Wayne Simmonds got a storybook ending in his NHL All-Star game as he became the MVP, he scored the winning goal and was subsequently named MVP in the final of an All-Star tournament, which leads Metropolitan division all-stars over the McDavid-led pack from the Pacific.
The 28-year-old Simmonds was back playing his NHL All-star game at the same Staples Center building where he used to play for the Los Angeles Kings. He was ultimately drafted in the second round by the Kings in 2007 and played regularly upto 240 season games for the club before he was shipped to Philadelphia Flyers in the Mike Richards trade of June 2011.
Simmonds said after the 4-3 win that it was pretty surreal for him, he didn't even know what is exactly going on around him. He was delighted to be back at the Staples Center and obviously more happy to score the winning goal. He has played the last five-plus seasons for Philadelphia, did a good job when he mustered career-high 32 goals and 60 points last season and is on good way to get career-high stats this year too.
Currently, he has 21 goals, including 10 on the powerplay and 38 points while averaging career-best 19 minutes through 50 games. He is Toronto native who for his wonderful career credits former Flyers coach Peter Laviolette for first moving him to the front of the net on the man advantage.
He has got 69 powerplay goals since coming to the position in 2011, trailing only to Washington's Alex Ovechkin. He is tied for 13th overall in that same span with 153 goals. Not only he scored the important winning goal, but also added a pair in a 10-6 win over the Atlantic division all-stars to begin the day.
Simmonds was set up on the game-winner, the victory coming with a $1 million US prize to be split among New Jersey winger Taylor Hall. He fired the one-time pass past Arizona's Mike Smith on precisely the back-door style play, exactly like the duo discussed previously.
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