Simmonds back at practice
Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds returned to practice on Wednesday for the first time since sustaining a concussion last Friday in Washington.
Simmonds, 24, was wearing a yellow non-contact jersey but still participated in most drills.
"I think everything went well today," Simmonds said. "I feel good today, especially. I really don't know what's going to happen. We'll have to see, I honestly couldn't tell you whether I can play or not, it's for the medical staff to decide. It's obviously a touchy thing and you don't want to push it."
He is officially listed by the Flyers as "day-to-day," meaning he could be a possibility for Thursday's game against Florida as the Flyers try to string together their first 3-game win streak of the season.
Simmonds said this is his first career concussion. He's been headache-free the "entire time," and said he wasn't sure whether he needed to test it with contact in a practice first.
Simmonds has missed two straight games with the concussion, his first games missed since joining the Flyers before last season. Washington's John Erskine was suspended 3 games for his elbow to Simmonds' head and sacrificed nearly $25,000 in pay.
Erskine sent a text message to Simmonds apologizing for the play.
"I'm happy he did that," Simmonds said. "I don't think it was intended to hurt me. If I thought it was, I would have said something. He's a big, strong, stay-at-home d-man, I don't think I've ever seen him try to hurt someone. He knew he had gotten caught (in a bad position), we were going on a 3-on-1 the other way. Sometimes, things happen fast in hockey. It's a fast-paced game. You can't be mad at him for it. It's not really a big deal to me, it's a hockey play."
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