The Aporia · Arizona State hockey players ask school president to place coach on leave after workout left teammate in coma

Arizona State hockey players ask school president to place coach on leave after workout left teammate in coma

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APA MLA Chicago

Thompson, S. (2026, September 29). Arizona State hockey players ask school president to place coach on leave after workout left teammate in coma. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/arizona-state-hockey-players-ask-school-president-place-coach-leave-after-workout-left-teammate-coma

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

Seven Arizona State Sun Devils hockey players have sent a letter through an attorney to university president Michael Crow, requesting that head coach Greg Powers and his staff be placed on administrative leave following a workout in August that left teammate Matthew Mayich in a coma requiring life support. The players dispute the university’s initial review, which found insufficient hydration and inadequate medical care for Mayich after he collapsed during practice. They claim that water breaks were scarce, and despite signs of distress from Mayich early in the session, no intervention occurred until it was too late.

Written by AI on 2026-09-29, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Seven members of Arizona State’s hockey team anonymously sent a letter through attorney Timothy J. Casey to President Michael Crow on Monday, calling for the coaching staff to be placed on administrative leave until an independent investigation is completed into the collapse of their teammate Matthew Mayich during an outdoor workout on Aug. 20. The players fear retaliation from head coach Greg Powers and his assistant coaches, who control playing time, scholarship levels, and roster status. The letter disputes ASU’s initial probe, which stated that Mayich received proper hydration and care after collapsing; the players assert he did not receive adequate medical attention or hydration during the workout.

The parents of Matthew Mayich, John and Christina Mayich, also called for coaches involved to be placed on leave in a statement sent through their lawyer. In response, ASU athletic director Graham Rossini announced that head coach Greg Powers has been put on paid administrative leave pending an independent investigation into the incident.

NCHC supports this decision, stating it aligns with providing stability and support for both Matthew Mayich and the hockey program during these challenging times.

Written for “Arizona State Hockey Scandal” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 13 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

12%

3 of 25 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

69/100

Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Sports

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-09-29 · how these are computed

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Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 6241 article(s) · 11 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 78 articles by Scott Thompson →

Topics

Arizona State Arizona State Sun Devils Sun Devils The Athletic ex-U.S. Army

Subjects

Mayich PERSON · 5× Powers PERSON · 3× Arizona State ORG · 2× Matthew PERSON · 2× Arizona State Sun Devils ORG · 1× Greg Powers PERSON · 1× Matthew Mayich PERSON · 1× Michael Crow PERSON · 1× Sun Devils NORP · 1× The Athletic ORG · 1×

Narrative

Seven Arizona State Sun Devils hockey players have written a letter asking the university’s president to place their head coach, Greg Powers, and his staff on administrative leave after a workout left a teammate on life support and in a coma in August.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-29

🔮 These players are disputing the university’s initial review of the Aug. 20 workout that led sophomore Matthew Mayich to collapse.

2026-09-29 · Fox News

Arizona State hockey players ask school president to place coach on leave after workout left teammate in coma · assertive framing

Claims (25 extracted, 3 hedged)

workout → write → August

In a 26-page letter through an attorney, seven anonymous Sun Devils, fearing retaliation from Powers, wrote to Arizona State University president Michael Crow to place their head and assistant coaches on leave, per The Athletic. asserted

Devils → fear → Athletic

These players are disputing the university’s initial review of the Aug. 20 workout that led sophomore Matthew Mayich to collapse. asserted

that → dispute → Mayich

Within the review’s findings were that Mayich didn’t receive proper hydration and had inadequate medical care after collapsing. asserted

Mayich → receive → care

"The head coach and his assistant coaches were all on the field on August 20, all remain in their positions, and together they decide our playing time, scholarship levels, and roster status," the players wrote in the letter. asserted

players → remain → letter

"No one has separate us from them since that morning. asserted

one → separate → morning

"We should not have to choose between telling the truth about August 20 and keeping what we have worked our whole lives for." asserted

we → have → lives

The players added that the "grueling" workout was run by an ex-U.S. Army Green Beret that day, but while an Arizona State review said players were given a water break about 20 minutes into the workout, the players wrote otherwise. asserted

players → add → workout

They claim that the water break was around 40 minutes into the 75-minute activity, but it was just a few seconds. uncertain

it → claim → activity

The players added that only about eight players actually drank water because they were the first to finish a bear crawl drill beforehand. asserted

they → add → drill

"The first of us to finish had a few seconds at the bottles before being ordered back while others, including Matthew, were still crawling," the players’ letter read. asserted

letter → finish → Matthew

The players also wrote that the ex-Green Beret admitted forgetting they needed a water break, but added he didn’t drink water during combat missions. asserted

he → write → missions

As for Mayich himself, the players wrote that their teammate showed signs of distress early on in the workout, saying he started to become disoriented during the bear crawl. asserted

he → write → crawl

Also, he was unable to carry a teammate during a buddy carry exercise. asserted

he → carry → exercise

"No one at ASU properly monitored him during the workout and no one intervened," the letter read. asserted

letter → monitor → workout

When Mayich eventually collapsed, the players claim he remained in direct sunlight for several minutes, which contradicts Arizona State’s report stating he sat upright twice. uncertain

he → collapse → report

The players say that Mayich needed to be carried into the shade by his teammates. asserted

Mayich → say → teammates

As for cooling him down, the players said the only things available were towels from a cooler, water from the bottles and a garden hose. asserted

things → cool → bottles

This was in Arizona heat, which in August regularly sits somewhere in triple digits. asserted

which → sit → digits

"Matthew spent most of his ‘off’ time in his air-conditioned apartment because the heat was too oppressive for him," the players wrote about the Ontario native. asserted

players → spend → native

The players also noted that outdoor workouts prior to Aug. 20 last around 15 minutes before going back inside. asserted

workouts → note → Aug.

Powers was asked earlier this month about the incident, but he didn’t speak due to the "difficult time" it has been for the program. asserted

it → ask → program

Players, though, said their head coach downplayed Mayich’s condition when initially speaking to them about it. asserted

coach → say → it

They said that he simply suffered a "little heat stroke," while adding they were "closer to making the Frozen Four because of the workout…" The Frozen Four is the equivalent to the Final Four in college basketball. "From what we could tell, at no point did Coach Powers seem to appreciate the severity of the situation," the players’ letter added. uncertain

letter → say → situation

The Sun Devils are set to begin their 2026–27 season on Friday against Lindenwood. asserted

Devils → set → Lindenwood