What Did Steve Simmons Say To Wayne Simmonds? NHL Media Reacts

Steve Simmons is now receiving a great deal of pushback on social media for his most recent contentious perspective, and he has never been one to shy away from offering a controversial viewpoint on any topic that he has covered.

In his most recent piece, Simmons takes on notable hockey player Akim Aliu. Aliu is an African American. The column’s lack of consideration for people of color was the spark that ignited the current conflict between supporters and athletes.

Being a person of color in the game has presented Wayne Simmonds with several challenges during his career, which is why he has decided to become involved.

Wayne responds to the entire piece by stating that the article is ridiculous and does not reflect the genuine struggle of players of color. He does this by claiming that the article was really foolish.

On his Twitter account, Wayne argued that Steve’s essay trivializes the agony and suffering that colored athletes endure. In addition, he stated that he had disregarded the genuine struggle that individuals have to go through to be welcomed into the sport of ice hockey. 

Wayne asked Steve not to use his name or the name of any other player of color to establish his argument.

It would appear that the essay published by Steve Stevens has driven Wayne to the highest possible level of rage. He continues by warning Steve and informing him that players of color would no longer be able to remain silent while their characters are murdered.

The players of color will become even more powerful, and they will speak out against the discrimination they face.

On his Twitter account, Wayne Simmonds wrote the following:

The most recent column by Steve Simmons, which provoked anger from Wayne Simmonds, was about a well-known National Hockey League (NHL) player named Akim Aliu. 

Akim is a former NHL player who rose to notoriety once again after he exposed Bill Peters, a former NHL head coach, for using a disparaging ethnical term about Aliu. Peters was fired from his position as a result of Akim’s revelation.

Since that time, Aliu has been a prominent opponent of discrimination in the sport of hockey. However, it would appear that his activism has not been warmly accepted by all those involved in hockey.

In the most recent edition of his column titled “Sunday Notes,” Simmons lambasted Aliu for making statements about topics that Simmons believed Aliu could not possibly have any real knowledge of. Simmons also expressed doubts about how much race played a factor in Aliu’s struggles to fit in with the hockey world. 

Simmons, however, made it quite apparent before commenting that he was aware a take of this sort would lead to the criticism he is currently suffering and that he was aware of this fact before making the statement.

What he had written is as follows:

The author was correct in predicting that many experts would speak out against the statement about Aliu.

Toronto Maple Leaf Wayne Simmonds has, of course, been quite transparent about his difficulties as a colored man in the sport of hockey. He has also stated a wish to see more good changes made, and he has even collaborated with Aliu on some of these issues.

Following the publication of Steve Simmons’s column, Akim Aliu did not delay sending a note to the editor.

The 33-year-old player released a video rebuttal to Simmons’ article, in which he called out the experienced hockey writer for his irresponsible and uneducated judgment.

Aliu revealed only a tiny percentage of the challenges he’s faced throughout his time as a professional hockey player. He did not pull any punches and even demanded that Simmons be fired due to his behavior.

A professional ice hockey player for the National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leafs, Wayne Simmonds is from the province of Ontario in Canada (NHL).

His colleagues and supporters refer to him as “Wayne Train,” and this moniker has stuck with him throughout his career.

On August 26, 1988, Wayne Simmonds was born in the city of Scarborough, in the province of Ontario.

He is the third of four sons and one daughter that Cyril Simmonds and Wanda Mercury-Simmonds have together. The couple also has a daughter.

His ancestors came from North Preston, in the province of Nova Scotia. Simmonds had stated that he was primarily a fan of the Detroit Red Wings when he was a child, even though he grew up in the Toronto region. When he was little, Sergei Fedorov was his all-time favorite player.

When Simmonds was in the third grade, he had to write a paper for career day. In it, he expressed his desire to become a professional hockey player. Even though his teacher was discouraging, Simmonds did not alter what he had written.

Most of Simmonds’ time was spent playing minor hockey was spent in the east end of Toronto, where he was a member of many A and AA hockey teams, including the Minor Midget Toronto Aces in the 2003–2004 season of the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL). 

Simmonds jumped to the AAA level for the first time in 2004–05 with the Toronto Jr. Canadiens midgets of the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL). This occurred after numerous GTHL AAA players went to junior hockey the previous summer.