'Cutting-edge' care: Iowa Heartlanders, University of Iowa partner to boost athlete health

A prestigious pairing is paying dividends for eastern Iowa's minor league hockey team.

The Iowa Heartlanders and the University of Iowa sports medicine have teamed up to keep the team’s skaters on the ice throughout a lengthy regular season that runs from October to April. A typical professional hockey schedule is full of hard hits, errant pucks, long bus rides and late nights, leading to significant wear-and-tear on a player's body.

University of Iowa staff help players avoid injuries and recover, which include muscle strains and tears, bone fractures and contusions, dislocated joints, and concussions, among other ailments.

The Heartlanders are a “Double-A” affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Minnesota Wild, who began play in the ECHL in 2021. They are in the third tier of professional hockey, based out of Coralville. They play their home games at Xtream Arena in the Iowa River Landing. Des Moines' Iowa Wild are affiliates of the Minnesota club as well and members of the AHL, the second tier in the North American hockey system.

The academic partnership emerged over the summer as new Heartlanders ownership, led by Des Moines Buccaneers owner Michael Devlin, was preparing for its third season in Johnson County.

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Goose keeps Heartlanders loose

The partnership includes full-time athletic trainer Jason Geisler, affectionately called Goose, who travels with the hockey team, which includes long bus rides to Cincinnati and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Geisler is a former hockey player, having grown up playing the sport in Waterloo.

“These guys obviously can do a lot of stuff that I never even dreamed of as a kid,” Geisler joked. “And working with professional athletes is really rewarding because you have a population of athletes and patients that are really motivated to get better and to perform at their peak athletic ability.”

Geisler helps players with ailments they encounter during the six-month, 72-game regular season.

That means responding to the obvious issues, like helping a player recover from an orthopedic injury, and some less obvious, like soft tissue injuries from a schedule that often features three games per week.

“Not only am I there to prevent against the acute things (from) the big hits and all that stuff, but also to keep these guys performing at a high level, making sure that their muscles are ready to go and making sure that they are able to perform at their peak athletic ability every day,” Geisler said.

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Team of doctors help at home

Dr. Therese Whipple works day-to-day in the emergency medicine department and is the Heartlanders' lead physician. She said it provides “a nice, fun interjection of sports medicine into her week."

Dr. Whipple is part of a team that assesses the players, guides treatment and provides support during rehab. That includes on-the-ground support from Whipple and her colleagues at each of the Heartlanders' 36 home games. They handle in-game injuries for both the home and away teams.

“We're fortunate to have a lot of very, very supportive and very interested members of our team, both from sports medicine and from orthopedics, who have been really helpful this year with game coverage and being there so that we're able to have physicians sideline at every game.”

The University of Iowa Health Care is a key partner for the school's athletic teams, which has given Whipple's team plenty of opportunities to work with athletes. That’s what makes the Heartlanders' partnership feel so natural, she said.

Whipple also assesses the team for nagging injuries after they return from road trips that often extend for three or more games.

Whipple said the new partnership has been gratifying and different from her day-to-day work in emergency medicine.

“It's nice to see the whole process of actually making people feel better rather than, in the ER where we're doing a lot of triage and then handing them over to other people,” Whipple said. “So it’s a good balance.”

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Coach praises ‘cutting-edge’ UI care and facilities

Derek Damon is in his second year as the Heartlanders' head coach and general manager. He coudln't be more positive their partnership with the UI and what it has meant for his team.

Particularly, he praised Geisler for building strong trust with the players which has taught them to recognize small injuries and seek the help and support they need instead of playing through the pain.

“To have that cutting-edge medical care to take care of our guys, it’s excellent,” Damon said. “It's actually better for us. Guys know that when they come here, they will get really good care. …The University of Iowa has been unbelievable to be working with us this year.”

Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa Heartlanders, University of Iowa partner to boost athlete health