Skilled and Spirited, Lind Looked Right at Home in WHL Debut with Rebels
March 9, 2021 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Red Deer Rebels News Release
Kalan Lind made his WHL debut last Saturday as a player known for his supreme skill and feisty on-ice demeanour.
Barely 16, Lind never looked out of place while taking a regular shift with the Rebels and also showed off his fiery side by attempting a handful of big hits on larger and older members of the Calgary Hitmen.
"It was pretty nerve wracking at the start," the talented center said of his first-ever major junior contest. "But once I got my first shift I went back to my game and how I need to play . . . just contributing to the team what I could."
Lind was selected by the Rebels sixth overall in last year's WHL bantam draft after notching an eye-popping 68 goals and adding 52 assists for 120 points in only 27 games with the Swift Current bantam Broncos during the 2019-20 season.
"We expected that he would probably get taken before we picked and we were fortunate to have him still there," said Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter.
Lind made the transition to midget AAA with ease last fall and in fact was leading the Saskatchewan league in scoring before the season was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The five-foot-10, 156-pound center recorded seven goals and 14 points in six games with the Contacts. He also had 22 minutes in penalties after racking up 90 in his final season at the bantam level.
"That's probably one of the biggest parts of my game - I don't shy away from physical contact," he said. "Honestly, it gets me going in the game. If I get hit or hit someone, my mind gets right into the game. It gets my feet under me and gets me dialled in for the next shift.
"When I need to be gritty I'll be gritty, but if the team needs me to do something else I'll do it."
Sounds and looks like he could be the whole package.
"I thought he handled himself very, very well, you can tell there's game in him," Sutter said following Saturday's 3-2 overtime win over the visiting Hitmen.
"He's got some tools and he's a competitor, he's fiery. But he's also a very skilled player and he's going to be a very good player in this league."
Not eligible to play full-time in the WHL until the 2021-22 season, Lind would still be with the Contacts if the Saskatchewan Midget AAA League hadn't put the brakes on their season.
"We had a really good team in Saskatoon. We got off to a good start, myself and the team. We had five or six WHL picks in our lineup," said the native of Shaunovan, Sask.
Included among the Contacts forwards were two players selected before Lind in the 2020 draft - Riley Heidt, taken second overall by Prince George, and third overall pick Brayden Yager, a Moose Jaw pick. Yager (4-7-11) and Heidt (3-7-10) were next to Lind in team scoring when the league pulled the plug on the season.
"It was a pretty good team. It was a step up from bantam that I made and now I'm here to make the next step," said Lind.
The future Rebels star felt right at home soon after arriving in Red Deer in February.
"I was pretty nervous coming in here but once all the guys greeted me I kind of started to settle in and feel comfortable," he said. "Now that I'm here I just want to learn from the older guys, learn what I can do better and how I can help the team.
"It's a really good group of guys and they're all good players."
Lind, whose linemates were Dallon Melin and Jaxsen Wiebe, didn't figure in the scoring on Saturday but still appeared on the stats sheet due to a high sticking penalty he was assessed in the second period.
"He tried to make a couple of big hits and the penalty he took . . . it's a competitive penalty for a young guy against a veteran player," said Sutter. "He was standing up for what he believed was a battle at center ice. He just got his stick up a bit, but I like his game.
"You can tell he's going to be a gamer for us."
The Rebels (1-2-1-0) return to action this weekend with a three-game set with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The clubs meet at the Centrium on Friday and Sunday and in Lethbridge on Saturday.
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