Wayne Simmonds remains optimistic that the lockout will be solved and a shortened season will be played. "I think it'd be silly to lose a season over the stuff that's in between us right now," Simmonds said. "I think we're close enough to where we can get a deal done." Simmonds says it's the first time he hasn't played organized hockey since he was six years old and calls it "frustrating" to be missing out on so much. He did play briefly in the Czech League where he was the object of racial slurs, but he says that didn't taint his experience there.