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Flyers, fans gave Wayne Simmonds a great tribute

It felt strange seeing Wayne Simmonds briefly in a Nashville Predators uniform last season, and for the many Philadelphia Flyers fans who loved Simmonds, it might be even tougher to see him suit up with divisional rivals the New Jersey Devils.

As NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall notes, Simmonds felt like it would only be right to hear some boos during Wednesday’s Devils-Flyers game in Philly, and he got some -- but make no mistake about it, Flyers fans also gave Simmonds a fantastic reception after a tribute video played.

Not very surprisingly, Simmonds’ former Flyers teammate also saluted him with some stick taps:

Simmonds came into Wednesday’s game with an assist over his first two games with the Devils.

When Simmonds was traded to Philadelphia from the Los Angeles Kings, it seemed like he would be a smaller part of the package that featured Brayden Schenn going to Philly, and Mike Richards becoming a member of the Kings.

Instead, Simmonds propelled his game to another level, becoming one of the deadliest shooters from the “dirty areas” in front of the net, especially on the power play. Simmonds scored 203 goals (91 on the power play) and 378 points in 584 regular-season games over eight seasons with the Flyers, also endearing himself to fans with a physical style that yielded 784 penalty minutes.

That rough-and-tough style might explain Simmonds’ recent decline at 31, but Flyers fans would likely be glad to see him rekindle his scrappy, scoring game -- just not when the Devils are facing their team.

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.