From The Gateway: "It’s a Family Affair This Weekend, But Taylor Ward is Happy to be Creating His Own Path in Omaha"

The following is an excerpt from an article that originally appeared in The Gateway student newspaper. Read the story in full.

It’s a cold winter day in the suburbs of Buffalo, New York, and a 2-year-old Taylor Ward finds himself on a frozen creek behind the family’s house. His father, Dixon, stands by his side enjoying one of the limited off-days that are mixed into the 82-game NHL schedule.

A standout collegiate player at the University of North Dakota, Dixon went on to play 10 NHL seasons. That includes parts of five with the Buffalo Sabres, which is where he introduced his son to the game. Little did he know what was ahead for Taylor.

“We found a pair of skates that were a bunch of sizes too big for him and bundled him up,” Dixon said. “It was really cold, and he stood there for about 45 minutes until he was frozen top to bottom. He didn’t move more than six feet, but when we tried to pick him up and get him off the ice he cried and cried and cried.

“From there we knew that we were stuck with this kid that was going to love the game, and it just continued from there.”

A little over 20 years later, that same kid on the creek is 14 games into his junior season in Omaha. However, games 15 and 16 of the 2020-21 campaign will be a little bit of a family affair, as Ward and the Mavericks will take on North Dakota.

“Looking back when I was much younger, obviously my dad played at North Dakota, his buddies are the coaches, and we know a lot of people there, so I always wanted to play there because of that,” Taylor said. “When I grew up and realized there were lots of other great options to check out though, that’s kind of where Omaha came into the mix. I felt this was the best spot for me and looking back I can’t imagine playing anywhere else.”