LOS ANGELES — Two years ago, Wayne Simmonds was toiling away in the Ontario Hockey League for Owen Sound Attack and the Sault Ste. Marie (Soo) Greyhounds. But his play had already caught the eye of the Los Angeles Kings, who had selected him in the second round (61st overall) of the 2007 National Hockey League Entry Draft.
In that 2007-08 season with Owen Sound, Simmonds scored seventeen goals and contributed 22 assists for 39 points with 43 penalty minutes in 29 games before being traded to Sault Ste. Marie, where he scored sixteen goals and added twenty assists for 36 points with sixty penalty minutes in 31 games.
In fourteen playoff games with the Greyhounds, Simmonds scored five goals and added nine assists for fourteen points with 22 penalty minutes.
Simmonds went on to play in the 2008 OHL All-Star Classic and he represented Canada in the IIHF World Junior Championships that season, helping lead his team to the gold medal.
And after that? All Simmonds did was make the Kings roster right out of junior hockey last season, playing in all 82 games, scoring nine goals and adding fourteen assists for 23 points with 73 penalty m ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Gann Matsuda
Confidence And Maturity Has LA Kings’ Wayne Simmonds Shining Bright
December 7th, 2009 by Gann Matsuda Leave a reply »
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