Arizona lawmakers are pressing for an independent investigation into an Arizona State University hockey workout that left player Matthew Mayich on life support, after teammates said staff failed him in extreme heat.
Matthew Mayich, a 21-year-old sophomore defenseman and St. Louis Blues draft pick, collapsed during an outdoor preseason session on Aug. 20 and remains hospitalized. Family attorney Rob Carey has said the collapse came from exertional heatstroke that cut off oxygen to the brain, leaving Mayich with no chance of recovery.
The New York Post reported that Tempe Fire Medical Rescue answered a heat-related illness call at Sun Angel Stadium around 8:31 a.m., treated him on site, and took him to a hospital. He was still hospitalized days later as ASU opened a review of the workout.
House Education Committee Chairman Matt Gress and Senate Education Committee Chairman Hildy Angius have now told the Arizona Board of Regents to hire an investigator who answers to the board, not the university. Their letter to Board Chairman Doug Goodyear seeks answers by Oct. 9 on who authorized the session, whether heat-safety rules were followed, and how players who speak up will be protected.
Fox News reported the lawmakers’ push after seven anonymous Sun Devils players sent a 26-page letter challenging ASU’s own account and calling for the coaching staff to be placed on administrative leave.
The players described a roughly 75-minute outdoor grind in Arizona’s triple-digit August heat, led by an outside consultant, former Green Beret Tim Ziesel. They said prior outdoor work usually lasted about 15 minutes before the team moved inside. This one did not.
Breitbart reported the players’ core charge: Mayich was in visible trouble early, during a bear crawl and a buddy carry, well before the medicine-ball task where he finally collapsed. “Matthew showed signs of distress earlier, in the bear crawl and the buddy carry, well before the medicine ball task during which he collapsed,” the players wrote.
“No one at ASU properly monitored him during the workout, and no one intervened,” they added. After he went down, teammates said he stayed in direct sun for several minutes and had to be carried into shade. Cooling came from cooler towels, water bottles, and a garden hose.
Water access is sharply disputed. Players said the only break came about 40 minutes in, lasted a few seconds, and that only about eight athletes got a drink before being ordered back while others, including Mayich, were still crawling. ASU’s initial review put a water break around the 20-minute mark. Players also said Ziesel admitted forgetting a break and remarked that he had not drunk water on combat missions.
Arizona State’s own review found the hockey staff did not submit a plan of training activities, that Mayich did not get proper hydration, and that medical care after the collapse was inadequate. The university also claimed Mayich sat upright twice, an account the players reject.
Chris Fiscus, ASU’s vice president of media relations, said the school was investigating “circumstances surrounding the workout.” A university spokesperson told the Arizona Republic the school offered support for the athlete, his family, and the roster “during this difficult time.”
That internal process did not satisfy the seven players or the lawmakers. The athletes wrote that head coach Greg Powers did not appear to grasp how serious the emergency was. Reuters reported their letter quoted Powers calling the episode “just a little heat stroke” he had seen “a million times,” then telling the team they were “closer to making the Frozen Four because of the workout and Matthew having pushed himself to the maximum.”
Powers declined to speak when asked about the incident earlier this month, citing a “difficult time” for the program. Lawmakers want to know why strength-and-conditioning staff did not review the plan, why the final exercise continued after the outside consultant left, and who was responsible once Mayich showed distress.
Gress put the problem in plain terms. “Seven players who were on that field have raised serious questions that ASU’s own review does not answer,” he said. “We need an independent investigation to determine whether ASU followed its own rules, who was responsible for protecting these athletes, and what happened when Matthew Mayich showed signs of distress. ASU should not be left to investigate its own conduct and decide whether anyone should be held accountable.”
Angius focused on the athletes still on the roster. “Student-athletes should never have to choose between telling the truth and protecting their scholarship, roster spot, or playing time,” she said. “If players fear retaliation for speaking about what happened to a teammate, the Regents need to act. They should protect these students and appoint an investigator who answers to the Board, not ASU.”
Mayich, an Ontario native selected 170th overall by the Blues in the 2023 NHL Draft, transferred to Arizona State after a season with the Clarkson University Golden Knights. Players said he spent most of his off time in an air-conditioned apartment because the heat was too oppressive for him, context that makes an extended outdoor punishment-style session in August even harder to defend.
The Board of Regents now faces a deadline and a choice. It can keep the review inside the same institution whose staff ran the workout, or it can bring in an investigator with no stake in the athletic department’s reputation. Seven players already put their names on the line in a detailed letter. Their teammate is still fighting for his life.
When a public university’s own athletes say the safety net failed and the coach treated a life-threatening collapse like a badge of toughness, outsiders, not the program under fire, should run the inquiry.