The Philadelphia Flyers missed the post-season for a fourth-straight season in 2023-24. But if Tim Brownstone has anything to say about it, the path back to contention opened again at the end of the season.
Brownstone is the founder and CEO of sports apparel company Kymira, which teamed up with the Flyers in March to provide their infrared recovery apparel. By that point, the Flyers were in the thick of a tight playoff race that ended in disappointment on the final day of the regular season.
“I’m pretty sure they won the games after they had Kymira, but it was a little too late for last season sadly,” Brownstone said with a smile.
While Brownstone’s claim is a tad generous – from March 1 onward, the Flyers posted a 7-11-4 record – the focus has turned to this season with a continued emphasis on “new ways to work, new ways to train, and new ways to win,” as the club said in May 2023.
Welcome to A New Era of Orange. pic.twitter.com/Oplfwf7u7v
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) May 11, 2023
In that spirit, the Flyers have partnered with England-based Kymira to integrate the company’s infrared apparel into their “travel and recovery settings.” That means they won’t necessarily be wearing the apparel during games or practices.
The apparel found the Flyers after Kymira was selected by the Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech Accelerator, which selected 10 startup companies in February 2024. Comcast Spectacor owns the Flyers, along with media and entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal.
“One of the key benefits of Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech is being able to introduce our founders to our prestigious roster of partners and their networks to explore business opportunities,” said Jenna Kurath, head of Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech, in a written statement to The Hockey News. “We were excited to introduce Kymira to the Flyers’ players, coaches, and staff during our 2024 program, and look forward to hearing feedback from the team during the upcoming season.”
But what’s all the fuss about infrared apparel?
Well, their clothing consists of minerals, the identities of which are kept under lock and key, which are woven into the fibers of the apparel.
The minerals are said to absorb energy from the wearer and surrounding light, which is converted into a segment of the infrared light spectrum that penetrates the wearer’s muscle fibers.
For NHLers, who play a rigorous 82-game season that ships them on red-eye flights across North America for seven months or more, it’s not hard to see the appeal to try anything for recovery. Injuries tend to ravage teams as the post-season looms, and they often make or break a season.
According to NHLInjuryViz on X (formerly Twitter), the Flyers suffered the 11th-least man games lost to injury in 2023-24. But only four of their players played all 82 games.
Raw MGL totals for the 2023/24 regular season (1/2)
476 VGK
459 SJS
390 MTL
381 TOR
362 CHI
320 CBJ
304 ANA
288 NJD
282 COL
278 WSH
272 TBL
244 OTT
240 PIT
235 ARI MIN
229 BUF— NHLInjuryViz (@NHLInjuryViz) April 19, 2024
Brownstone, who has an animal science degree from the University of Reading, said their products should also help athletes wherever they are, as opposed to staying in a fixed location, such as the sauna or pool.
“They can get on with their life and so it’s not just the post-exercise phase, the first hour or two after practice or after a game, that we can have an effect,” Brownstone said. “We can be used up to 24/7.”
He said their products are being used by NHL and NFL players and, most recently, by Olympians in Paris.
Brownstone said the Flyers are the first major North American pro sports team to work with Kymira. He said Ian McKeown, the Flyers newly hired vice president of athlete performance and wellness, was seeking an organizational approach that extended beyond the players. Brownstone said everyone including players, coaches, scouts, front-office and back-office staff are now outfitted.
“They’ve really taken that approach throughout the entire organization to say, ‘We believe in this technology and we know that we can apply this throughout the organization to really uplift everybody and ultimately that will translate to results on the ice,’ ” Brownstone said.
The Flyers finished with 87 points in 2023-24, so they’re still focused on developing a team that will perform better in the long-term future.
With few roster changes over the summer, Philadelphia is betting big on continued growth from within, including young stalwart Cam York and their two behemoth goalies, Samuel Ersson and Ivan Fedotov.
If some of those pieces begin to click, perhaps infrared clothing will be part of the solution for this “New Era of Orange.”
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News Summary:
- Flyers' 'New Era of Orange' Looks to Gain an Edge With 'Infrared-Infused Apparel'
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