FILE-Head coach Greg Powers of the Arizona State University Sun Devils on the bench during a game against the University of Denver Pioneers at Mullett Arena on February 07, 2025 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Zac BonDurant/Getty Images)
Arizona State University Sun Devils hockey players wrote a letter calling on the university’s president to put head coach Greg Powers and his staff on administrative leave after a workout resulted in one of their teammates on life support and in a coma.
The Athletic obtained a 26-page letter sent to Arizona State University president Michael Crow detailing that the hockey players refuted findings from the school’s initial review of the Aug. 20, 2026 workout, writing that Matthew Mayich, 21, did not receive water and was provided insufficient medical attention after his collapse.
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Seven ASU hockey players sent the letter anonymously through lawyer Tim Casey because, they wrote, they fear retaliation from Powers and his staff.
Referencing the letter, The Athletic reported that the seven hockey players wrote that other teammates shared their perspective but didn’t join the letter because they were worried about revenge.
The players also called on Powers and his staff to be placed on leave and asked for Arizona State to refer its police investigation to an outside agency.
What happened to the Arizona State hockey player?
Dig deeper:
Matthew Mayich, a sophomore transfer, collapsed at the conclusion of the Arizona State hockey team’s first preseason workout on Aug. 20, 2026, which was led by Tim Ziesel, an ex-Green Beret whom Greg Powers met in January through an ASU hockey supporter.
Rob Carey, the family’s attorney, told The Athletic that Mayich suffered an exertional heat stroke, which caused a lack of oxygen to his brain.
Carey also shared with The Athletic that Mayich, who did not have any pre-existing medical conditions, has no chance of a meaningful recovery.
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The hockey players' letter to Arizona State University president Michael Crow alleged various errors, discrepancies, and omissions in the initial review by ASU executive vice president James Rund. Mayich’s teammates also the teammates were also skeptical about the care Mayich received after his collapse.
According to The Athletic, Rund’s report claimed Powers directed a water break 20 minutes into the workout. However, the players challenged Rund’s findings, asserting they received a water break 35 to 45 minutes into a 75-minute workout, after a rigorous bear crawl exercise.
Meanwhile, two Arizona state legislators sent a letter to the chairman of the Arizona Board of Regents, which supervises Arizona State, requesting the group to appoint an independent investigator to evaluate the Aug. 20, 2026 workout and to protect the hockey players and witnesses from retaliation.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by The Athletic, which obtained a letter from Arizona State hockey players detailing what happened to teammate Matthew Mayich and their request for the university’s president calling for disciplinary action against the hockey coach and his staff. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.