Wayne Simmonds motivated by rivals' Cup victory

Watching the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup only made Wayne Simmonds want to win it more with the Philadelphia Flyers.
"A little bit of a bitter feeling," Simmonds told TSN on Wednesday. "Obviously, you know, when you have a rival to the height that Pittsburgh is for Philadelphia, it stings a little bit, and I think it just gives you that much more want to win the Stanley Cup.
"You see your cross-state rivals holding the Cup up, it's a little disturbing, but good for them, they did a good job, they had a heck of a team, and they played really well going down the stretch."

This season, Philadelphia first plays Pittsburgh on Oct. 29 at Wells Fargo Center; the teams also will play in the 2017 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series on Feb. 25 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
"Definitely more motivation," Simmonds told reporter Mike Hetherington. "We have one of those outdoor games against them this year too, which should be pretty cool."
Simmonds said he was confident the Flyers would make the Stanley Cup Playoffs again after being eliminated in six games by the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference First Round last season.
"We 100 percent plan on making the playoffs, so that's definitely where our heads are at," Simmonds said. "We want to be a team where we can get into the playoffs and make some noise too."
Pittsburgh eliminated Washington in the second round on the way to defeating the San Jose Sharks in six games in the Cup Final.