Now he's hoping to lead the U.S. to its third consecutive Paralympic gold, this time as captain.
"To be able to win a couple of gold medals and to be able to lead the guys, hopefully, to another one is a special feeling," he said. "When you dream about [being captain] since you were 15 years old and finally achieve it nine years later it's kind of cool. It didn't really set in until I actually sat down and thought about it and was like, 'Wow, this is going to be awesome.'"
U.S. coach Guy Gosselin said Pauls' progression as a player made him the natural choice to be named captain.
"We've seen him grow up in the game," Gosselin said. "You don't have to be a cheerleader-type, rah, rah type captain. The guy leads by example and he brings it and people feed off that energy."
When Pauls isn't playing hockey, he works in sales for a finance company in St. Louis after graduating from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, in 2015 with a degree in sports management. Although he was born without tibia bones and had each of his legs amputated at 10 months old, that didn't stop him of dreaming of playing in the NHL as a goaltender.
"I soon realized that to be a goalie you've got to be a little crazy," he said.
Pauls was introduced to sled hockey at age 8 when his mother brought him to a charity exhibition game in Bridgewater, New Jersey, between a sled team from South Jersey and team of able-bodied players in sleds. Pauls initially hated it. He was convinced to give it another try two years later.
"A team opened up and they were like, 'Hey, why don't you give it one more shot?'," he said. "Then, something changed. I don't know what it was, but I loved it."
Pauls started out as a forward, but transitioned into playing defense. He was voted the best defenseman at the 2015 world championship and 2016 Pan Pacific Championships.
Initially, Pauls loved the physicality in sled hockey, which he compared to metal bumper cars colliding. But at 5-foot-8, 135 pounds, he eventually realized that maybe it was better to leave the hitting to the bigger player. Now he embraces the speed of the game and, "being able to feel that wind through your hair, even under the helmet, and just being able to not have any kind of limitations that you may have day to day.
"Everybody is on an even playing field pretty much once you're on the sled."