Drew Sim bounces back as Giants blank Royals to return to win column
Drew Sim got the hook early in his previous start for the Vancouver Giants. He got the shutout in this one.
Sim stopped all 16 shots he faced in a 4-0 triumph over the Victoria Royals on Thursday night in Kamloops in WHL B.C. Division hub action, rebounding from giving up four goals on seven shots and getting pulled in the second period in the Giants’ 6-4 come-from-behind triumph over those same Royals last week.
NEXT GAME
Sunday
Vancouver Giants vs. Kamloops Blazers
6 p.m.,
Sandman Centre
, TV: whl.ca, Radio: Sportsnet 650 AM
Vancouver (6-3-0-0) ended a two-game winless skid in its 24-game season based out of hubs in Kamloops and Kelowna. They’re back at it Sunday, taking on the Kamloops Blazers (7-1-0-0) in Kamloops.
“I felt I needed a bounce back after my last performance,” Sim told Giants play-by-play man Dan O’Connor on the post-game show on Sportsnet 650. “It was making sure I was ready to go and prepared and it went from there.
“That felt good to get that one out of the way. And I think the way we came out and played tonight was huge and I think we’re making a turn around again and heading in the right direction.”
The captain @AKannok checks in after his Gordie Howe hat-trick and a 4-0 “W” against Victoria. pic.twitter.com/bzUWkMIY67— Vancouver Giants (@WHLGiants) April 16, 2021
🎥 WHL Highlight of the Night 🎥April 15, 2021Birthday boy @MazdenLeslie celebrates with a dandy goal for the @WHLGiants.#WHLHoN pic.twitter.com/UOKlwbvv3i— The WHL (@TheWHL) April 16, 2021
Sim, a native of Tees, Alta., was the Giants’ third-round pick in the 2018 WHL bantam draft. Thursday was his sixth career WHL game, split over two seasons. He turned 18 in February.
Right now, he looks to be line to be Vancouver’s starter next fall.
Fourth-year Vancouver netminder Trent Miner turned 20 in February, making him age eligible to return as one of the Giants’ three overages for the 2021-22 season. Miner could well be playing in the Colorado Avalanche’s farm system instead, though, considering the 2019 Avalanche seventh-round draft pick drew rave reviews for his six-game turn with their AHL Colorado Eagles affiliate before reporting to Vancouver and has had a three-game shutout streak earlier in this hub season with the Giants.
Along the way, he’s been an important sounding board for Miner.
“I know that I can go to him and bounce anything I want off him,” Sim said on the post-game show. “He’s trying to make sure I know what to do so that I can be successful.”
Sim also recorded an assist on Thursday versus Victoria (1-7-1-0). He set up the puck behind the Vancouver net on a power play and then Justin Sourdif took it the length of the ice before feeding Alex Kannok Leipert, who snapped one home.
“It doesn’t come much easier than that,” Sim explained of the assist. “That felt good, too.”
Sourdif, Kannok Leipert and Tristen Nielsen all had a goal and an assist for the Giants. Kannok Leipert also had a first-period scrap with Victoria’s Graeme Bryks, giving him a Gordie Howe hat trick on the night.
Nielsen is up to eight goals and 16 points for Vancouver, which leads the team. Sourdif is at four goals and 16 points. Nielsen’s in his 20-year-old season and trying to land a pro contract out of the hub. Sourdif was a third-round draft pick of the Florida Panthers last fall and is aiming for a contract from them.
Mazden Leslie added the other goal Thursday for Vancouver. Leslie turned 16 on Thursday. He’s an underage call-up in the hub and he’s up to five goals.
sewen@postmedia.com
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