Last Updated on Thursday, 15 September 2016 10:04
Ryan Taylor has partnered with the USHL’s Madison Capitols to honor American military veterans
By Andrew Vitalis
Sometimes ideas come in bunches and all you can do is roll with it. Ryan Taylor, owner of Pathfinder Militaria, experienced that rush of brain dominance last November. While in the process of starting his own company, Taylor, a military historian with a passion for military veterans, was consumed with the idea of spearheading a project that was unique with the overall goal of raising money for our heroes. The “ah-ha” moment began to take shape after learning about Military Appreciation Night – a promotional event offered by the USHL’s Madison Capitols.
From there, Taylor started to combine one of his passions – military veterans – with his other great passion – hockey. Soon after, Taylor found himself surfing the internet looking at goalie masks. While online, Taylor recalls stumbling across a goalie mask belonging to Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford. Taylor remembers being in awe of the mask – its beauty, the power behind the design. So powerful that out of that online session spawned an idea that now eight months later has turned into a fundraising opportunity that will kick off Nov. 5, at a Madison Capitols game in Wisconsin.
The idea? Two goalie masks, specifically designed to honor military veterans, worn by the Capitols starting and back-up netminders in their game against the Chicago Steel. November 5 also happens to be Military Appreciation Night, an event held by the Capitols to honor our military heroes. The mask worn by the starting goaltender will be auctioned off, while the back-up goalie’s mask will be given away in a raffle. All of the money raised will be given to Badger Honor Flight, a charitable organization designed to ensure that military veterans from World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War and terminally ill veterans from all wars have the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C., to see the war memorials that were designed in their honor. For Taylor, pairing hockey and the military just made sense.
“I’m a living historian when it comes to World War II and the Vietnam War,” said Taylor, whose company specializes in buying, selling and trading military relics. “I am also a hockey nut. Quite honestly, I just wanted to do something nice for the military veterans out there who have sacrificed so much for this country. I have a lot of friends who serve in the military. My grandfather was a WWII veteran. I just have the utmost respect for what they have done and continue to do for this country.”
As Taylor will point out, having an idea is one thing, but turning it into reality is something completely different. After partnering with the Capitols, Taylor branched out and found numerous sponsors and partners who have helped grow the idea into a program that Taylor hopes can be done annually.
One of the first stops for Taylor was Gold Medal Sports in Madison where Taylor met Mary Suter. Suter helped Taylor narrow down the type of masks they wanted to use. Ultimately the decision was made to use a NME 8 mask. From there, Taylor began to work with Brian Theis, owner of Airbrush U located in Madison. It took one week for Theis to work his magic, airbrushing the masks with designs specifically geared towards honoring our military soldiers and veterans. When the dust (and paint) cleared, Taylor and his partners had something that caught them all off guard. It’s been said that one of the greatest things about hockey, and life, is its perfect imperfection. In this case, the masks were simply perfect.
“They were unbelievable,” Taylor said. “The designs, the colors, every part of the airbrushing was perfect. You can see the masks in a picture and they look great, but even the pictures don’t do them justice. When you see them in person, you are just blown away.”
Just as Taylor had envisioned them in his mind nearly a year ago. It started with an idea, a desire to help that has become reality by pairing two of his greatest passions – hockey and military veterans. What a difference a year makes.
“It’s been an unbelievable journey to get this done,” Taylor said. “I certainly can’t take credit for the whole thing. Working with Airbrush U, financial support from Educated Mortgage (Dan O’Brien), Mary Suter and the Madison Capitols; without all of them it would have never happened. I didn’t do this for credit. I decided to do this because quite frankly I could do it. Helping to raise money for a great cause, to help these great veterans get the appreciation they deserve, that’s what this has been about. It’s truly been for the veterans”.
Jon Marquardt, the Director of Sponsorship with the Madison Capitols, couldn’t agree more.
“When Ryan approached me on the idea we were really excited about it,” Marquardt said. “Going into our third year as an organization, to have fans wanting to be a part of our promotions is a big deal for us. We believe in the mission and the goal from the very beginning was to keep the money local. Just like our organization, we want to continue to grow these types of events and raise more and more funds that we can give back to the Madison community. As an organization, we are really excited about this and where it can go in the future.”
The game will be held Nov. 5, at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Alliant Energy Center). The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. For more information on the game and the Madison Capitols season, go to www.madcapshockey.com.
Andrew Vitalis can be reached at lphprep@yahoo.com
