Mayhew hopes to bring #GerryTime to the NHL

During the NHL's All-Star break, Wild.com's Dan Myers joined Minnesota's American Hockey League affiliate, the Iowa Wild, on a two-game road trip, sharing stories from inside the organization's minor-league team.
ROCKFORD, Illinois -- Gerald Mayhew took a seat at a table, ready to carb-load before his second of back-to-back hockey games Saturday. If not for his team-issued track suit, Mayhew, wearing dark-rimmed glasses, would look more like a teacher.
In the midst of his second full season of professional hockey, the Wyandotte, Michigan native has been schooling American Hockey League opponents to the tune of 12 goals and 30 points through 41 games.

His 18 assists are already two more than he had in 72 games last season, and his 12 goals are just four shy of his season total from a year ago.

"I think it's just experience in the league now," Mayhew said. "And maybe I'm getting a little more playing time than I did last year, which is really nice, playing power play. I'm playing with Cal O'Reilly right now, who is one of the elite players in our league. He could be in the NHL right now. And he's helped me grow."
There is certainly something to the playing time angle. Mayhew's four power-play goals are second-most on the team behind Kyle Rau. And playing with O'Reilly, the team's captain and one of two Iowa players participating in the AHL All-Star Game, certainly helps.
But with that playing time, Mayhew has become more responsible in both ends of the rink. Despite his power-play production, Mayhew has managed to post a plus-11, a sign that he's been solid in his own end as well.
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"He was great for us last year. That was really his breakout year," O'Reilly said. "But this year, he's just taken another step forward, with his confidence, the way he plays. He does everything well; he competes really well, he's got skill, he shoots. He's having a heck of a year, and he's a heck of a player."
Mayhew's comfort level has certainly paid off in the past.
A four-year player at Ferris State University, Mayhew scored a total of 43 points as a freshman and a sophomore. He nearly equalled that total in his junior year alone, scoring 41 points.
As Mayhew's production increased, so did FSU's success on the ice. The Bulldogs came within a game of the Frozen Four that season after winning the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's tournament championship.
Likewise, Iowa is off to its best 41-game start since moving from Houston six seasons ago.

Mayhew certainly isn't the only Wild player having a great season, but his breakout certainly has helped. On a nightly basis, Iowa has players sitting out as healthy scratches who could conceivably be quality contributors. That competition has raised every player's level of play.
"We have a lot of forwards, and even at the beginning of the year, it was an all-out battle for a spot," Mayhew said. "If you didn't have a good practice or you weren't playing well for a couple of games, you were out. And I think that's good for a team and it's helped us out."
The constant threat of a healthy scratch is especially true for a player like Mayhew, who is not with Iowa on an NHL contract.
Iowa signed Mayhew to a two-year AHL deal in May, but the only way he could play for Minnesota is if the organization rewarded him with a two-way, NHL contract.
Beating long odds, though, is nothing new to Mayhew, who made it to the AHL after following an unusual path to Ferris State.
Instead of midget hockey, Mayhew played high school pucks as a teenager in Michigan. While prep hockey in Minnesota is almost a right of passage for kids, most of Michigan's best high school players go the midget program route.
Instead of going to the prestigious Little Caesars program for his senior year, Mayhew decided to play prep hockey. He was rewarded for his loyalty when his Wyandotte Roosevelt High School team won the state championship.
After two years in the United States Hockey League with Cedar Rapids, Mayhew was off to Ferris State, where he earned the nickname "GerryTime." Following a game-winning goal in overtime his freshman season, FSU play-by-play man Harrison Watt said it was "Gerry Time," and the moniker has stuck ever since.
"I didn't think it'd follow me to pro hockey," Mayhew said.

That nickname is one his teammates still refer to him as, and has evolved into its own #GerryTime hashtag on social media. Bulldogs associate head coach Drew Famulak has resorted to calling Mayhew simply "Hashtag."
One season, Mayhew even put it on his sticks.
"Until I got chirped for it," Mayhew said. "So I had to take that off."
Now, Mayhew is shooting for his next goal: Taking #GerryTime to the NHL.
"I want that NHL contract, and I feel like I've been earning it," Mayhew said. "That's my No. 1 goal is to earn that contract and play in the NHL sooner than later."
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