The Flyers have hired Ian McKeown for a new position of Vice President for Athlete Performance and Wellness. This moves comes in response to all the re-injuries that the Flyers sustained in particular last season with the likes of Kevin Hayes, Ryan Ellis, Derick Brassard, and Joel Farabee. There were some other players that sustained injuries as well, it just appeared to be a any issue last year regards to re-injuries in particular.
The Flyers apparently conducted this search for a period of time, while choosing McKeown for the position. At least the Flyers see this was a problem, and apparently have addressed it. A specific job duties are below:
“McKeown will establish and oversee a comprehensive and coordinated health and wellness program for all players within the Flyers organization while working closely with the team of doctors and specialists at Penn Medicine,” via the Flyers press release
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Flyers’ General Manager Chuck Fletcher sounded off on the hiring, “In order to compete at the highest level in today’s game, our players need and deserve a modern, comprehensive performance and wellness program, and by hiring Ian for this new role, we’re investing in a world-class program that we believe will significantly impact our players and our team,” Fletcher said in the Flyers press release. “We are very excited to bring Ian into our group, and his experience in enabling peak athletic performance is unmatched. He will have a direct impact in reshaping and enhancing our players’ abilities to perform at the highest level each day, including in practices and games, and recover on days away from the rink.”
McKeown apparently is highly respected in this industry. The Flyers are listening to their fans, and are acknowledging that this was a problem at the very least last season. Last season was the second season in a row, in which the Flyers sustained a ton of injuries/re-injuries to key players.
“My career has taken me all over the world,” McKeown said in the press release. My goal is to work with good people, doing great work. There are great people around here and as soon as I started to speak with people from the organization, I fell in love with it. I’m here to make a difference. For me it’s about being really strategic and smart about creating the right environment where people just can’t help but get better, being connected and a part of something special. But we also work in a performance sport. We’re expecting you to work hard and to have incredibly high standards.”
Unfortunately, the Flyers are now placed in a situation where they cannot lose the likes of Sean Couturier, Kevin Hayes, Cam Atkinson, Travis Konecny, or even Ivan Provorov for an extended period of time. Maybe McKeown can alleviate some of the problems that has persisted the Flyers in terms of injuries for the past few seasons. Hopefully, this turns out to be a good hire, and the orange and black can remain mainly healthy this season.
