When the Flyers held a retirement ceremony for Wayne Simmonds in April, Dan Hilferty said the organization wanted the beloved power forward to eventually be involved in its community efforts again.
The Flyers made that official five months later, bringing Simmonds back home as a community relations ambassador and hockey operations consultant.
"I think it's great, I think it's cool," Ian Laperriere, who coached Simmonds, said Friday before the Flyers' rookie game at PPL Center. "He means so much to the organization, on and off the ice. Everybody knows how much he did off the ice in the community, giving back, playing hockey with those kids on the street, tougher neighborhoods he used to go. I think it's just great news to have him on board because he kind of left, he went other places afterward, but they brought him back because they know how much he means to the organization."
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The 36-year-old officially retired last season and was honored before an April game at the Wells Fargo Center. He spent parts of eight seasons in Philadelphia, where he won over the hearts of Flyers fans with his toughness, loyalty and 203 goals.
"The way you played the game exemplified not only how Ed Snider, the founder of the organization, anticipated that a Flyer would play, but the way each of you held each other accountable, day in and day out," Hilferty, the Comcast Spectacor chairman and CEO and Flyers governor, said in April while sitting next to Simmonds. "That was not only on the ice, but it was also in the community. What you did for Snider Hockey and education, you were always there."
The Flyers made six other additions Friday, hiring Reid Simpson as director of pro scouting in Europe, Kedryn Orrison-Pilgrim as the Phantoms' head athletic trainer, Lindsay Eastwood as manager of player and hockey communications, Ryan Cyr as a goaltending scout and development consultant, Oleg Znarok for European player development and a scouting consultant and Ellyse Robert as a hockey analyst.
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