Simon works on shot, gains confidence

CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Dominik Simon had a pretty productive summer.

Simon was seven Penguins players to play in the top level of this summer's World Championship tournament, along with Matt Murray and Jared McCann playing for Canada, Patric Hornqvist and Marcus Pettersson on Sweden, Teddy Blueger on Latvia, and Evgeni Malkin on Russia.

Murray and McCann won silver medals in the tournament, and Malkin's Russian squad narrowly defeated Simon and the Czechs in a shootout for the bronze medal.

"It was a great tournament, it was fun," Simon told me of the experience after the Penguins' informal skate at the Lemieux Complex this week. "It was in Slovakia, close to the Czech Republic, so a lot of people…