Chiefs coach Sauter on All-Decade team
Hardy Sauter, in his second season as head coach of the Spokane Chiefs, has been named to the Central Hockey League’s All-Decade second team.
Sauter spent 10 seasons playing professionally (1995-2005), nine with Oklahoma City in the CHL. The Maryfield, Saskatchewan, native was a nine-time all-star and two-time CHL defenseman of the year (1996-97, ’97-98) and is the league’s all-time leader in all scoring-related categories by defensemen.
During one stretch he played in 347 straight games, and overall played in 590 of a possible 598 games during his Blazers career.
While finishing his playing career, Sauter served as a player/assistant coach for the Blazers from 2000 through 2004 and then as assistant director of hockey operations/assistant coach/player in 2004-05.
Hockey
The Spokane Jr. Chiefs Bantam AAA team placed fifth out of 16 teams last weekend at the International Bantam AAA Holiday Classic in Seattle.
Spokane had a 2-1 record in round-robin play, beating teams from Los Angeles and Seattle, then defeating Boise 2-1 in an elimination-round game of the tournament for players 14 and younger. The Jr. Chiefs were eliminated by eventual tournament champion Colorado 3-2 in a shootout.
Players are Austin Breen, Matt Chamberlain, Codee Cornell, Taylor Everhart, Chandler Forsyth, Erich Jaeger, Michael Knutson, Bobby LaRue, Trevor McManus, Daniel Nachbaur, Riley Ollero, Tyler Peltram, Kurtis Redding, John Ryskamp, Kienan Scott, Kane Ulrich and Keanu Yamamoto. Gary Redding is the coach.
College scene
Oceana Bush, Washington State’s freshman defensive specialist/libero from Lewis and Clark, was named to the All-National third team by the new Internet volleyball magazine COBRA, which showcases the talents of black players.
Seven other Pac-10 players were on the three teams, including Washington sophomore Bianca Rowland, one of five from the Pac-10 on the first team.
Softball
Randy Harnasch of Rockford, an umpire for 25 years and a deputy umpire in chief for 11, has been named the new umpire in chief of the Spokane Amateur Softball Association.
Commissioner Fuzzy Buckenberger made the announcement, selecting Harnasch to replace Chuck Stewart, who retired after 16 years in the position.
Harnasch has served as an umpire in chief at one ASA national tournament, umpired in 11 nationals, and served as an assistant UIC and/or umpire coordinator in a half-dozen others.
He is a former president of the Spokane Softball Umpires Association and received the ASA’s Northwest Region 15 Award of Excellence in 2007.