from Tal Pinchevsky at the New York Times,

When the N.H.L.’s newest franchise went looking for a keen, energetic mind to help oversee the training and performance of its players, it did not confine its search to conventional hockey circles.

Instead, the Vegas Golden Knights, who will be the first major professional sports team in Las Vegas when they begin their inaugural season in October, went in a drastically different direction. They named Jay Mellette, a longtime Las Vegas resident, as their director of sports performance and head athletic trainer.

Although Mellette acknowledges he has much to learn about hockey, there are not too many people in the N.H.L. — or any pro sports league, for that matter — who have such a versatile and colorful background in sports medicine.

Mellette was in the United States Air Force and was a member of the Colorado Rapids’ medical staff during Major League Soccer’s initial season, in 1996. But he has spent the past 12 years with Cirque du Soleil, the Canadian entertainment company known for producing some of the world’s most ambitious and elaborate performances.

Working most recently as Cirque du Soleil’s director of performance medicine, Mellette led 20 sports medicine teams assisting 1,300 athletes, including Mongolian contortionists, South American aerialists, Scandinavian tumblers and Chinese martial arts experts.

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