Black History - Black Hockey Players #4 - Wayne Simmonds

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Hockey season is over for now, but my countdown answering the question, "Are there any black hockey players?" continues. We are at #4: Wayne Simmonds. Wayne Simmonds has been playing in the National Hockey League for 11 seasons, the majority of which was spent with the Philadelphia Flyers, but has also spent time with the team that drafted him, the Los Angeles Kings, and the Nashville Predators. He signed with the New Jersey Devils this off-season. A big, physical winger, Simmonds is a gifted goal scorer, with a knack for getting to the front of the net, doing the dirty work by cleaning up rebounds and putting them past the goaltender. He'll also fight pretty much anybody. Throughout his career, Simmonds has endured racial incidents and slurs from fans (a fan once threw a banana on the ice during a Simmonds shootout attempt,) taking it all in stride, preferring to lead by example (after the 2019 season, he was awarded the Mark Messier Leadership Award.) During the 2017 season, Simmonds played in the All-Star game, where he was named the game's MVP. During those 11 seasons, Wayne Simmonds has played in 841 regular season games, and 44 post-season games. He has scored 243 regular season goals (8 in the playoffs,) dished out 231 assists (13 playoffs,) and amassed 1057 penalty minutes (106 in the playoffs.) In addition, playing for Team Canada, Simmonds has a World Championships Silver Medal, and a World Juniors Championship Gold Medal. Simmonds has been a fan favorite in each city he has played, which shouldn't change a bit the minute he hits the ice next season in New Jersey. (Info verified by Wikipedia)