Wayne Simmonds' moment with NHL royalty

RALEIGH, N.C - Wayne Simmonds is a student of the game and someone who appreciates the NHL's long history.

So when the Flyers' right winger was asked about his favorite part of the all-star weekend, the first thing he mentioned wasn't his Metropolitan team winning the mini-tournament or the fact that he was named the MVP.

"The best part, for me, was seeing all the top 100 guys," he said before Tuesday's game in Carolina. "I got an opportunity to talk a little bit with them."

An NHL panel, in commemoration of the league's 100-year celebration, selected the top 100 players of all time.

Wayne Gretzky, who coached Simmonds' all-star team, Brett Hull, Bobby Hull, and Larry Robinson were among the top-100 players the winger mingled with during the festivities.

"It was two days of getting a chance to meet everybody and just have a lot of fun with it," Simmonds said.

Added Simmonds: "It was the past, the present, and the future of the NHL, so that was a pretty neat experience. . . . I'm happy to be back with my boys, though."

Simmonds said he "cherished" the all-star experience, "but it's over with, and it's back to business now."

The Flyers entered Tuesday clinging to the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot with 32 games left.

"It's been up and down this year, but we're really working on our game," captain Claude Giroux said. "We're in a position that, if you told us we'd be here in the beginning of the year, I think we'd take it."

"We still have a lot of work to do, but like [Giroux] said, we're comfortable with the position we're in," Simmonds said. ". . . All the cards are in our hand. We just have to make sure we keep playing the way we were before the break and make sure we're competing on every single shift."

Defenseman Radko Gudas, who had numerous physical ailments in the first half of the season, said the latest three-day break was needed. "My body feels great," he said. "A break like that was major for me." . . . While the NHL is undecided on whether it will participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said "I support the players being there, but there are some pieces to the puzzle as far as the business side" that need to be put in place. . . . Simmonds said he's not sure who will get the truck he won for being named the all-star MVP, but he plans to give it away. . . . Steve Mason needs two games to pass Doug Favell for third on the all-time list of games played by a Flyers goalie.