This is posted on the Kamloops this week website:Garand earns Kamloops Blazers' goaltending gig; Palaga, Ramsay to join junior A squads
Marty Hastings / Kamloops This Week
September 25, 2018
The two Dylans have the net.
Goaltenders Rayce Ramsay, 17, and Max Palaga, 18, were released from the Kamloops Blazers’ active roster on Monday and acquired by junior A teams, ending a competition for the No. 2 job on Mark Recchi Way.
Dylan Garand, 16, will back up Dylan Ferguson, the 20-year-old Vegas Golden Knights’ prospect.
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Palaga, from Kamloops, will join the Vernon Vipers of the B.C. Hockey League and Ramsay, from Saskatoon, will play for the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
“For Max, it’s important that he’s playing, especially at his age,” Blazers’ general manager Matt Bardsley said. “We wanted to make sure he was in a good spot. I know Vernon does a good job.”
“For Rayce, he had an excellent training camp, exhibition as well. We still have their rights. They can come up at any time should there be a need, whether it’s injury or illness or anything like that.”
Garand, from Victoria, was the only WHL-drafted goalie pushing for the Blazers’ No. 2 job, selected by former Kamloops GM Stu MacGregor in Round 3 of the 2017 bantam draft.
While Ferguson was away last November on a whirlwind tour of the NHL, Garand, then 15, was twice called up to the Blazers and played in three games, finishing with a .877 save percentage.
He recorded his first WHL win against Red Deer on Nov. 10, making 31 saves in a first-star performance.
“He’s been excellent,” Bardsley said of Garand, who earned an invite to Hockey Canada’s under-17 development camp in Calgary in June. “We’re excited about the future of Dylan [Garand], for sure, but the same with Rayce and we know Max has experience, as well.
“It certainly wasn’t an easy decision. They all proved that they can play in the league.”
There are 24 players on the Blazers' roster, including two goaltenders, eight defencemen and 14 forwards.
Max Palaga's Player Profile:
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