ASU Men’s Hockey Players Dispute School’s Account of Athlete’s Collapse

A 26-page letter landed on the desk of Arizona State University president Michael Crow on Monday, on behalf of seven members of the Sun Devils’ men’s hockey team. It disputes the school’s characterization and accounting of the workout that left first-year player Matthew Mayich on life support. It also calls for the coaching staff to be put on administrative leave pending further investigation.

Mayich collapsed during an Aug. 20 preseason workout led by former Green Beret Tim Zeisel and remains in an Arizona hospital. ASU SVP James Rund released a preliminary internal review of the workout on Sept. 21, which included a timeline of events, weather conditions, a summary of activities participants performed, and the actions taken following Mayich’s collapse toward the end of the nearly two-hour workout.

The four-part letter includes the seven students’ accounting of the events versus Rund’s. 

Among the factual disputes and alleged mischaracterizations are that Mayich never received water, the workout was punishment-driven, Mayich showed signs of distress earlier than reported, and that medical staff did not follow heatstroke protocol and were not trained to handle Matthew’s condition. Mayich collapsed from exertional heatstroke, which cut off oxygen to his brain, according to Mayich family attorney Rob Carey.

The players sent the letter to Crow through Phoenix attorney Tim Casey for fear of reprisal from coaching staff, who all remain in place following Mayich’s collapse and ASU’s internal review: “Together they decide our playing time, scholarship levels, and roster status.” The students note that additional teammates who share the “concerns and questions” did not join the letter over similar fears. ASU currently lists 28 students on the roster, including Mayich.

In Part One, titled “What we saw,” the students recall the workout in a timeline and identify a lack of water provided throughout the workout:

1. The water was on a rack at the sideline. We could not leave formation to drink.
2. There was one water break, lasting seconds, for the first of us to finish the bear crawl, maybe eight of us.
3. When those of us who reached the water drank, Ziesel [sic] stood behind us and declared that he did not get water in combat.
4. Matthew, and many of us, did not get water at any point.

After Mayich fell, they write of the conditions, “Matthew was unintelligible and non-responsive. His lips were gray. … There was no immersion tub, no ice chest, no ice for cooling, no fan, and no stretcher. We carried him to the parking slab just south of the bleachers.”

They also detail that head coach Greg Powers downplayed Mayich’s condition as “just a little heat stroke,” which he had seen “a million times. … After the ambulance took Matthew to the hospital, Coach Powers told us that we working [sic] closer to making the Frozen Four because of the workout and Matthew having pushed himself to the maximum.” They say that the next day Powers said Mayich would be fine and was being slowly weaned off sedation.

They also flag that they were told the statements they provided to the ASU police would not be shared with the university’s administrative review, but the Rund report states that they were. ASU did not immediately respond to request for comment from Front Office Sports.

Among many disputed facts, Casey pointed out the weather noted in the Rund report was measured from about a mile away in downtown Tempe and did not reflect the workout occurring on campus in direct sunlight, nor did the report include 2021 ASU findings that on-field values at Sun Devil Athletics venues measure higher than temperatures from regional weather stations. 

Crucially, the Rund report does not identify responsibility or assign blame. The students’ letter requests the school “place the staff responsible for approving, conducting, and supervising the session on administrative leave pending an independent investigation” and name a new coaching staff “who could serve on an interim basis and help the University reach the truth without placing the entire burden of that effort on the players.” They recommend pro players in Arizona hockey, including former Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan, as candidates. 

They also request an investigation outside the university, and protection against retaliation if their identities are revealed.

ASU acknowledged receipt of the letter to The Athletic. 

Sun Devil men’s hockey, which plays in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, is scheduled to open its season on Friday at Lindenwood. There has been no indication since Mayich’s collapse that there were ever plans to halt the season or consider an alternate path for the players. Powers, who has been at the helm of the ASU team for 12 years, did not answer questions about Mayich or the workout during a Sept. 23 press conference for NCHC media day.

The students have asked for action before their season begins: “We should not have to choose between telling the truth about August 20 and keeping what we have worked our whole lives for.”