The USA Warriors Ice Hockey Program, Inc., founded in 2008, is an organization that trains and supplies injured servicemen and women with hockey equipment and skills to use the sport as a rehabilitation tool.
Schaus thought it was a good idea. He'd been playing hockey with various squirt and travel teams, and eventually his high school, in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y., for as long as he could remember. He joined the Marine Corps in October 2006.
The 26-year-old can admit with earnest that the USA Warriors was his stepping stone out the door and into a new world of competitive hockey he never imagined.
"Getting out and playing hockey, and the whole experience of getting to the rink and putting on the gear, it really opened a path not only with hockey, but life," Schaus said.
Schaus would spend two seasons with the USA Warriors, and is now a member of the U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team that will compete for a gold medal at the 2014 Sochi Paralympics beginning March 7 at Shayba Arena in Russia. The United States is the defending champion, having posted five straight shutouts en route to the gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics.
While Schaus will be traveling with his 16 teammates and coaching staff to Sochi this weekend, his former team, the USA Warriors, will be guests of the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday when they are given the opportunity to join the team during their practice session on the ice at Soldier Field.