Taylor Vit remembered one year later

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By Patrick Thompson

This week, the UK hockey team and the entire UK community will remember an outstanding individual in Taylor Vit.

Vit was a 22-year-old senior captain of the hockey team when he was hospitalized from injuries sustained in a car accident on Newtown Pike near fourth Street on Oct. 10, 2010. He died the next day.

The hockey team remembers Vit as someone who everyone looked up to. They were all in agreement when saying that he was an amazing hockey player and an even better friend.

Senior captain Billy Glass spoke of Vit fondly.

“He was a natural leader, he always said the right things and made everyone he played with better,” Glass said. “Nothing I could say will ever describe the type of person Taylor was. He really cared about all of us, and he loved his two younger brothers.  He always talked about them.”

Being a captain on the team, Vit was someone that his teammates and friends could look up to for guidance.

“Taylor was one of the most respected men I’ve ever met. Even away from hockey, he was always a person that people looked up to because of the way he carried himself,” junior defenseman Hunter Lyons said.

The team stated as a whole that losing Vit was the hardest thing that many of them have had to endure. The entire UK hockey family has become stronger because of it, and they still talk about him often.

Senior assistant captain Sean McLaughlin said he only knew Vit for a short time, but that he made a lasting impact on the way McLaughlin plays the game and approaches life as well.

“Taylor was one of the most genuine kids I’ve ever met,” McLaughlin said. “He always told you exactly what he thought of you and how you could improve yourself both on and off the ice. This was probably why he was so respected by anyone he met, people valued his opinion.”

Praising Vit further, McLaughlin said, “Receiving praise from Taylor equated to scoring a game-winning goal. You knew you had done something great when he went out of his way to tell you what a great job you did. He was the smoothest and smartest hockey player I’ve ever had the privilege of playing with, not to mention his amazing hands and wicked shot. I’ll never forget him.”

Vit lead the Cool Cats in scoring for the majority of his time playing at UK, and was ranked in the top10 in scoring in all of ACHA Division 2 hockey, according to the UK hockey website.

As a memorial, the players now wear Vit’s number 14 on the left sleeve of their jerseys.  They also established the Taylor Vit Award that is given annually to the team’s MVP, and which Vit himself won in 2010.

Vit made a lasting impact in many people’s lives, and will always be fondly remembered by his family, friends and teammates.