Simmonds shrugs off trade rumors

According to the rumors, the Oilers have a thing for Simmonds. They need size and grit and those two features are why Simmonds said he was born to wear orange and black when he was traded to Philly in the summer of 2011.

“We were out-battled along the walls and out-sized,” Oilers coach Dallas Eakins said after the Flyers’ 4-2 win Saturday. “We spent a little too much time in our zone. It’s hard to come out of that.”

The 6-foot-2, 183-pound Simmonds provides plenty of size and battle. That’s what the Flyers like in him. That’s why he was one of few players who looked alive in recent losses.

Twitter was abuzz when a fake account, made to look like it was a TSN reporter, said Simmonds and a second-round draft pick were heading to Edmonton for Ales Hemsky. Other reports said the Flyers were close to completing a deal for Edmonton’s leading scorer, Jordan Eberle, which involved Simmonds and Luke Schenn going to the Oilers.

“Rumors are rumors,” Simmonds said. “It’s a business. You never know what’s going to go on.”

The matters were complicated Friday by chairman Ed Snider saying he hadn’t seen anything like the struggles his Flyers have gone through this season in his 47 years in hockey.

http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20131110/SPORTS04/311100063