Goaltender Braden Holt signed No. 40 Everett Silvertips and Tyler Palmer No. 31 Victoria Royals jerseys following the Western Hockey League game Sunday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
The only thing is Holt plays for the Royals and Palmer for the Silvertips following the December trade in which they switched clubs. But old memories linger on, not only for fans, but also the two goaltenders involved.
Palmer got the upper glove hand in the 5-2 Silvertips victory and it felt sweet.
“There was obviously extra motivation for this game, this is one game I wanted to get, but I tried to stay as calm as possible,” said Palmer, who made 23 saves.
The emotions were just as high in the other crease.
“I knew this is one game in which I had to emotionally dial back a bit and just treat it as another game,” said Holt, who made 29 saves.
Asked if there was any chirping between himself and his former teammates, even good-natured, Holt replied: “Very briefly.”
Palmer came to outside the Royals dressing room following the game and hugged several of his former teammates.
“It was a bit of a reunion,” he said. “It was tough leaving and I’m happy to be back. There are no hard feelings.”
Palmer had a 4.22 goals-against average and .876 save percentage this season in 16 games for Victoria in his second year with the club. The native of Fernie sports a 3.24 goals-against average and .902 save percentage in 23 games for Everett.
Holt followed Canadian world junior gold-medallist and now Philadelphia Flyers NHL goaltender Carter Hart and Calgary Flames-prospect AHL goaltender of the year and U.S. world junior gold-medallist Dustin Wolf in the recent starry history of the Everett crease. Holt had a 3.57 goals-against average and .892 save percentage in 28 games this season to start his second campaign in Everett. He has a 4.12 goals-against average and .881 save percentage in 21 games for Victoria.
Holt and Palmer are both 19-year-olds and strong candidates to return to their respective clubs next season as 20-year-old over-agers.
Palmer and the Silvertips (29-24-3) have clinched a playoff berth but Holt and the Royals (15-37-7) fell 10 points behind Kelowna, with the Rockets holding three games in hand, in the Royals’ rapidly-diminishing hopes of capturing the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference with only nine games remaining. Victoria is 12 points behind seventh-place Vancouver with the Giants holding four games in hand.
The Royals are at the Langley Events Centre to face the Giants on Friday night followed by the return engagement against Vancouver on Saturday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
