Earlier on in the day, Philadelphia Flyers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Chuck Fletcher announced that the Flyers have hired Ian McKeown for a newly created position of Vice President, Athletic Performance and Wellness.
After going through an arduous and lengthy search, the Flyers have decided to really prioritize health and wellness moving forward, which makes sense considering the laundry list of injuries they have dealt with over the last few years.
In a move that shifts to modernity, the Flyers are one of many teams who have decided to establish a program like this, as McKeown’s main role is to establish and oversee a comprehensive and coordinated health and wellness program for all players within the organization. He will be working with and will be assisted by doctors, specialists, and trainers from Penn Medicine.
For a team that has dealt with injuries to key players over the last few years – an important reason as to why they have dipped in the standings – implementing a health and wellness program will ensure that the personnel of the Flyers will be receiving around the clock care that includes: comprehensive and collaborative care from doctors, trainers, sports psychologists, nutritionists, strength coaches, rehab therapy specialists, as well as physical therapy specialists.
In correspondence to the big move, Chuck Fletcher had this to say:
“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. 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.”
Ian McKeown was asked about the role and had this to say:
“My career has taken me all over the world. My goal is to work with good people, doing great work. There are great people around here and asa 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.”
As McKeown mentioned, his career has taken him all over the world as he spent the last nine years in Australia as the high-performance training and wellness practitioner for Port Adelaide FC of the Australian Rules Football League. With Port Adelaide, he designed training and wellness programs with the help of sports science, sports medicine, and strength and conditioning professionals. On top of his work with Port Adelaide of the AFL, he also spent time in the United States and Europe with rugby clubs.
McKeown was born in County Down, Northern Ireland, earned his Ph.D in Strength and Conditioning at the University of Canberra, Australia, and on top of all that he also has a Bachelor of Science degree in Sports and Exercise Science from Ulster University in his native Northern Ireland. When the Flyers say they did an extensive global search for this position, they weren’t lying.
The Flyers are one of a few teams in the NHL who have invested this much time, effort, and money into strengthening, stabilizing, and creating departments that deal with analytics, health and wellness, and strength and conditioning. The position was created in the hopes of helping this team reach new heights and is another move that represents the “summer of stabilization”.
With a new coaching staff in play, several new front office executives and roles in place, and now a new performance and wellness role taking shape, the Flyers are hoping these are the necessary moves required in order for this team to climb the rankings and get back into the playoff picture.
