Arizona State sparks fury with probe into hockey star left comatose by brutal military workout

Arizona State has released its initial report on the hospitalization of Sun Devils hockey star Matthew Mayich but did not blame any party for the intense military-style workouts that preceded the 21-year-old’s collapse and subsequent coma.After he was hospitalized, The Athletic reported the Sun Devils’ outdoor workout lasted around an hour and was considered ‘both atypical and extreme’ amid rising temperatures in the Phoenix/Tempe area – reportedly in the mid-to-high 80s. Arizona State University Police have launched an investigation into the incident.School officials launched their own probe into the circumstances of the incident, and while the full review led by Arizona State senior vice president James Rund has not been released, preliminary findings are being slammed by Mayich family lawyer Rob Carey for a lack of accountability.Specifically, Carey took issue with the promise to create a ‘blue-ribbon advisory panel’ to give ‘recommendations’ for outdoor training policies.’This report, it’s more advocacy than fact-finding,’ Mayich family lawyer Rob Carey told The Athletic. ‘It completely misses the point. I’m just blown away that they’re offering up a committee to come up with new policies. The problem is not that ASU lacked policies. The problem is, no one followed them. They literally violated every policy they have, and their conclusion is, “Let’s call for a blue-ribbon panel to tell us about policies?” Mind-boggling. We’re a month later, and ASU’s report holds no one accountable.’An Ontario native who was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in 2023, Mayich suffered exertional heat stroke that led to a lack of oxygen to his brain prior to his collapse. Carey has blamed the military-style workouts arranged by a former US special forces service member. Arizona State has released its initial report on the hospitalization of Matthew Mayich Arizona State’s hockey team is 11 years old and features players from across North AmericaThe review and timeline released Tuesday reported that the team’s coaching staff did request permission for an ex-Green Beret, Tim Ziesel, to speak with players, but added they did not submit Ziesel’s training activities to strength and conditioning coaches for review.Ziesel did not have a contract for the three-day ‘team-building’ exercise described in the timeline, and he had left the campus before Mayich collapsed.The former US special forces service member is a non-university employee and has declined to talk about the workout, saying he ‘didn’t know the whole situation.’Players reportedly were put through their paces in a grueling session consisting of sprints, planks, push-ups and bear crawls. There was an emphasis on repeating instructions back to the instructor and keeping correct count of each exercise.Players were allegedly forced to complete extra sprints or exercises if they failed either task or lagged behind other groups. It is claimed by The Athletic they were also told not to complain.The final activity was a run with a medicine ball the length of a football field and back, but the instructor is said to have left before that section was completed.Like the other participants, Mayich did pass a physical exam that cleared him to participate in the team workouts.Sun Devils coach Greg Powers has not spoken publicly since Mayich’s collapse, but is scheduled to take part in a virtual news conference Wednesday with the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.He previously attributed the team’s struggles last season to being too ‘soft,’ as he told 247Sports in May. Mayich, a Canadian player, transferred to Arizona State after suiting up at Clarkson Months earlier, Powers was introduced to Ziesel through Arizona State hockey supporter James ‘Winky’ Fairorth, which led to the team-building exercises last month, according to The Athletic.A day before the workouts, Powers told players they were embarking on a ‘team building exercise with physical activity built in’ and urged the student athletes to ‘hydrate and eat well.’Although the timeline reports that Powers told Ziesel to do a water break 20 minutes into the workout, it’s unclear which players actually got to take a drink. Sources told The Athletic that those who were late finishing exercises were asked to perform extra reps.’I know that water break didn’t include the people who were late in the exercise, which are the people that need it the most,’ Carey said.Mayich did appear disoriented during the workout, according to the review timeline, which claimed he stumbled and fell while holding a medicine ball. Tempe Fire Medical Rescue was called shortly after the workout ended to deal with a ‘serious heat emergency’ as a trainer applied iced towels and cool water.Although Arizona State University Police are investigating the incident, Carey has called for the school’s officers to give the case to Phoenix PD.’I have very little confidence that ASU is trying to get to the truth here,’ Carey told The Athletic. ‘If they were, they’d be talking about who made the mistakes here and why the mistakes were made and what’s going to be done to correct that or prevent that in the future.’