Lance Bouma

Lance Bouma
Born March 25, 1990
Provost, AB, CAN
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Left
NHL team Calgary Flames
NHL Draft 78th overall, 2008
Calgary Flames
Playing career 2010–present

Lance Gordon Bouma (born March 25, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was a third round selection of the Flames, 78th overall, in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and made his NHL debut in January 2011. As a junior, he was a member of the Vancouver Giants team that won the 2007 Memorial Cup.

Playing career

Amateur

Bouma was a second round selection of the Vancouver Giants at the 2005 Western Hockey League (WHL) Bantam Draft.[1] He spent the majority of the 2005–06 season playing midget hockey in the Rural Alberta Midget Hockey League, but appeared in five games as a 15-year-old for the Giants, scoring one goal and four points.[2] He became a regular for the Giants in the 2006–07 WHL season, appearing in 49 regular season games and 22 playoff games as the Giants reached the WHL final. Though the team lost to the Medicine Hat Tigers for the league championship, they qualified for the 2007 Memorial Cup as the host team, and defeated the Tigers in the final for the Canadian Hockey League championship.[3] Bouma finished second on his team in rookie playoff scoring behind James Wright. Additionally, he played for Team Alberta at the 2007 Canada Games hockey tournament, scoring two goals as the team finished in fourth place.[4]

After improving to 12 goals and 35 points in 71 games for the Giants in 2007–08, Bouma was selected by the Calgary Flames in the third round, 78th overall, of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.[5] He remained in junior for two more seasons, and served as the Giants' captain in 2009–10, in which the team reached the third round of the WHL playoffs before bowing out to the Tri-City Americans.[6]

Professional

Upon his team's elimination from the 2010 WHL Playoffs, Bouma played his first professional games, joining the Flames' AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat, for five playoff games.[2] He scored one goal, against the Hamilton Bulldogs in the second round of the AHL playoffs.[7] Bouma joined the Heat full-time for the 2010–11 AHL season, and with 11 goals through his first 49 games, was approaching his best career best goal total at any level.[8]

Not known for his offence, Bouma relies on his physical play and willingness to drive the net, qualities that earned him his first recall to the NHL on February 3, 2011, when he was assigned to join the Flames.[9] He made his NHL debut two nights later against the Los Angeles Kings,[10] and scored his first point, assisting on a Mikael Backlund goal, on February 7 against the Chicago Blackhawks.[11] It was the only point he scored in 16 NHL games with the Flames.[12]

Bouma split the 2011–12 season between the Heat and the Flames. In Abbotsford, he recorded three goals, three assists and 53 penalty minutes in 31 games. In Calgary, he appeared in 27 games and scored three points.[12] Bouma scored his first NHL goal on January 7, 2012, against Niklas Bäckström of the Minnesota Wild in a 3-1 victory.[13] Bouma was expected to make the Flames roster for the start of the 2012–13 NHL season, however a labour dispute resulted in his being assigned to Abbotsford instead. He played only three games for the Heat before suffering a serious knee injury.[14] He missed the remainder of the season and required two surgeries to repair his medial collateral and Anterior cruciate ligaments.[15]

Returning healthy for the 2013–14 season, Bouma established himself as a regular in the Flames lineup with his physical, two-way play and was praised by coach Bob Hartley as being the team's "most improved player".[16] On August 27, 2014, the Flames re-signed Bouma, who was a restricted free agent, to a one-year contract worth $577,500.[17]

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2005–06 Vancouver Giants WHL 5 1 3 4 0 — — — — —
2006–07 Vancouver Giants WHL 49 3 5 8 31 22 3 3 6 12
2007–08 Vancouver Giants WHL 71 12 23 35 93 10 0 1 1 8
2008–09 Vancouver Giants WHL 48 9 16 25 116 17 7 5 12 30
2009–10 Vancouver Giants WHL 57 14 29 43 134 16 4 13 17 47
2009–10 Abbotsford Heat AHL — — — — — 5 1 0 1 2
2010–11 Abbotsford Heat AHL 61 12 8 20 53 — — — — —
2010–11 Calgary Flames NHL 16 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
2011–12 Abbotsford Heat AHL 31 3 3 6 53 — — — — —
2011–12 Calgary Flames NHL 26 1 2 3 11 — — — — —
2012–13 Abbotsford Heat AHL 3 1 0 1 2 — — — — —
2013–14 Calgary Flames NHL 78 5 10 15 41 — — — — —
NHL totals 121 6 13 19 54 0 0 0 0 0

Statistics complete to the end of the 2013–14 season.

References

  1. ↑ Flett, Cory and Watts, Jessie (ed.). 2009–10 WHL Guide. Western Hockey League. p. 140.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Lance Bouma player card". Calgary Flames Hockey Club. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  3. ↑ "2007 Memorial Cup History". Canadian Hockey League. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  4. ↑ "Lance Bouma draft prospect card". National Hockey League. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  5. ↑ "Draft notebook". Victoria Times-Columnist. 2008-06-22. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  6. ↑ "Tri-City down Vancouver to reach first ever WHL final". The Sports Network. 2010-04-26. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  7. ↑ Gaffar, Ifraan (2010-05-07). "The Heat win in the valley". News1130. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  8. ↑ Tucker, Cam (2011-02-04). "Lance Bouma jumps from Heat to Flames". Abbotsford Times. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  9. ↑ Tucker, Cam (2011-02-04). ""A dream come true" for Abbotsford Heat’s Lance Bouma". Abbotsford Times. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  10. ↑ Cruickshank, Scott (2011-02-06). "Bouma finds debut memories last a lifetime". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 2011-02-06.
  11. ↑ MacFarlane, Steve (2011-02-08). "Flames into playoff berth". Calgary Sun. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Lance Bouma player card". National Hockey League. Retrieved 2013-10-05.
  13. ↑ "Jarome Iginla becomes 42nd player with 500 career goals". ESPN. 2012-01-07. Retrieved 2013-10-05.
  14. ↑ Sportak, Randy (2012-10-24). "Bouma injured in Abbotsford". Calgary Sun. Retrieved 2013-10-05.
  15. ↑ Odland, Kristen (2013-09-13). "Paul Byron looks to ‘seize opportunity’ at Flames training camp". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 2013-10-05.
  16. ↑ Cruickshank, Scott (2014-01-25). "'Booms' roars into equation". Calgary Herald. p. C3.
  17. ↑ "Flames sign Lance Bouma". flames.nhl.com. August 27, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2014.

External links