TEMPE, AZ — Seven members of the ASU men's hockey team have sent an anonymous letter to ASU President Michael Crow disputing the university's official account of the Aug. 20 workout that left teammate Matthew Mayich in a coma.
The players are now calling for an independent investigation, the suspension of the coaching staff, and the appointment of an interim coach before the season opens this Friday, Oct. 2.
Phoenix attorney Tim Casey sent the letter to Crow Monday and also copied to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes.
The players say they are submitting anonymously because they fear retaliation from a coaching staff, led by Head Coach Greg Powers, that remains in place and controls their ice time, scholarships, and roster status.
"These are young men who have spent most of their young life getting to a Division I school, and they're concerned about if they tell the truth about what they saw on the field that day and what they heard on that field that day, then the wide discretion will be used in a way that will not be fair and may harm them," Casey said.
The players' account directly contradicts several findings in the Sept. 21 initial report from Senior Vice President James Rund.
The players say the workout lasted more than 75 minutes, not the approximately 45 minutes described in Rund's report. They also claim Mayich never received water. The letter states there was one water break offered, but that lasted only seconds and reached only the first eight players to finish a bear crawl drill. Mayich was still crawling when the break ended.
The players say consultant Tim Ziesel used extra exercise as punishment, and that Mayich showed visible signs of distress well before the final exercise in which he collapsed. They say he crawled on his hands and knees, appeared disoriented, and at one point leaned on a teammate to stay upright.
Hear from the family attorney as part of previous ABC15 reporting on the incident in the player below.
"What I think of this thing when I look at it is basically we've got a perfect storm of cruelty and incompetence," Casey said. "The cruelty was from Tim Ziesel and how he handled himself, and the incompetence was how Ziesel got there and how everything was handled once the workout began."
The players say the athletic trainer sat Mayich upright twice after he fell a position the letter says is contrary to medical protocols and can reduce blood flow to the brain. The Rund report stated the trainer and players told Mayich to remain on the ground.
The players say there was no cold-water immersion tub, no ice, no fan, and no stretcher on the field. They say the only cooling available was a small cooler with a few Powerade sideline towels, water bottles, and less than a minute of warm water from a garden hose. They say Mayich remained in direct sunlight for several minutes before being carried to a shaded area.
The letter states that after the ambulance left, Powers told the team Mayich's condition was "just a little heat stroke," that he had "seen this a million times," and that Mayich "just needs an IV."
The letter also states Powers told the team they were working closer to making the Frozen Four because of the workout and Mayich having pushed himself to the maximum.
Robert Carey, an attorney representing the Mayich family, said the players' letter confirmed what the family had feared.
"Seven members of the ASU men's hockey team did what Arizona State University would not. They set out, carefully and at real personal risk, what happened on August 20, and they measured it against ASU's own policies. It is appalling that the young men on the field had to write this report, and that the athletic department, the compliance office and the administration did not," Carey said.
Carey said the players' account was more alarming than what the family had previously understood.
"Much of what the players describe is new to us, and it is far worse than we understood. The disregard for his safety did not come from one bad decision. It lasted from the handshake that brought Mr. Ziesel onto the field until the ambulance arrived," Carey said.
Carey also addressed what he described as a false account of the workout.
"Coach Powers and Mr. Ziesel described a short session with water available and nothing out of the ordinary — easy in fact. That account was false, and the Rund report adopted it rather than refuted it. A university that accepts falsehoods about conduct that put a young man on life support has chosen to protect itself over its students. That is inexcusable," Carey said.
Casey said he took steps to ensure the letter could not be dismissed as the work of an attorney.
"I vetted with them and had them each sign an attestation — they read everything, the facts of what they observed, and they attested that it's accurate. It's not made up by a lawyer. It's real facts," Casey said.
In their letter, the players are asking Crow to place coaching staff on administrative leave and name an interim coach ahead of Friday's scheduled season opener against Lindenwood. The letter suggests former Coyotes captain Shane Doan as a candidate and asks the university to refer the investigation to an outside agency, and confirm in writing that no player will lose a scholarship or roster position for coming forward.
ASU has not responded publicly to the letter.
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