Mason Shaw Is the Tiny Farmer That Could!

It’s official: Everyone’s favorite emotional support fourth-liner re-signed with the Minnesota Wild and could potentially draw into the lineup this weekend. After a fourth ACL injury, surgery, and recovery, Mason Shaw is back with the big club and ready to hit the ice. Fans are ecstatic because not only has he battled through so much adversity to get to the NHL, but there’s just something so endearing about him.

Lovingly called Tiny Farmer on social media, Shaw seems like the kind of person who doesn’t have any enemies. Of course, Shaw isn’t tiny despite his 5-foot-10 stature. He’s built solid but a bit more compact than other players on the team. Take this picture of him next to Zach Bogosian. 

Shaw's background in farming is well-known. But it isn’t just that he grew up on a farm, it’s that the farm is part of his personality. He has frequently talked about going back to cow farming once his hockey career is over. And he’s so crazy about cows that, unlike other hockey players who wore their gear as a Halloween costume as a kid, he dressed as a cow every year, in just a slightly bigger costume each time.

He’s so personable that not even Wild owner Craig Leipold can get mad at him. On the "Wild on 7th" podcast, Leipold told a story about Shaw greeting him once by saying “Hey, Craiger!” I’m sure most other rookies would get a nasty look or even a verbal reprimand from someone in charge of the franchise. But not for Shaw.

And there isn’t any person in the world who can top when he did the “Let’s Play Hockey” call before the first home playoff game against the Dallas Stars in the 2023 playoffs. 

Shaw is one of the toughest guys out there. To go through an ACL tear four times and work himself back into a hockey career takes plenty of grit. One of the best things about him is that he’s willing to do anything for the team, even if that means fighting a guy who is taller and outweighs him.

While Connor Dewar is usually associated with Brandon Duhaime as the Deweys, he and Shaw are even closer. They were consistently on the fourth line and penalty kill together because they’ve got great chemistry on the ice. Dewar was known for his shorthanded goals last year, and Shaw played an integral part in most of them.

Who can forget that Dewar was on the ice with Shaw when Shaw scored his first NHL goal? The celebration alone is enough to make a person’s heart burst!

And now, we’ve got this energy back with the Wild. Everyone has been rooting for Shaw ever since the injury happened, and that’ll only increase once he plays in a game. Because you can’t help but fall a little bit in love with Mason Shaw.