Draft Day Big For Miller, Chiefs

Goaltender Aren Miller, who spent the year as a backup to David Lemanowicz, was the first of the Spokane Chiefs to go in Saturday’s National Hockey League draft.

Miller, 18, went to the Detroit Red Wings as the 52nd pick, the last selection of the second round.

While Miller celebrated in St. Louis, Lemanowicz had reason to smile back home in Vancouver after signing with the club that drafted him ninth last year, the Florida Panthers.

Terms were not announced. The signing may be an indication that Florida will take a longer look at Lemanowicz in training camp, with the idea of keeping him in the organization, Chiefs general manager Tim Speltz said.

Lemanowicz is eligible to return to Spokane as an over-age player.

Chiefs forward Trent Whitfield was the 101st pick of the draft, a fourth-round selection by Boston.

Spokane defenseman Chris Lane went in the sixth round, also to Boston. Left wing Jay Bertsch was New Jersey’s eighth-round pick.

Former Spokane forward Jared Hope, whose Western Hockey League rights now belong to the expansion Edmonton Ice, was a ninth-round selection by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Aren was really happy, really excited, to go that high,” said Speltz, in St. Louis for the draft.

Defenseman Scott Parker, a recent graduate of Deer Park High School who played last season with the WHL Kelowna Rockets, was taken by New Jersey in the third round.

, DataTimes