Lance Bouma

Lance Bouma (born Lance Gordon Bouma on March 25, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre currently playing for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He was a third round selection of the Calgary Flames (78th overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Amateur
Lance was a second round selection of the Vancouver Giants at the 2005 Western Hockey League (WHL) Bantam Draft.

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.

Lance 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.

Even 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.

Lance 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.

After improving to 12 goals and 35 points in 71 games for the Giants in 2007–08, Lance was selected by the Calgary Flames in the third round (78th overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Lance 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.

Professional
Upon his team's elimination from the 2010 WHL Playoffs, Lance played his first professional games, joining the Flames' AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat, for five playoff games. He scored one goal, against the Hamilton Bulldogs in the second round of the AHL playoffs.

Lance 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.

Not known for his offence, Lance 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.

He made his NHL debut two nights later against the Los Angeles Kings and scored his first point, assisting on a Mikael Backlund goal, on February 7th against the Chicago Blackhawks. It was the only point he scored in 16 NHL games with the Flames.

Lance 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.

Lance scored his first NHL goal on January 7, 2012, against Niklas Backstrom of the Minnesota Wild in a 3-1 victory. He 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.

Lance played only three games for the Heat before suffering a serious knee injury. He missed the remainder of the season and required two surgeries to repair his medial collateral and Anterior cruciate ligaments.

Returning healthy for the 2013–14 season, Lance 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".

On August 27, 2014, the Flames re-signed him, who was a restricted free agent, to a one-year contract worth $577,500.

Following the 2014–15 season, Lance became a restricted free agent under the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement. The Calgary Flames made him a qualifying offer to retain his NHL rights, and on July 5, 2015, he filed for Salary Arbitration.

With two successive disappointing seasons driven by injury and a lack of production on June 30, 2017, the Flames announced Lance was placed on unconditional waivers to buy-out the remaining year of his contract.

On July 1, 2017, he signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Blackhawks.