1) Right winger Wayne Simmonds became the second Philadelphia Flyers representative to win NHL All-Star Game most valuable player honors, claiming the award in the 2017 All-Star Game in Los Angeles. Simmonds scored two goals in Team Metro's semifinal round victory over Team Atlantic and then notched the game-winning goal in the final round against Team Pacific.
Flyers Hall of Fame right winger Reggie Leach previously won MVP honors at the 1980 All-Star Game.
"It's all pretty surreal. I don't even know if I realize what's going on right now. But it's pretty cool, and I'm lucky I have some family members here. My fiancee is here, so I get to enjoy this moment with them. It's been an awesome weekend for me," Simmonds said.
"They asked me how does being an All-Star sound, and I said weird. It's awesome. It's definitely an honor. There's so many great players in our game today, to be recognized as an All-Star is pretty special to me."
Oddly enough, during the pregame introductions on NBC, the cameras lingered on most of the All-Star Game participants as they skated down the line of hockey greats selected as NHL 100 honorees but Simmonds was on camera for two seconds or less before they moved on to the next player. By the end of the night, though, all eyes were on the hard-working forward.
Simmonds broke into the NHL with the LA Kings before being traded to the Flyers along with Brayden Schenn in the 2011 offseason trade that sent former Flyers captain Mike Richards to the Kings. Before that, the player was entirely bypassed in his first year of NHL Draft eligibility and was considered a second-round "reach" by many pundits when the Kings selected him with the 61st overall pick in 2007. Kings general manager Dean Lombardi is fond of telling the story of how he discovered that Simmonds was sleeping in his car one morning during the player's first NHL Development Camp and was the hardest working player in camp.
The hard work has paid off for Simmonds. In addition to being the All-Star Game MVP, he is a strong candidate this season for the Bobby Clarke Trophy as Flyers' MVP.
Simmonds said he was uncertain of what he would do with the truck he won in conjunction with the MVP Award. He will either donate it to a charitable cause or gift it to family.
2) The AHL Skills Competition night was held at the PPL Center in Allentown on Sunday evening, won by the Western Conference All-Stars. Each of the three Lehigh Valley Phantoms representatives -- forwards Taylor Leier and Jordan Weal as well as defenseman T.J. Brennan -- received hearty ovations during the pre-event player introductions, as did honorary captains Danny Briere and Terry Murray.
The All-Star Game itself will be held on Monday night at the PPL Center. As with the NHL, it is conducted in 3-on-3 fashion.
3) The Flyers will resume practice on Monday afternoon before traveling to Raleigh to play the Carolina Hurricanes. Game time on Tuesday evening is 7:00 p.m. ET.
4) Flyers 2016 first-round pick German Rubtsov took first-star honors on Sunday night, scoring one goal and contributing a nifty assist on another as the Chicoutimi Sagueneens blanked the Gatineau Olympiques, 4-0, in QMJHL action. Rubtsov has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his first five games for Chicoutimi after being granted a release from his KHL contract with Vityaz Chekhov. For game highlights,
click here.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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