For Landon Sim, a sterling NHL camp sets the stage for a big OHL season

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Landon Sim can check.

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He can antagonize, too.

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The next step in his OHL evolution with the London Knights will be filling the net. He showed those skills at the NHL rookie tournament in Traverse City, Mich., in mid-September and his strong play earned him two exhibition games with the St. Louis Blues.

“Last year, I was more in a defensive forward role against the other team’s top players,” said the 18-year-old Nova Scotian, who made his sophomore season debut Friday against Owen Sound at Budweiser Gardens. “I learned that game and have that base, but I know I can score, too. I always had a good scoring touch and getting that confidence in Traverse City and St. Louis, I know I can do it.

“I want to be relied on as a scorer this year, get off to a good start and (be trusted in that role) right away.”

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Sim’s first NHL training camp couldn’t have gone better. He scored a goal in his opening game with the Blues rookies in Michigan against the Columbus Blue Jackets rookies, then lit up the Toronto Maple Leafs Four points for rookies in the second outing.

“I had no expectations and wanted to impress the staff,” he said. “I felt like I was playing a good pro game — scoring, bugging the other team, getting some energy for my teammates — and it went from there.”

His first NHL preseason game was against Arizona and that performance earned him another look in Dallas — where his father Jon won a Stanley Cup in 1999.

“It was such a cool feeling,” said Landon Sim. “You’re playing with guys you’ve grown up watching your whole life. You want to learn from what they do. A lot of them in the lineup had won the Stanley Cup (three years ago with the Blues), so I watched them and just moved my feet like crazy out there.”

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His comfort level couldn’t have been higher. Jon Sim is an amateur scout with the club. Blues coach Craig Berube just happens to be best friends with Knights boss Dale Hunter and London native Mike Van Ryn runs the St. Louis defense.

“Craig is really intense and I like that,” the five-foot-11, 174-pound Sim said. “He’s pushing you and he’s old-school like Dale is. He gets the guys up and going, and he said to me that I had a really good camp, so keep getting stronger and come back with more experience next year.”

Sim scored 12 goals as a London rookie and, with Liam Gilmartin’s trade to Erie this week, ranks second-best among the Knights’ returning players. The NHL foray should give him a boost.

“I’m so excited to start,” he said. “I’m coming off NHL games where the pace is as high as it will be, so I’m hoping to bring that back with me and keep elevating my game.”

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