LONDON, Ontario -- Philadelphia Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds, who is black, had a banana thrown at him from the stands Thursday night during a 4-3 exhibition shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

As Simmonds took the first shot in the shootout, a banana came flying into his path as he skated in on Detroit goalie Jordan Pearce.

"I don't know if it had anything to do with the fact I'm black," Simmonds, a 23-year-old Toronto native, said Thursday. "I certainly hope not. When you're black, you kind of expect (racist) things. You learn to deal with it."

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman condemned the act. In a statement from New York on Friday, he said, "We have millions of great fans who show tremendous respect for our players and for the game. The obviously stupid and ignorant action by one individual is in no way representative of our fans or the people of London, Ontario."

Simmonds acknowledged the banana rattled him, and his only

thought was to get off a shot -- which went in for the Flyers' only

score in the shootout.

He also had scored with less than a minute left in the third period to

tie the game at 3.

"It shocked me and (I) knew I had to keep going and get a shot off," he said. "It was certainly unusual."

Simmonds said Friday that he wants to concentrate strictly on the game.

"It was unfortunate that this incident happened but I am above

this sort of stuff," he said. "This is something that is

obviously out of my control. Moving forward, this incident is

something that I will no longer comment on so I can just focus

playing hockey for the Philadelphia Flyers."

Simmonds made the trip with the Flyers to Detroit, but sat out Philadelphia's 3-1 win over the Red Wings on Friday night, as both teams tried to use players who hadn't been in the lineup the previous day. Simmonds was in press row toward the end of the game, and although he declined further comment, he did send a few autograph-seeking fans home happy.

"I'm black, and I'm a real big hockey fan," said 29-year-old Latoya Pugh, who was at the game with her kids. "It's a sport you want to get more Americans into."

Pugh and her kids approached Simmonds for an autograph during the third period. She was well aware of what happened the previous night.

"It's hard when you're black and you love the game," Pugh said. "You want to support the people, support the players, the teams, but you have people like that, who are ignorant."

The incident triggered reaction ranging from disgust to disappointment.

On his Twitter account, former NHL goaltender and current CBC commentator Kevin Weekes, who is black, posted, "For those that asked: I'm extremely disappointed with what happened to Wayne Simmonds tonight in London Ont. We've taken HUGE steps to grow the game of hockey,as I speak Willie O'Ree and I are in D.C attending the Black Congressional Caucus on behalf of the NHL & ironically this takes place."

"I'm not surprised," said Weekes, who had a banana thrown at him during the 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs in Montreal when he played for Carolina. "We have some people that

still have their heads in the sand and some people that don't

necessarily want to evolve and aren't necessarily all that

comfortable with the fact that the game is evolving."