Wayne Simmonds: NHL Star Should Forget about Ignorant Fan's Antics

Some people will never grow up.

There was a prime example of this when the Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings took to the ice in London, Ontario.

The game went to a shootout after the two sides played to a 3-3 draw. According to Philly.com, a fan then decided it would be a good idea to throw a banana peel out onto the ice when Wayne Simmonds was taking his shot in the shootout.

Here is what happened according to Frank Seravalli,

""Often as the only black player on his team, growing up in Scarborough, Ontario, Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds dealt with his fair share of racial slurs on the ice as he climbed the hockey ladder."

"Few experiences could have prepared him for what happened on Thursday night, as a fan in the John Labatt Centre threw a banana peel at Simmonds as he skated in alone on a shootout attempt during a 4-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings."

"

Whether it was a joke or whether it was done in a serious nature, it wasn't funny, and it has no place in the game of hockey.

Simmonds took the high road after the game with this to say in his conversation with Seravalli,

""I caught it from the side of my eye. It was a banana. Hopefully, that wasn't directed towards me being black because if it was, that's just somebody being ignorant.""

Simmonds is right, it is ignorant. There is no place in hockey for this, and he should forget about this and move on.

Simmonds seems like the type of player that will let this blow over, and he won't make a big deal out of it.

Having a short-term memory is important for most athletes, but it is rare that they have to deal with this level of racism. Hopefully, Simmonds has a short-term memory.

For the sake of hockey, everyone associated with the sport is hoping the NHL can avoid instances like this in the future, and hopefully, this rogue fan will stay away from hockey in the future.