweth, with the WHL expansion team in Edmonton that opens for business next season. Jeff is vice-president of marketing. … Ed Chynoweth will continue to run major junior hockey as president of both the Canadian Hockey League and the Western Hockey League until the end of the season.

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