Wayne Simmonds officially retires as a Flyer: ‘Greatest eight years of my life’

The smile on Wayne Simmonds’ face was as wide as the span of the Walt Whitman and Ben Franklin if you placed the two bridges end-to-end. His toothless grin looked even wider as he stepped out onto the ice to drop the ceremonial puck and a roar from the Flyers faithful enveloped the Wells Fargo Center.

After 15 NHL seasons, Simmonds officially hung up his skates as a member of the Flyers after signing a one-day contract with the team on Friday. The power forward not only registered 526 career points (263 goals, 263 assists) but 1,315 penalty minutes across 1,037 regular-season games with Philly, the Los Angeles Kings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, Nashville Predators, and the Flyers’ opponent on Saturday, the New Jersey Devils.

But while he had stops in other NHL cities, his years with the Flyers built a deep connection between the kid from Scarborough, Ontario, and the blue-collar town.

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“I had the greatest eight years of my life in this city, and there is no other way I want to go out other than to be remembered as a Flyer,” said Simmonds, who last played for Toronto last season. “So for me, this is extremely special, for my family this is extremely special. I’ve been reminiscing a lot the last couple of days that I’ve been here and I have three small children ... and I think to be able to bring them here and allow them to see where I grew up, pretty much. I became a man in Philadelphia.

“So for me to be able to show them what this city means to me is extremely special. And this is amazing. I’m kind of lost for words, I feel. But yeah, I’m extremely honored to be a Flyer for the rest of my life.”

Acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in the deal that sent Mike Richards out west in June 2011, “The Wayne Train,” as he’s nicknamed, had an immediate impact with the Flyers. While he got an assist on the game-winner in his first game, it was his fight with David Clarkson of the Devils that solidified his spot in Philly lore. Simmonds said after that game, “It was an outpouring of love and support for me and I’ll never forget that forever.”

“The words ‘true Flyer’ are thrown around a lot, and for good reason, but Wayne was the consummate Flyer,” team president Keith Jones said. “Tough as nails, first guy to be there to protect his teammates. A really productive player at the same time, which is really tough to do all of those things. And then gave back not just to his team, his coaching staff, his managers, but to the community.”

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Simmonds notched 378 points (203 goals, 175 assists) and 784 penalty minutes in 584 games with Philly and led the team in 2015-16 with a career-high 32 goals, and he ranks 14th in franchise history in career goals. He scored 20-plus goals six times and is one of just three players to lead the club in goals in four consecutive years while registering 15 points in 30 career playoff games. And he was named the 2017 All-Star Game MVP.

But it was that connection to the community that enamored Philadelphia with Simmonds, and Simmonds with Philadelphia. It is why he is the heart and soul of the Flyers organization.

“The fans mean everything,” Simmonds said. “I think without the fans you’re not able to do what you can do. I think especially in this city, in this market the fan base is unbelievable. I think for me myself personally, they are what drove me.”

Jaydon Jones was 6 or 7 years old when he first met Simmonds in Voorhees. Now 18, Jones and fellow Snider Hockey product Carlos Rowland presented Simmonds with a Snider Hockey jersey on Saturday. Jones also showed Simmonds a picture of himself, Simmonds, and Shayne Gostisbehere taken when Jones was around 12.

“He was just the best,” said Jones, captain of Eastern Regional High School’s hockey team. “Right now I’m completely speechless, I’m starstruck. But it was just great [back then], it was like Christmas.”

“He definitely shows how much you have to work to where you want to be,” added Jones, who described himself as a power forward too, and hopes to play in juniors in the North American Hockey League. “He showed emotion throughout every shift that he played, the goals that he scored, and it just gives you a burst of energy and you want that for yourself as well.”

Simmonds was — and still is — an integral member of the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation’s board. He was the winner of the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award in 2018-19, an honor presented to the NHL player who exemplifies great leadership qualities on and off the ice and plays a leading role in his community growing the game of hockey. Flyers governor Dan Hilferty said the organization is hoping to get Simmonds more involved in the community now that his career has wound down.

“It was a no-brainer for me, without a doubt in my mind. At home, everything’s black and orange for me,” Simmonds said about ending his career with the Flyers before adding with a laugh. “I got a little bit of work to do with my oldest daughter because she likes the Leafs, but I think we can figure that one out.”