Prospect Info: Chase Lang (Signed to 3-year ELC)

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tyratoku

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May 28, 2010
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Chase Lang
Calgary Hitmen
6th Rd. 167th Overall
Twitter Profile

Year | Team | GP | G | A | P | PIM
2012-2013 | Calgary Hitmen | 44 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 10
2013-2014 | Calgary Hitmen | 68 | 10 | 15 | 25 | 52
2014-2015 | Calgary Hitmen | 63 | 25 | 31 | 56 | 61

  • Eliteprospects.com Player Profile
    Birthyear: 1996-09-13
    Birthplace: Nanaimo, BC, CAN
    Age: 17
    Nation: Canada
    Position: RW/C
    Shoots: R
    Height: 185 cm / 6'1"
    Weight: 83 kg / 183 lbs
  • Leaders Step Forward for Retooling Calgary Hitmen (August 2013)
    There is that inevitable time during a junior hockey career when a young man must assume a larger, more significant responsibility. In Chase Lang’s case, that time is now.

    The Calgary Hitmen put a capper on their training camp on Tuesday at the Don Hartman Sportsplex with their annual Black versus White intra-squad game, Team Black eking out a 6-5 victory. Lang contributed with a goal and an assist and earned kudos from his head coach, who is expecting big things this season from the soon-to-turn 17-year-old.

    “I’m definitely very eager,†admitted the 6-foot winger. “Coming from last year, I wasn’t getting a lot of ice time. But getting a bigger role on the team would definitely mean a lot to me. Just keep working hard and earn my spot.

    “I definitely have a lot more experience. I picked up from what (the veterans) taught me; keep working hard over the summer and come to camp ready.â€
  • Chase-ing down a dream (September 2013)
    Chase Lang is doing his best to ignore the enormity of this season.

    As a 17-year-old Western Hockey League player, the NHL draft is always looming at the end of the campaign.

    But the Nanaimo product is more concerned about carving out a bigger role as a two-way centre with the Calgary Hitmen with their season starting tonight in Edmonton against the provincial rival Oil Kings.

    "I'm just trying to work my way up in the lineup and prove to the coaches that I deserve some ice time and just show them what I can do and do the best job that I can," he said.
 
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tyratoku

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MN
Based on replies, it seems like nobody is excited about Lang. :laugh:

Granted, there isn't much to go on beyond the comment about his PK/defensive work, but that Calgary squad was loaded with talent last season. Virtanen might just stay with Vancouver, and Sanheim might stay with Philadelphia, but even without those guys it looks like Calgary lost six guys this off season (including our new prospect Brady Brassart).

Losing that many guys and bringing in new players will give opportunities to the veterans like Lang. Coaches love defensive responsibility and if he showcases that early on I could easy see him get an expanded role. Hopefully he can handle it.

EDIT: Also found two older news articles about him and his rising confidence and role in the team. Added it to the OP if anybody is interested.
 
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CornKicker

Holland is wrong..except all of the good things
Feb 18, 2005
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thought i would come by here for you guys and let you know that you got a steal with Chase Lang. you could tell last year that he had offensive potential just waiting to get tapped into. He plays a gritty game and has a great release and speed. Just like the oilers who took Greg chase before his break out year, you guys did the same. 7pts in 5 games and the last goal he scored was an absolute laser wrist shot. you guys got a steal.
 

tyratoku

Registered User
May 28, 2010
7,683
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MN
thought i would come by here for you guys and let you know that you got a steal with Chase Lang. you could tell last year that he had offensive potential just waiting to get tapped into. He plays a gritty game and has a great release and speed. Just like the oilers who took Greg chase before his break out year, you guys did the same. 7pts in 5 games and the last goal he scored was an absolute laser wrist shot. you guys got a steal.

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CornKicker

Holland is wrong..except all of the good things
Feb 18, 2005
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i see 80% of the hitmen home games so i'll stop by periodically with updates, good or bad.
 

MuckOG

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May 18, 2012
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Jarick needs to get the 2014-2015 Prospects Thread up and running.....
 

Sharppi

4 more years of Dub.
Jul 15, 2011
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Future #1 C for sure. :sarcasm:

Thanks for the report, appreciated. Always nice to hear some good developmental news.
 

Keke

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tyratoku

Registered User
May 28, 2010
7,683
49
MN
The chart was posted over on the prospects board and I got a few people to talk about Lang for a bit. Here are their posts (mine at the top for context)
Have you seen him play? I assume so, but never know for sure.

Would you say he is mostly leeching off/benefiting from playing with the better players that you spoke of, or is he actually playing better and doing this himself?
Yes - I am a season ticket holder with the Hitmen so I see them play quite frequently and generally see all the players in the WHL at least once per year (thus, disclaimer: my viewing time is biased towards Calgary players, central division players, and eastern conference players).

I would say it is about a 50/50 split - he is playing much better and playing bigger minutes, especially since they moved him to the wing a few games back. But he's also playing with better players and benefiting from that - there's a big difference when your winger is Jake Virtanen than when it's Jordy Stallard, but you still have to be able to work with the elite players and Lang is showing that he can.
It's a fine line.

While there is no doubt Lang's role has increased this year, that can essentially be said for 85% of the players listed above. I would definitely say the ratio isn't 50-50. Lang has taken an astronomical leap forward. I know scouts based in Calgary who didn't see anything in him last year, yet Minnesota picked him, and he's proving to be a very astute grab.

There's a .39 difference in Lang's PPG increase compared to the next "first-year" eligible guy on the list, Justin Kirkland. That's a massive difference and really shows that him and Chartier are in very unique company.
In my views (watch Hitmen to see Virtanen), I don't think the line is that fine.

Lang was a good player last year playing down the lineup, now he's just getting better reps. I don't think Virtanen as an example plays all that much into it, considering he's kind of a hard player to play with.

I mean yes, playing with good players helps, but I also think having a bigger role does that much more for him.
 

R S

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Sep 18, 2006
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As a WHL expert how would you comment his play? Any NHL potential? And thank you for this list!

I've liked him this year, although I've only had the chance to see him live once. He was a guy that I didn't rank in my final rankings last year due to a lack of views...so I haven't ever really had a good handle on his game.

But, the big jump in production is obviously a good sign. While it's partly due to an increased role and more ice time, it's also due to improved strength and overall growth in his game. As far as NHL potential, that's obviously a tough thing to pinpoint this early. But he's a noted strong defensive player and is rounding out the offence, safe to say things are coming along nicely for him.
 

denominator

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I'm not sure where I stand on this guy.

Some games, it looks like the Wild got one heal of a steal in him. Other games, it looks like they were nuts picking him at all.

In the past couple of games they've moved him from centre to the right wing and he seems to play better there. It could be an aspect of the Hitmen having more playmaker-type centres than wingers and Lang (who plays like a powerforward) needs that playmaker to truly excel, or it could be that he's not a natural centre.

He's got a much better shot than I expect, and now that he's gained some size he's playing a grinder type game and isn't afraid to get into the corners. For any prospect hounds out there, he looks a lot like Virtanen-lite.

Having watched both Lang and Brassart for a few years, I think Lang has a better shot at making the NHL, especially as a 3rd/4th guy that can jump on in PK situations.
 

CornKicker

Holland is wrong..except all of the good things
Feb 18, 2005
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i stopped tracking him when he went to the vancouver giants but he is 1pt shy of his season total last year and looks to be playing great. still think you guys got a player in teh 6th round
 
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