Wayne Simmonds: ‘It's Not Funny When You Don't Make the Playoffs'

Twenty minutes had pass since the Rangers eliminated the Flyers on a Sunday night in Madison Square Garden.

Wayne Simmonds, who had been particularly sullen and hidden from the media the entire week, was unavailable.

A volatile guy who wears his heart on his sleeve like no other on this club -- a reason he earned team MVP this season -- was purposely avoiding the media.

"It's been kinda frustrating and I didn't want to say anything stupid," Simmonds said a few days later. "I'm pretty upset and I might say something I don't mean or I don't want to take back at a later date."

This week marks the third time in five seasons the Flyers have missed the playoffs. And under three different coaches -- Peter Laviolette, Craig Berube and now Dave Hakstol.

Which tells you it's not really about the coaches. It's the players.

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The Flyers are still in the midst of a long-term rebuild that is going to stretch into next season and beyond. There are no shortcuts in general manager Ron Hextall's patient approach to rebuild the organizational depth chart and re-earn the title, Stanley Cup contender.

"It's not funny when you don't make the playoffs," Simmonds said. "We had aspirations and goals going into this year to make the playoffs. We can't look any further than ourselves in who to blame here. It was in our hands."

Hakstol's club played much better down the stretch, finishing 7-3-2 over its final 12 games.

"We got hot too late," Simmonds said. "I think it's obviously not a positive, but if we had played the way we did the last 10 games of the year, I think we would have got in.

"Now it's over, there isn't much we can do about, all we can do now is focus on the summer and getting ready for next year."

Two months -- October and February -- killed the entire season. Hakstol's club accumulated just nine points in both months.

By then, the 10-game winning streak and all the safety margin the Flyers had built in the standings had evaporated.

What if the Flyers had won 7 of 11 in February instead of losing 7 of 11? They finished this season seven points out of the wild card.

"It's a completely different story and we're sitting in a playoff spot," Simmonds said of that month. "Or we're a point out and battling. It's frustrating, but we're all in this together. It is what it is now. You can't look back now and say, 'what if?' Now it's too late.

"It was about consistency. One game we'd be unbelievable. The next game a little lower. Going into next year, we have to find our consistency level. Whether we have our legs or not certain game we got to make sure we have our brains. We like our group in here. We're capable of more."

The Flyers final road record was horrendous -- 14-22-5 versus 25-11-5 at home. The 14 victories were the fewest for a Flyers team since winning 10 in 2014-15.

How far have the Flyers fallen on the road? Well, they won a club record 25 road games in consecutive seasons under Laviolette between 2010-2012.

"If you look at our road record, whatever we were trying to do, didn't work, so pretty much we had no choice but to simplify our game," Simmonds said. "When it comes to the road games, we have to become a team that is mentally stronger.

"If we let one goal in or we're down by two, it isn't the end of the world, we can come back and win, that's not how you want to start off, if the other team scores first it is what it is."

Much has to change next season: more consistency in the power play, a major overhaul of the penalty kill, which has been poor for three years now, far more 5-on-5 scoring, and better goaltending.

Theirs is no short-term fix for the Flyers, no one thing that will put this team over the top right away.

And there will be changes.

Right now, Sam Morin and Robert Hagg should both be on the blue line next season, depending upon how Travis Sanheim and Phil Myers play in training camp.

Oskar Lindblom will come over from Sweden and play left wing. Anthony Stolarz in goal or as a backup? Maybe.

More prospects will be coming over the next two seasons. This is far from a finished product in Hextall's eyes.

"We know we have a lot of young guys coming in and we think that will be a good thing," Simmonds said.

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