Chatham-Kent March Athlete of the Month Voting

Below are CKSN’s nominees for the March 2014 Chatham-Kent Athlete of the Month.

Voting will continue until Monday, April 7, with the winner being named Tuesday, April 8. Poll votes, comments below, as well as Facebook comments (www.facebook.com/cksportsnetwork) and Twitter Retweets (www.twitter.com/cksportsnetwork) will be counted as votes. See below the poll for monthly accolades for each athlete.

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Nominees in Alphabetical Order and Monthly Highlights:

Hannah Doforno (Chatham) – Playing for the U19 Chatham Thunder, Doforno proved she is one of Southwestern Ontario’s top scoring ringette players, as she powered her Thunder team to a provincial silver in mid-March. Doforno scored 11 goals in 7 games at the provincial tournament, including two in the final.

Dane Fox (Thamesville) – Fox finished the opening round of the OHL playoffs leading the league in playoff points. Through five games he had 6 goals and 6 assists, including the game winning goal, one coming in overtime, in the Erie Otters’ first two playoff wins. In seven regular season games in March, Fox also had 6 goals and 6 assists, giving him a total of 24 points in 12 games this month.

Seth Griffith (Wallaceburg) – Playing for the American Hockey League’s Providence Bruins, Griffith had the best month of his professional career, climbing as high as fifth in AHL rookie scoring. Griffith finished the month with 8 goals and 8 assists for 16 points in 12 games, including a 4 goal, 5 point performance on March 9 against the Adirondack Phantoms. Griffith also was a game star multiple times in March.

Emily Kirkpatrick (Chatham) – Kirkpatrick paced the Chatham-Kent Wildcats Major Bantam girls basketball team to two medals in March, picking up a gold in Guelph and a bronze at the difficult Blessed Sacrament tournament. In Guelph, Kirkpatrick averaged 10.2 points per game, including a spectacular 18-point, 11 rebound performance in the gold medal game. At the Blessed Sacrament tournament, Kirkpatrick again scored close to 10 points per game, leading her team to bronze.

Chad Laprise (Chatham) – In one of the month’s biggest events, Chad Laprise defeated Kajan Johnson, with a spectacular knockout on the UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter: Nations. With the win, Laprise advances to the show’s finale, and will have a chance to win a UFC contract.

Brady Pataki (Wallaceburg) – Pataki led the Chatham-Kent Cyclones Minor Midget ‘AAA’ team to the OHL Cup semi-finals, leading the team in goals and points en route. He sky rocketed up many scouts draft charts and now projects as a top half pick in April’s draft. The hulking forward was a game MVP finished with 8 points in 6 games at the OHL Cup.

Jamie Schaafsma (Blenheim) – Playing for the Allen Americans of the Central Hockey League, Schaafsma had 17 points, 9 goals and 8 assists in 14 games in March. Schaafsma had four multi-point games in the month, including a four point performance March 19 against Wichita.

Derrick Van Every (Ridgetown) – Van Every, a Ridgetown product scored multiple points in almost every game he played for the Ridgetown-Blenheim Chiefs Juvenile team, leading them to an OMHA title in March. After scoring a goal and an assist in the series opener, Van Every scored 5 points in a series tying game, which sparked the Chiefs to win the remainder of the series in straight games. In the deciding game on March 29, Van Every scored four goals, lifting the Chiefs to an OMHA title.

Derek Whitson (Chatham) – Whitson competed this month with Team Canada at the 2014 Sochi Paralympics in Ice Sledge Hockey. Whitson was one of Canada’s ice time leaders on the blueline, helping his country win a bronze medal, defeating Norway in the bronze medal game. Whitson’s individual highlight came March 8 when he picked up two assists in a dominating preliminary win over Sweden.