Lance Bouma’s time in professional hockey has gone from great to… less so.
Bouma was a feel good story, making the NHL just a couple of seasons after being drafted and cracking the lineup every now and then. Remember his first NHL goal? It was the same game Jarome Iginla scored his 500th – maybe he wasn’t on the same caliber as Iggy, but he had a bright future ahead of him. It looked as though he was to stay in the NHL when the lockout season happened, and then suffered a season-ending knee injury after just three AHL games – but he came back the following season, looking every bit the functional bottom six player he had the potential to be.