Posted: Jul 27, 2020

Mayhew Named to Minnesota Wild's NHL Playoff Roster

Edmonton, AB. - Ferris State Hockey alum Gerald Mayhew has been named to the Minnesota Wild's National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Playoff roster and will join the 10th-seeded Wild as they set to take on the Vancouver Canucks in the NHL Playoff Qualifying Round.

The Wild will take on the Canucks in a best-of-five qualifying round series. The top four seeds (St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, and Dallas Stars) will play a round robin. The second place finisher in the Western Conference round robin will take on the winner of the Minnesota/Vancouver series.

Mayhew is the first Bulldog alum to be named to an NHL Playoff roster since Chris Kunitz, who played a Ferris State record 178 NHL Playoff Games in 13 years, winning four Stanley Cup Championships (2007, 2009, 2016, 2017). Only four former Bulldogs have dressed in the NHL Playoffs including Jason Blake (30 games), Dave Karpa (19 games) and John Gruden (3 games).

The Wild's qualifying round schedule is as follows:

Game 1: Sunday, August 2 (10:30 PM ET) - Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta

TV Coverage: NBCSN, FSWI, FSN

Game 2: Tuesday, August 4 (10:45 PM ET) - Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta

TV Coverage: NBCSN, FSWI, FSN

Game 3: Thursday, August 6 (TBA) - Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta

Game 4*: Friday, August 7 (TBA) - Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta

Game 5*: Sunday, August 9 (TBA) - Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta

*= If necessary

The announcement of Mayhew's qualification for the Wild's postseason roster is another in a lengthy stream of accomplishments in the past two years for the former Bulldog who has exploded onto the professional hockey scene.

A few weeks ago, the American Hockey League (AHL) announced that Mayhew was voted the winner of the Les Cunningham Award, annually awarded to the Most Valuable Player in the AHL.

Mayhew led the Iowa Wild, the National Hockey League's (NHL) principle affiliate, with 39 goals in 49 AHL games played, finishing five-goals clear of the second place finisher, also earning him the AHL's Willie Marshall Award for top goal scorer in the AHL.

"Gerry has worked very hard to reach this point and to see it all pay off is very rewarding," Ferris State Hockey head coach Bob Daniels said. "From leading the AHL in goals, making his NHL debut and scoring a goal in it, to being named AHL MVP, he has made us all extremely proud."

Impressively, Mayhew played the lowest number of AHL games of anyone in the top seven in AHL goal-scoring as he spent multiple stretches of time in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Minnesota Wild where he scored a pair of goals in 13 contests. Mayhew's pace of 0.79 goals per game far eclipsed second place goal-scoring finisher Reid Boucher (Utica Comets), who had 34 goals in 53 games for a rate of 0.64 goals per game.

Mayhew's 39 goals were the most by an AHL skater since the 2011-12 season. He registered 10 game-winning goals and 11 multi-goal games with the Iowa Wild this season. In games Mayhew scored a goal, the Wild were 26-7-1-2. Mayhew also led the Wild in plus/minus rating at +16.

A Wyandotte native, Mayhew finished the 2018-19 AHL season with 60 points on 27 goals and 33 assists in 71 games before erupting for 61 points in 22 less AHL games this season on 39 goals and 22 assists. In the 2018-19 playoffs, Mayhew led the Iowa Wild in goal-scoring with nine goals and 11 points in 11 games played.

Mayhew became the 12th former Bulldog to debut in the NHL this past season, joining Dean Clark, Mike Colman, Dave Karpa, John Gruden, Jason Blake, Andy Roach, Rob Collins, Chris Kunitz, Greg Rallo, Zach Redmond and Chad Billins. Mayhew left Ferris State as the all-time leader in playoff point scoring in school history.

Mayhew was a standout for the Bulldogs from 2013-2017, helping the Bulldogs to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances in 2014 and 2016 as well as a Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) MacNaughton Cup Championship in 2014 and Broadmoor Trophy Championship in 2016.

As a freshman, Mayhew went on a postseason tear for the Bulldogs, resulting in the hashtag #GerryTime trending on twitter following his two-goal and overtime game-winning goal performance against Alaska Anchorage at Grand Rapids' Van Andel Arena in the 2014 WCHA Final Five. The Iowa Wild have maintained use of the hashtag throughout his professional career.

During his collegiate career, Mayhew had a propensity for appearing in the clutch moments. Mayhew scored the game-winning goal in the 2014 NCAA Tournament against Colgate. As a junior in 2016, he scored twice in 37 seconds in the first round of the WCHA Tournament, including the game-winning goal to sweep Northern Michigan and advance to the semifinals. In the WCHA Championship game, Mayhew scored the championship winning goal on a penalty shot against Minnesota State.

In the ensuing NCAA Tournament, Mayhew earned an assist, creating the game-winning overtime goal in Ferris State's 2016 upset of second overall seeded St. Cloud State in the NCAA West Regional. Mayhew scored a goal in both of Ferris State's NCAA Tournament games in 2016 as well.

Mayhew was the WCHA point-scoring champion in both 2015-16 and 2016-17, and wrapped up his career with 52 goals and 67 assists for 119 points in 150 collegiate contests. Mayhew was a two-time All-WCHA Tournament team member and a first team all-conference selection as a senior in 2017. He was Ferris State's leading scorer of the 2010-2020 decade and was named to the All-Decade Team.

As a prepster, Mayhew was named USHS Michigan Mr. Hockey, awarded annually to Michigan's best high school hockey player. Mayhew tallied 44 goals in 30 games for Wyandotte Roosevelt High School in 2010-11 before joining the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons where he scored 36 goals and dished out 41 assists for 77 points in 117 games in USA's premier junior league.