6/27 - Kevin Lind

Amerikai védő. Idén 55 meccsen 16 pont (6+10) és 76 perc kiállítás.

Kevin Lind is very good defensively, especially one-on-one. He has the kind of one-on-one play that makes the NHL scouts in the stands literally take note. He's physical to go with it, but it's not his trademark. Top-notch skating skills help him stay in position. Lind has adequate puckhandling and offense, but is likely destined to be a defensive defenseman. He has six goals and five assists in 29 games for the USHL Chicago Steel this year and is +4.

The Steel, who are 13-16-5, need Lind to be better though.

"He's been a slow starter," Steel head coach Steve Poapst said. "There's things in his game that he does need to continue to improve on. He does a lot of good things and has the potential to be a good pro player in the future, but right now he's still a kid and he's still learning. But he's going to be fine as he gets more experience and starts to develop that savvy in his game."

Asked to draw out what he meant by savvy, Poapst said, "Poise and confidence with the puck. Every time you have the puck on your stick, you're not afraid to hand onto it and make that right play -- that's kind of lacking in his game right now. Every time when he goes and retreives the puck, he needs to make a good first pass out of the zone, and he's not doing that or he's not doing it with confidence. He needs to know where that right play is and make it tape to tape or make that play under pressure. That's the part he needs to improve."

The son of an owner of a construction company who played college club hockey, Lind is one of three brothers who all play hockey. He grew up and still lives in the Chicago suburb of Homer Glen.

Committed to Notre Dame for next fall, Lind lives close enough that he's been able to catch a couple of Notre Dame's games, both in South Bend and at the Sears Centre for the Shillelagh Tournament.

Lind, who will be 18 at the end of March, represented the USA this past fall at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament and again at the World Junior A Challenge, where the team won the gold medal.

No. 32 among North American skaters on Central Scouting's midterm rankings, Lind will be participating in the USHL All-Star Game next week in Indianapolis.

Interjú vele:
http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/11788/2010_prospects_kevin_lind/