By Nathan Kanter

Alm’s exceptional season shouldn’t surprise

Nov 23, 2016 | 5:52 AM

On May 8, 2015, Lance Alm found himself refreshing the web page on his computer more often than normal.

It was the day of the WHL Bantam Draft, a day when the league’s website or social media were the quickest ways to find out if you’d been selected.

But Alm wasn’t doing it to check for his own name.

“I was seeing some of my close friends in the first round go, like Cole Fonstad and Carson Focht,” Alm said after AAA Stars practice on Tuesday afternoon at the Civic Centre. “We met each other through the SaskFirst program and we were playing Team Sask together so it was nice [to see them get picked]. Now we see each other in the summer and train together and skate together so we have a nice relationship.”

Fonstad was chosen with the fifth pick by the Prince Albert Raiders and Focht was chosen with the seventh pick by the Tri-City Americans and both have stuck with their WHL clubs this season as 16-year-olds.

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Later that same day, Alm would see his own name pop up on the screen, as the Edmonton Oil Kings selected him in round four as the 76th pick.

“I went into the draft kind of not knowing,” Alm said. “I wasn’t too sure where I’d go or if I’d go at all. So it was nice when I saw the name come up. It was an exciting day for me for sure.”

Alm is now in his second season as the starting goaltender for the AAA Stars, after winning the number one job last season.

The 16-year-old grew up on a farm in Rockhaven, Sask., not far from North Battleford, situated roughly 50 km southwest, smack in the middle between Cut Knife and Wilkie.

Despite playing his minor hockey in Wilkie, the first time he ever strapped on the pads was actually at the Civic Centre.

“Our Wilkie team practiced in [North] Battleford and we came out and I didn’t know how to put any of the equipment on,” he laughed. “But I got it on and I remember it was pretty fun.

“When I stuck on the goalie equipment, I knew that was what I wanted to do.”

Going from Bantam AA to Midget AAA is a significant adjustment for all players, but it’s perhaps the toughest for a goaltender.

When Alm got his first taste of midget AAA action last season, he said the toughest thing was realizing literally everyone had some zing on their shot.

“[In] Bantam AA, you’ll have the top players and then the guys that are still good, talented players, but they’re not as strong,” he explained. “Once you get to AAA, everyone can shoot and everyone can do everything. So it’s not just one player usually taking the game, it’s the whole team of players.”

Last year, the Stars had another rookie goaltender, Jake Taylor, so at first Alm didn’t get the starts. He played in just eight games in September, October and November, and faced just over 34 shots per game.

That sounds like a significant amount of pucks being thrown his way – and it is – until you look at his shots faced this season.

In 2016-17, Alm is first in the league in saves and shots faced by a country mile.

His 565 shots faced in 14 games are 142 more shots than the second most in the league. His 524 saves are 140 more than the second most saves made by any goaltender. At 40.36 shots faced per game, it’s no wonder his record on the season is only 5-6-2.

Miraculously, his save percentage is still an impressive .927, which ranks fourth in the league among goaltenders who have played seven or more games.

“With Lance being back there, we have the confidence that he’s going to stop the majority of the shots, like he has all season, which allows us to just try to play our game,” Stars head coach Jean Fauchon said. “We’ve got to help him out a little bit more because he has faced so many shots this year, but he’s really stepped up his game this year and I’ve been very impressed with him so far.”

The interesting thing is that Alm likes facing a lot of shots.

He said by having to stay sharp all game long, it actually helps his development.

“You get better if you have lots of shots,” he said. “Having less shots, you‘re not as busy and you can’t improve to make it to the next level.”

So what is the next level?

At just 16-years-old, Alm is still in Grade 11 at John Paul II, so after this season the options are most likely either the WHL with the Oil Kings, or the SJHL with the Nipawin Hawks, who drafted him in 2015 and have his rights.

Whether it’s one or the other depends on how the rest of the season goes.

Alm is hoping for the higher level of the two, but he also knows neither option will come easy.

“I think I have a good chance of playing in Edmonton but obviously it’s how I finish off the year and how the summer goes,” he said. “If not, hopefully I’ll be playing in Nipawin and we’ll see how that goes but nothing is a guarantee. Obviously you’ve got to work hard and hopefully make that next step as a 17-year-old.”

If Alm keeps stopping this many pucks, a betting man would put his money on Alm moving out of province next fall.

Nathan Kanter is battlefordsNOW’s sports reporter and voice of the Battlefords North Stars. He can be reached at Nathan.Kanter@jpbg.ca or tweet him @NathanKanter11.