Landon Sim credits suspension-related ‘wake-up call’ for offensive spark

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In the early part of the Ontario Hockey League season, Landon Sim was widely known as the London Knight suspended for calling an opposing player a “Mennonite.”

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More recently, he has been one of the hottest scorers in the junior ranks. There is some co-relation to his bizarre five-game sit-down in the fall and this latest offensive flurry in January.

“It was a wake-up call to be smarter,” said the 20-year-old forward, who has seven goals in his past seven outings. “I used those five games to work out, get my body ready for the rest of the season and it’s been paying off. There is still a lot more work to do and I have to keep pushing here.”

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Did Sim have any interaction with the Mennonite community after the story of his ban went viral?

“Yeah, I had a couple reach out to me,” he said. “Some of them were just saying they weren’t mad and making funny jokes about it.”

Sim’s offensive prowess is no laughing matter. He scored his team-leading 20th goal – matched two periods later by defenceman Sam Dickinson – in a 7-3 win Sunday at Sault Ste. Marie, where the Mennonite controversy originated Nov. 6 during London’s last visit.

“It feels pretty good,” the overager said. “Other than the suspension and a little injury at the start of the year, the season has been moving pretty smoothly. We have a really good team here and I’ve been scoring. I’ve kind of figured it out a little bit, how to play my physical game and put up points at the same time.

“We’ve just got to keep going.”

ANSWER THE BELL: Eric Boulton joked last year that, when he played for Mark Hunter in Sarnia in the mid-1990s, he would have to finish all the fights that Jon Sim – Landon’s dad – started.

That’s no longer the case with their sons. Though Ryder Boulton is more than willing to drop the gloves, Landon Sim has developed into one of the OHL’s most effective fighters and is the Knights’ penalty minute leader.

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“Being a smaller guy and the way I play, you have to be able to stick up for yourself,” the five-foot-11, 174-pound Sim said. “Guys know that around the league and it opens up more space for myself on the ice. I’m not afraid to do it.”

This past summer, he went home to New Glasgow, N.S., and worked out with renowned local boxer Brody Blair, partly to get in shape and also to learn to find holes in opposing fighters’ defences.

“I had trained with him as a younger kid,” Sim recalled, “and that’s how I learned to throw punches. I would put the gear on and fight and grapple a little bit.

PRO STYLE: Every NHL organization wants an agitator, especially one who can score.

Sim was originally property of the St. Louis Blues, but that team allowed his signing rights to expire. He was invited to the New Jersey Devils camp in the fall.

Former Knight Max McCue went through the same situation last year. He had been selected by San Jose, but after the Sharks refused to sign him, put up a 27-goal, 110-penalty minute overage season with OHL champion London.

Now, he is leading the Columbus Blue Jackets’ American league affiliate Cleveland in penalty minutes as a rookie.

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Sim is on a similar free agent path.

“I’m getting some traction,” he said. “I have to keep getting better and better. Being on a good team helps. We have so many good players, it’s a special group and hopefully everything will work out and fall into place the way I want it to go.”

During the course of his time in junior, coach Dale Hunter has used him on every line and in every special teams situation.

“I know whatever gets thrown at me or whatever I’m told to do, I’ll try to do it as best I can,” he said. “That’s a really good trait to have that will help me moving to pro. It’s been a great year so far.”

BOUNCE BACK: The Knights started their busiest week of the season with a loss at Kitchener before sweeping all three games on their northern Ontario trip.

They won the last two in Sudbury without Maple Leafs first-rounder Easton Cowan, who is nursing a lower-body injury.

“We don’t lose often but when we lose a tough game like that against a rival, it can help in some ways,” Sim said. “Our game in North Bay was just OK, but then we came back with two really good games. We have some tough ones coming up (starting Friday against Erie at Canada Life Place) and have to make sure the boys are dialled in.”

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The Knights want to solidify their first-place spot and establish their game down low, which is where Sim excels.

“We can score all sorts of ways,” he said, “but what hurts other teams is when we’re working in the corners every shift, cycling pucks and wearing teams down. That’s what wins you games in the playoffs and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”

COMMITTED: London goaltender Austin Elliott, who owns a 20-0 record since joining the Knights this season, has committed to the NCAA’s University of Massachusetts Lowel River Hawks for the 2025-26 season. The 20-year-old from Strathmore, Alta., is the reigning OHL goalie of the week and has a 2.27 goals against average and .916 save percentage with the Knights.

rpyette@postmedia.com

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