Wayne Simmonds is heading back to Los Angeles, this time as an All-Star.
Simmonds on Tuesday was named as the Flyers' lone representative to the Metropolitan Division team for the NHL All-Star Game on Sunday, Jan. 29 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
This marks his first selection to the All-Star Game in his nine-year career.
"I'm pretty shocked," Simmonds told the Flyers' website. "I think we have a lot of great players on this team and to be the guy chosen to represent the Flyers organization, it's pretty special. There's such a long list of All-Stars that play on this team and a lot of tradition, so it means a lot."
The 28-year-old winger has been exceptional for the Flyers this season with a team-leading 17 goals and 15 assists for 32 points in 42 games heading into Tuesday night's contest with the Sabres in Buffalo.
Simmonds has been Mr. Do-It-All for the Flyers as he's a an important piece of the league's ninth-ranked power play with eight power-play goals. This season, he's become a key contributor in a new role on the penalty kill and even has a short-handed goal.
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The All-Star selection means Simmonds will head back to where his career began in L.A. A second-round pick of the Kings in 2007, Simmonds was dealt to the Flyers along with Brayden Schenn in exchange for Mike Richards in June 2011 after playing three seasons in Southern California.
"Honestly, I have no expectations," he told the Flyers' site. "I'm just going to have fun time with it to get a chance to hang out with different guys from around the league and I'm just really excited."
Simmonds has 149 goals and 134 assists for 283 points in his 5-plus seasons with the Flyers.
The NHL All-Star Game matches up the best from all four divisions and uses the league's wildly popular 3-on-3 OT format. A skills competition will be held on Sat. Jan. 28 and Simmonds will participate, but the event he will participate in will be announced later.
All-Star Team captains were determined by fan voting. Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby will captain the Metropolitan Division squad. The other team captains are as follows: Canadiens goalie Carey Price (Atlantic Division), Predators defenseman P.K. Subban (Central Division) and Oilers center Connor McDavid (Pacific Division).
