Chatham-Kent Sports Year in Review: March

e-hopeWith spring threatening to make an appearance, it March was still dominated by winter sports. Derek Whitson won sledge hockey bronze at the Paralympics, OHL news poured in, and the Ridgetown-Blenheim Chiefs won an OMHA title in their inaugural season.

Here are the top headlines from Chatham-Kent sports in March:

• Brendan Johnston Makes OHL Debut: Port Lambton’s Brendan Johnston, a Wallaceburg student, and Chatham-Kent Cyclones alumni, made his OHL debut with the Windsor Spitfires.
• Derek Whitson wins Paralympic Bronze: Chatham’s Derek Whitson won a bronze medal for Team Canada’s Ice Sledge Hockey team at the 2014 Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.
• OHL Again On CK’s Agenda: A closed council meeting with Chatham-Kent’s council discussing a new OHL sized arena, and land acquisition for that arena was a hot topic of discussion, due to relocation talks with an undisclosed OHL franchise.
• Blenheim Novices Win OMHA Title: The Blenheim Novices won a Provincial OMHA ‘CC’ title, defeating Twin Centre in the final.
• OHL Career Ends For Kyle Hope: Blenheim’s Kyle Hope played his final OHL game, compiling 299 career games with the Owen Sound Attack and Oshawa Generals.
• Ridgetown-Blenheim Chiefs Win OMHA championship: The Juvenile Ridgetown-Blenheim Chiefs knocked off Drayton in front of a packed house in Ridgetown to claim the OMHA Juvenile championship.
• Hope Signs First Pro Contract: Only days after his OHL career ended, Blenheim’s Kyle Hope signed his first professional hockey contract, inking a deal to close out the season with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters.