ASU Police Open Investigation Into Hockey Player Matthew Mayich's Collapse as Family Says He Has 'No Chance of Recovery'

Matthew Mayich, a 21-year-old defenseman for Arizona State University's hockey team, remains hospitalized more than two weeks after collapsing during an outdoor team workout on August 20. His family's attorney says there is no realistic hope he recovers.

What happened on August 20

Mayich collapsed at Sun Angel Stadium, ASU's track and field facility in Tempe, during what Arizona State's police department confirmed was the team's first official outdoor workout of the season, according to Cronkite News. Tempe Fire Medical Rescue was dispatched around 8:31 a.m. after a report of heat-related illness, according to FOX 10 Phoenix. The temperature at the time was in the mid-to-high 80s Fahrenheit, with humidity between 46 and 51 percent depending on the reading, according to FOX 10 and Cronkite News.

Mayich was in critical condition and comatose by the time he reached the hospital, FOX 10 reported. He has not improved since.

The medical picture

Robert Carey, the attorney representing Mayich's family and a partner at Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, told the Los Angeles Times that Mayich suffered "exertional heat stroke that caused the lack of oxygen to his brain," adding "there were no other contributing conditions, only exertion-related heat." Carey said the family has been told the prognosis is not good and that Mayich has been incapacitated "from the moment he left the field, with no chance of recovering."

A BMJ Medicine report cited by CBC describes exertional heatstroke as the third leading cause of mortality among athletes during physical activity, with mortality rates around 27 percent and lasting health consequences for survivors.

Carey told CBC Hamilton that Mayich's parents, who live in the Stoney Creek area near Hamilton, Ontario, have been staying at a nearby hotel and visiting the hospital daily. "They really appreciate the love and the prayers and the support they've received from their Canadian friends," Carey said.

Disputed claims about the workout

According to Carey and his law partner Leonard Aragon, who spoke to Cronkite News, the session was led by Tim Ziesel, a former Green Beret brought in as a third party who had previously worked with the ASU hockey program. Aragon said several players told the firm it was "the hardest workout that they've ever experienced," involving bear crawls, pushups and running that lasted more than an hour. Carey told FOX 10 that players who fell behind got more exercise and less water, and that rest periods consisted of holding a plank position, with one 15-second water break offered to lagging athletes.

Ziesel's attorney disputes that account. Speaking to FOX 10, the attorney said the workout followed NCAA and university athletic rules, was not overly rigorous, included no timed events, and involved no denial of water at any time. Those are two directly conflicting descriptions of the same 90-minute session from named parties, and neither has been resolved by an independent finding.

Arizona State's response

Arizona State has not named Mayich publicly, citing privacy obligations, but confirmed in a September 3 statement that coaches and training staff were present during the workout "along with a third party who had previously worked with the ASU Hockey team." The university said it has heat-illness guidelines informed by the National Athletic Trainers' Association and institutional rules governing outside entities who work with student-athletes.

James Rund, ASU's senior vice president for educational outreach and student services, is leading an internal review of "the workout and related university policies, procedures and training protocols," the school said. ASU athletic director Graham Rossini told reporters last week, "This is not an investigation where someone is suggesting something went wrong. We're just reviewing the facts and understanding the scenario."

Separately, the Arizona State University Police Department has opened its own investigation into the circumstances of the collapse, according to reporting by The Athletic's Katie Strange, Adam Kilgore and Nathan Fenno, relayed by Sportsnet. That reporting says state police are assessing whether any criminal acts occurred, and a university representative told The Athletic that police review of serious on-campus injuries is standard practice. No charges have been filed and no findings have been announced from either the police inquiry or Rund's internal review.

Background

Mayich, born in Hamilton, played for the Hamilton Huskies and four seasons with the Ottawa 67's of the Ontario Hockey League before spending last season at Clarkson University in New York. The St. Louis Blues selected him in the sixth round, 170th overall, of the 2023 NHL Draft, though he never signed an entry-level contract. He transferred to Arizona State in April.

The collapse falls in a stretch that has drawn broader attention to athlete safety this season. On August 29, William Jewell College running back MicahJo Barnett, 20, collapsed on the sideline moments after scoring a touchdown and was pronounced dead at a Missouri hospital, according to Breitbart. A cause of death in that case has not been reported, and nothing ties it to Mayich's collapse beyond timing.

For Mayich, the open questions are narrower and more urgent: what Rund's review and the ASU police investigation ultimately conclude about who oversaw the workout, whether water access was restricted as Carey and Aragon allege, and whether any university employee recognized signs of distress before Mayich collapsed.