A $100 discount-rack Blues jersey became a priceless gift to a dying prospect's family

In October 2024, St. Louis Blues fan Mason Van Der Heyden spotted a white No. 94 “MAYICH” jersey on a discount rack at Enterprise Center. The price was $100, and the name on the back belonged to a prospect who had never played an NHL game.

That prospect was Matthew Mayich, a sixth-round pick by the Blues in the 2023 NHL Draft. The team had issued Mayich a pair of personalized jerseys — one white, one blue — and the white one sat in the Rinkside Reserve section, marked down for sale. Van Der Heyden, then 24, was at a Blues game and had several prospect jerseys to choose from. He picked Mayich’s.

“I just like more obscure players, and I also like the No. 94,” Van Der Heyden said. “So nothing about him in particular drew me to it. It was just a cool jersey.”

Today, that same white jersey hangs in a hospital room at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. That’s where Mayich, 21, has been since Aug. 20, after collapsing during a military-style workout with the Arizona State hockey team. He remains on life support and is unlikely to recover, according to a family attorney.

Whether Mayich wore the white jersey in a preseason game is not confirmed — the source says “possibly.” But the $100 discount-rack purchase now holds a place in a family’s most painful moment, a keepsake they never expected to receive.

THE JERSEY'S JOURNEY

When the Blues drafted Matthew Mayich in the sixth round of the 2023 NHL Draft, the team issued him two personalized jerseys — one white and one blue — with “MAYICH” and No. 94 stitched on the back, per www.nytimes.com.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound defenseman wore the white one for at least one prospect tournament and possibly a preseason game. Whether he actually played in a preseason game in that jersey is not confirmed.

Mayich returned to junior hockey each year with the Ottawa 67’s in the OHL, and in 2024, the Blues put his white jersey up for sale at Enterprise Center. The organization’s Rinkside Reserve department, which sells official team gear, had the jersey hanging on a discount rack in the concourse area for $100.