Lance Bouma and Tommy Wingels are physical players who like to talk a little trash when they're on the ice. And their careers prior to this season followed a similar path.
They came into the league in the 2010-11 season and settled in with teams in the Pacific Division _ Bouma at age 20 with the Flames, Wingels at 22 with the Sharks.
So the pair tangled with each other quite a bit over the last seven years. They didn't exactly get along. "I don't know if (our relationship) was that great," Bouma said with a laugh. "I think he could probably say the same thing. We got after it a little bit on the ice."
For years, they would repeat the dance.
Then in July, they both ended up in Chicago _ former enemies, now teammates. And as happens often in hockey, whatever animosity there was disappeared the minute they signed their new deals.
"I don't know if we got into it, into it," Bouma said. "But we would be chirping back and forth. I knew the way he played, respected the way he played. He played hard and I think he'd probably say the same."
Now, Bouma and Wingels are connected both on and off the ice. One is always giving the other grief in the Hawks' dressing room. When Bouma recently said one of his favorite road cities in the league was Edmonton, Wingels interjected: "Did he just say Edmonton? Oh my goodness. No other guy in the league will say that."
Bouma and Wingels have also formed two-thirds of the steady fourth line for the Hawks (along with rookie John Hayden), a line that has played more minutes and earned trust with coach Joel Quenneville than Hawks fourth lines of the past.
"You get excited when a similar guy you know, who thinks the game the same way, signs (on the same team)," Wingels said. "Whatever happened in the past is the past. Maybe there are a couple guys in this league I can't say that about. But certainly 'Boums' is one who whatever may have happened in the past, we put it behind us and we're going to accomplish good things together."
Wingels said what once made them combatants on the ice has made them compatible with the Hawks. "We have similar mindsets on the ice," Wingels said. "He always liked to play hard, play physical and play aggressive, similar style to how I liked to play. ... We've developed a good relationship on the ice, off the ice as well. We've become good friends and we just continue to grow as a line there and we're really happy to be playing with each other."
Happy to be playing with each other, after they were happy to be playing against each other for so long.
"There's guys you hate on other teams but as soon as you play with them in a game or are on the same team, it's pretty easy," Bouma said. "They're all pretty likeable. It's funny how it works that way."
