Injury fells London Knights veteran, expected to miss four weeks

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The London Knights could be missing 10 regulars when their Ontario Hockey League season begins Friday at home against Flint.

One of those absences is more definitive – and it’s not good news for the defending OHL champions.

Over-age forward Landon Sim suffered a shoulder injury at New Jersey Devils training camp and early indications are he will need at least four weeks to recover. The 20-year-old from New Glasgow, N.S., was invited by the Devils as a free agent after his draft rights with the St. Louis Blues expired this past summer.

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“The (Devils) doctors are looking at him,” London head coach Dale Hunter said. “We’re going to miss him. He’s a solid player and has been with us a long time. He’s a leader so we’re going to miss that leadership and his play on the ice.”

Sim also missed the start of last season to recover from hip surgery. He posted 10 goals and 29 points with a plus-21 rating in 39 games during his third campaign with London.

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The five-foot-11, 174-pound forward added four goals and eight points in 13 playoff games. He then sat out the league final against Oshawa while serving a controversial five-game suspension incurred for calling Saginaw captain Braden Hache an “inappropriate name” and body-checking a Spirit player during pre-game warmup before Game 5 of the OHL’s Western Conference final.

The eldest son of former OHL scoring star and 1999 Stanley Cup champion Jon Sim recorded two goals and four points in his lone preseason game with the Knights this fall.

Sim is one of five veterans currently in the mix for an over-age spot on the London roster. Each OHL team is permitted to dress a maximum of three 2004-born players per game this season.

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Over-age goaltender Owen Willmore and defenceman Alec Leonard are expected to be in the lineup Friday. Russian forward Ruslan Gazizov is still with the Anaheim Ducks while the Winnipeg Jets sent Jacob Julien back to London on Wednesday.

Three other 20-year-olds – defencemen Isaiah George (Islanders), Jackson Edward (Bruins) and forward Sawyer Boulton (Flyers) – are expected to play in the pro ranks this season.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen with them,” Dale Hunter said. “They’re still in camps. We don’t know if they’re coming back, either. We have to wait and see what’s going on.”

The Knights knew about Sim’s injury before dealing their pre-season leading scorer Kaeden Johnston to Sarnia for a fourth-round pick Monday.

IMPORT UPDATE: If Gazizov returns, he would also count against the club’s roster limit of two imports. Finnish sniper Kasper Halttunen (Sharks) and countryman Jesse Nurmi (Islanders) are still at their respective NHL camps. The Knights also signed Russian forward Gleb Semenov last month, but the 17-year-old remains at home waiting for a visa to be approved that will allow him to come to Canada.

rpyette@postmedia.com

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