Lance Bouma

Playing career

Bouma entered the WHL after the Vancouver Giants picked him in the second round of the 2005 bantam draft. He spent most of his first season in the Rural Alberta Midget Hockey League, but as a 15-year-old he did suit up for five games with the Giants, putting up a goal and four points. The following season he became a full-time Giant, skating in 49 regular-season contests and 22 playoff games as the club pushed all the way to the WHL final. Vancouver fell to the Medicine Hat Tigers for the league title, but because they were hosting the 2007 Memorial Cup they still got a shot at the national championship. They beat the Tigers in the final to claim the Canadian Hockey League crown. Bouma finished second among Giants rookies in playoff scoring, trailing only James Wright. He also represented Team Alberta at the 2007 Canada Games, scoring two goals as the province placed fourth. After bumping his production to 12 goals and 35 points over 71 games in 2007-08, the Calgary Flames selected him in the third round, 78th overall, at the 2008 NHL Draft. Bouma stayed in junior for two more years, serving as the Giants’ captain in 2009-10. That season the team reached the third round of the WHL playoffs before falling to the Tri-City Americans. Once his junior season ended, Bouma turned pro with the Flames’ AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat, playing five playoff games and scoring once against the Hamilton Bulldogs in the second round. He joined the Heat full-time for the 2010-11 AHL campaign and had 11 goals through his first 49 games, approaching a personal best. On February 3, 2011, the Flames called him up to the NHL. He made his debut two nights later against the Los Angeles Kings, and on February 7 he recorded his first NHL point, an assist on a Mikael Backlund goal against the Chicago Blackhawks. That assist was his only point across 16 games with Calgary.