One of the stars of the Kimberley Dynamiters is moving on to the American Collegiate Hockey Association next season, as Brock Palmer announces his commitment to the University of Las Vegas Rebels (UNLV).
Palmer had an incredible season with the Dynamiters this past year. He was named player of the month in February, just before their season met an untimely end due to COVID-19. He also won League and Division MVP awards and was a leading scorer for both league and division.
After three seasons with the Dynamiters, Palmer is their highest scorer of all time, with 237 points comprised of 102 goals and 135 assists.
Palmer said he was in talks with UNLV as early as Christmas time last year. He had initially intended to go to U of L but then decided on UNLV, where he will head later this summer.
“I honestly don’t know too much at this point,” Palmer said with a laugh. “I’m taking a history of rock and roll class to get a head start on the school year just to get some extra credit.
“Probably a little bit of both, it’s going to be pretty crazy moving to Vegas and I don’t think I’ve wrote an essay for probably three years so it’s going to be interesting going to school there as well. I’m kind of nervous for it, I don’t know how the schooling’s going to be down there, I haven’t been to school in a while so I don’t know how I’m going to do but I’m looking forward to it.”
Looking back on his time in this city, Palmer said the thing he will remember most is the atmosphere of Kimberley, its rink and its fans.
“I don’t know if you can top that going to any other place or any other program,” he said. “So definitely I’m going to miss that about Kimberley. I mean, winning the championship my first year too, you can’t forget that. Those things are pretty special.”
This year, it’s hard not to think the Dynamiters were set to take it all the way and clinch the championships. They were the leading team in the league, and were on track to get Palmer’s second championship, but unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to the playoffs.
“It’s definitely sad,” Palmer said. “And I mean in my last year in Kimberley, not knowing that it was going to be my last game in a Dynamiters jersey kind of sucks, but it sucks for a lot of people so can’t really take it too hard.
“It’s too bad because we had a pretty good team going into it. I think we had a pretty good chance. I think our record was 17-1-1 against the remaining teams that were left in the playoffs. We had a good team so it was sad definitely.”
It was also announced that Jack Verstraet has signed with UNLV and will be joining Palmer in the upcoming season.
In other Dynamiters news, it announced that 2001 forward Tyler Russell will return to the Nitros, coming from the Osoyoos Coyotes.
READ MORE: Kimberley Dynamiters are KIJHL regular season champions again
READ MORE: Palmer caps brilliant season with Dynamiter Player of the Month for February
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