Wanda Mercury-Simmonds raised her four sons to be strong but respectful and to channel their boundless energy into sports, as she had done as a tomboy alongside four brothers.
A mother at 16, she grew up with her kids. She went to school and worked but never missed a chance to take the boys skating or swimming or climb trees with them near their home in Scarborough, Canada, outside Toronto.
She and her husband, Cyril, who works in construction, found the money or the help to buy them second-hand skates and gloves even though "we were living from paycheck to paycheck," she recalled.
Her third son, Wayne, inherited her strong will.
That's why when he earnestly told her long ago he would become an NHL player, she never doubted it.
Now that he's close to making it, having survived the first cuts of the Kings' training camp and earning raves for his smart and assertive play, she's sure he will defeat the odds and successfully navigate the final step on his unlikely journey.
"For all the years he's been out there trying for this, for his dream to come true, he deserves everything he gets," she said by telephone from Toronto.
"He takes everything on his shoulders and works so hard. I used to hate to get in the car with Wayne after he lost a game. I used to dread it because he would be so sad, and when he hurts, I hurt too."
Neither of them was hurting much Tuesday, after he contributed an assist and three hits and tangled in two crowd-pleasing fights during the Kings' 2-1 shootout exhibition loss to the Ducks at Staples Center.
Simmonds, the Kings' second-round pick and 61st overall in the 2007 entry draft, has made a strong impression so far and could soon join the small number of black players in the NHL. Playing Tuesday on right wing with center Jarret Stoll and left wing Matt Moulson, he assisted on the Kings' goal, scored by Moulson off a first-period scramble.
He also earned a pair of major fighting penalties for tussling with Troy Bodie and Travis Moen in the second period. Both scraps involved more shoving and wrestling than actual punching, but Simmonds won't back down from anyone.
He's the kind of player the Kings have needed but are just starting to find and develop.
They have a few superb forwards -- and will have another good one if restricted free agent Patrick O'Sullivan ever signs -- and their defense oozes with promise.
