Scooter Vaughan remains committed to helping players and others

Darryl Dionne, Director, Communications & Business Development, PHPA | January 22nd, 2019

 

The start of the 2018-19 season was the first in several years where Scooter Vaughan wasn’t preparing for the grind of hockey season.  Instead, the retired 2018 recipient of the American Hockey League Man of the Year Award was focused on his business ventures while continuing to oversee the charities he has founded.  Although he played hockey at the pro level for over seven years, Vaughan had been preparing for this eventual transition since an injury he suffered in 2011 threatened to derail his pro career before it even started.  He is now seeking to help other players who have an interest in business or who just want to become more involved in their community by providing them a platform through Fidelis Alternative, a business Vaughan founded earlier this year.

 

Vaughan grew up in southern California and took a keen interest in hockey at a young age.  “I lived near Anaheim and our family would go to Ducks games when the team had Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne, Chris Pronger, and J.S. Giguerre.  Plus the Mighty Ducks movie had come out before that and Wayne Gretzky had left his mark before that.  So there’s a super rich hockey presence and tradition in California,” explained Vaughan.  “I actually played roller hockey when I was young which is how I got started.  When I was growing up, playing hockey was a cool and trendy thing to do.  There were some really good teams out there and fortunately I was pretty good at it.”

 

Although he relished living on the West Coast, his hockey career was taking him east.  “I was playing in a number of tournaments around Michigan and found I was missing a lot of school due to hockey.  So I actually moved to Michigan during my sophomore and junior years of high school so I could focus on both.”

 

Vaughan’s play at this time impressed John Cooper, who eventually became a Head Coach in the NHL with the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Cooper was coaching midget hockey in Michigan against Vaughan when he first watched him play.  He recruited Vaughan to play for the Texarkana Bandits of the North American Hockey League (NAHL) as they were relocating to St. Louis.  That season, the Bandits captured the Robertson Cup as league champions with Vaughan posting 35 points and 115 penalty minutes in 58 games. 

 

His development under Cooper caught the attention of the University of Michigan.  Having spent two years living near the campus, Vaughan knew it was where he was meant to be.  “I was offered a spot on the hockey team and accepted on the spot.  I had so much respect for the school and the hockey program before I even set foot on campus so I knew instantly that that is where I wanted to go.”

 

Vaughan spent four years at the University of Michigan where he studied Psychology.  On the ice, after accumulating 15 points over his first three seasons, Vaughan broke out during his Senior year notching 24 points in 44 games.  Off the ice, it was the people he met and the college atmosphere that really stood out when reminiscing about his college experience.

 

“The whole experience was awesome.  The best four years of my life.  There were over 50,000 students situated within a 4-mile radius on campus.  The football and basketball teams were so fun to watch and I was able to meet some great people and role models.”

 

After graduating in the spring of 2011, Vaughan earned an invitation to the San Jose Sharks camp later that Fall where his hockey career took an unexpected turn.  “I was attending the Sharks training camp when I shattered my elbow on the very first day.  I ended up having 4 surgeries in 3 weeks.”

 

Later that season, once Vaughan received clearance to return to the ice, his Agent Peter Donatelli helped Vaughan secure a Pro Tryout Agreement (PTO) with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL.  “I only played 20 games with them and I didn’t feel right the whole time.  The following year was the NHL lockout which impacted the player supply to the AHL and ECHL and beyond so I felt like I essentially missed over a year and a half.”

 

Once the lockout was over, Vaughan signed with another ECHL franchise, the South Carolina Stingrays, where he not only secured a regular spot in the line-up but became ingrained in the community.  “When I was in South Carolina, the team’s ownership and management really encouraged their players to get involved in the community.  That really stayed with me and my desire to become involved with my community and charities really blossomed from there.”

 

Twenty games into the 2013-14 season, Vaughan was recalled from the Stingrays to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League.  He remained with the Sound Tigers for the rest of the season as well as the entire 2014-15 season before signing with the Chicago Wolves where he would play the next three seasons. “Everything that I had experienced throughout my hockey career helped me prepare and advance to the AHL level.  The main things was staying healthy and just playing hard.  That’s what earned me a shot at the next level.”

 

During his time in Chicago, Vaughan served as the Wolves’ Player Representative for the Professional Hockey Players’ Association (PHPA), the union that represents AHL and ECHL players, and attended the PHPA Annual Meeting of Player Representatives multiple times on behalf of his teammates.  It was yet another opportunity for Vaughan to learn more about the business side of being a professional hockey player.

 

“I took away a lot from attending the PHPA meetings.  So much information is discussed, even if a certain situation or program doesn’t impact you directly, it surely impacts at least one of your teammates.  As a Player Rep it’s important to know what the union does for you and passing along that information and being a source of information for your teammates.  Often times guys don’t really pay too much attention until something happens to them.  Like shattering an elbow.  Sometimes as a player you don’t think about all the programs being offered until later in your career.  I only started contributing to the PHPA 401K program two years ago.  I wish I had started earlier.  That’s why it’s important for players to listen and pay attention to what’s available to them.”

 

Vaughan was recognized by the American Hockey League as the 2018 recipient of the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award as AHL Man of the Year for outstanding contributions to his local community and charitable organizations.

 

“It's an awesome award.  I didn’t realize the magnitude of it until it was formally presented to me which was very humbling.  As players, we’re fortunate to play a game for a living.  However, life may not be so good for other people.  How you spend your time is important.  Courtney Mahoney does a phenomenal job spearheading the community efforts for the Chicago Wolves and has helped me personally with my charities.  The Wolves have been around a long time in a market that already has iconic hockey, baseball, football, and basketball teams.  The Wolves differentiate themselves with the amount of involvement they have in the Chicago community.  They were a perfect fit with my personality and I really enjoyed my time there.  I had a blast helping out in the community and I think that rubs off on other people.”

 

Vaughan is not only passionate about community involvement and uplifting those who may be less fortunate, but realized the value of his time early in his career and decided to put it to use by doing things he was passionate about, whether it was learning a musical instrument, community involvement, or running businesses that aim to help people.  

 

“I took piano lessons when I was younger and then learned to play the saxophone so I had a musical background.  I picked up a guitar when I was rehabbing my injury in Wheeling and taught myself how to play by watching YouTube videos.  I took it more seriously, practiced a lot, and found playing guitar to be a huge stress reliever where I could take my mind off hockey. 

 

Even when I wasn’t injured, I found that I had a lot of free time on my hands and didn’t want to just sit around.  Through hockey I was fortunate to meet my business partner Greg Tyshynski who introduced me to some different business opportunities and a new passion grew out of that.  I found something I loved doing and eventually had so many projects on the go it brought a lot of excitement to me.”

 

Vaughan indeed put his time to good use.  As a player, he founded a charity called Kids for Camps which helps send kids to a variety of different camps who otherwise cannot afford to go.  “I’m proud to say we sent each and every kid who applied to camp last year.  I also have a business called Swaggy Clause where we produce Christmas ornaments and apparel with all proceeds going towards the Kids for Camps charity.”

 

As Vaughan delved deeper into his business interest, he knew it would take even more time and attention to allow for growth.  “I knew it was the right time to step away from being a full time professional hockey player to focus more on my business ventures.  It’s what excites me.  The timing was right.

 

It’s allowed me to start a company called Fidelis Alternative, an Advisory for alternative business sectors, which I co-founded with Tyshynski in 2017 which we use for staffing purposes.  Staffing through Fidelis finds the right people to help run Swaggy Clause and Kids for Camps.  It also helps staff Roman Homes, a real-estate company that I’m involved with that provides housing for single parent families.  Plus a company I co-founded called IsoSpec Health which produces CBD based health products that can do wonders.  It’s the company I am focused on the most right now. We’re trying to become more prevalent in the pain management space to get high performance athletes off opiates.  It’s perfectly legal in all 50 states and as Co-Founder I’m involved in all aspects of the business which is a lot of fun.”

 

As deep as he is into his business ventures, Vaughan hasn’t lost his passion for being around his teammates and encourages any current or former player who want to get involved and gain professional hands-on experience with any of his business ventures to get in touch with him.  “Whether it’s gaining sales experience or doing social media or anything in between I encourage anyone who wants to get involved to get in touch with me and I’ll find a role for you.”