Year In Review: February 2016

As February rolled in, hockey hit full stride, and a round of high school seasons came to a close. Here are a look at some of the biggest stories from Chatham-Kent sports in February 2016.

Kyle Dawson named Great Lakes Junior C Rookie of the Year – Dawson, a Dresden student-athlete had an incredible run in his rookie Junior C season with the Dresden Jr. Kings scoring 21 goals and 18 assists for 39 points in 39 games. His totals were good for 11th overall in league scoring, and earned him an offseason signing with the GOJHL’s London Nationals.

Hockeyville Money Hits Home – One of the top stories from 2015 was Chatham-Kent being the runner-up for Kraft’s Hockeyville, winning $100,000 for arena upgrades. From the money, Chatham’s Memorial Arena received new accessible entrance doors on the east side of the building, additional heaters added to the west and south ends of the rink where presently there is no heat and spectators like to sit in these areas, and a large free-standing marquee display with scrolling digital capabilities located in front of the arena close to Tweedsmuir Avenue.

Brett Hope Turns Pro: Blenheim’s Brett Hope left school, where he was captaining the NCAA’s Buffalo State College Bengals. After a stint with the SPHL’s Fayetteville FireAntz, Hope signed with the Federal Hockey League’s Brewster Bulldogs.

Maple City Cage Fighting Continues To Grow – After earning early attention and praise, Chatham’s MMA organization, Maple City Cage Fighting continued to find success locally, including during the month of February, when local Steve Eldridge won an exciting MCC title fight.

LKSSAA Titles – Several high school sports seasons wrapped up, including the UCC boys curling team finishing a perfect season, and the Lambton-Kent Cardinals (boys) and UCC Lancers (girls) winning hockey titles. Off the ice CKSS swept LKSSAA volleyball championsips.