Matthew Mayich hockey player case raises ASU water questions

Matthew Mayich hockey player coverage centers on one claim: the 21-year-old Arizona State defenseman collapsed during an Aug. 20 outdoor workout after his family's attorney said athletes were denied water in a punishing heat session, and he remains hospitalized while ASU and campus police examine what happened.

Family attorney Robert Carey says Mayich's injuries stem from exertional heat stroke that cut oxygen to the brain, with no other contributing conditions. Carey has described the prognosis as grim while the family stays at his bedside "praying for a miracle."

The case has triggered questions about ASU's hockey training program, heat-illness policies, and how outside instructors are used—issues tracked alongside broader campus accountability debates in our Wealth Hacks & Passive Income coverage hub.

Key Takeaways

• Matthew Mayich, 21, collapsed during a sanctioned outdoor ASU hockey workout on Aug. 20 and remains hospitalized and incapacitated.
• His family's attorney alleges a military-style session with little rest and near-absent water access, including claims players were denied water if they failed stations.
• ASU says it is reviewing the workout, policies, and training protocols; campus police are separately investigating the events around the collapse.
• A heat-illness expert called the reported mix of heat, intensity, possible dehydration, and withheld hydration a known—and preventable—risk pattern.
• Mayich transferred to ASU from Clarkson after OHL play and a 2023 St. Louis Blues draft selection; he had no reported prior health issues, per his family.

What happened to Matthew Mayich during the ASU workout?

According to reporting from AZ Family and the Los Angeles Times, Mayich collapsed during an outdoor team workout in Tempe in the early morning of Aug. 20.

ASU said coaches and training staff were present, along with a third party who had previously worked with the hockey team. The Athletic identified the instructor who led the session as Tim Ziesel, a non-university employee with military experience; Ziesel had not responded to that outlet's inquiries.

People familiar with the session described a punishing military-style workout featuring sprints, planks, pushups, and bear crawls, with emphasis on repeating instructions and keeping accurate exercise counts. Players who lagged or erred were said to face extra work.

Carey told the Los Angeles Times the practice ran "nonstop for well over an hour" with "no rest" and "almost no water." AZ Family reported the attorney's claim that players raced the clock for over an hour in roughly 90-degree heat on the school's track and were denied water if they failed a station.

Carey also said Mayich showed distress—disorientation, confusion, and dizziness—"well before he collapsed," and that staff were unprepared to treat him afterward. Those remain attorney allegations based on witness accounts and other evidence Carey says he has reviewed.

Tempe Fire Medical Rescue responded at about 8:31 a.m. to a heat-related illness call at Sun Angel Stadium, The Athletic reported, with responders soon radioing for a hospital to prepare for a "serious heat emergency." Weather data cited by The Athletic put Tempe near 86 degrees with no wind and 51% humidity around that time; ASU and the Times described upper-80s conditions.

Why are questions being raised about water and training policies?

The dispute sits at the intersection of alleged on-field practices and ASU's written heat-illness rules. AZ Family reported that an ASU Athletics heat-illness policy requires water at all practices and encourages athletes to drink even outside scheduled breaks.

If water was withheld as alleged, that would clash with those guidelines—and with basic sports-medicine advice. Susan Yeargin, an associate professor of athletic training at the University of South Carolina who specializes in heat illness, told AZ Family the described scenario sounded like a "perfect storm": workout intensity, environment, limited acclimatization, and dehydration.

"We know that hot conditions lead to a high core body temperature," Yeargin said. "We know that high-intensity workouts lead to a high core body temperature. We know that a dehydrated person is more likely to have a high core body temperature."

She singled out hydration denial: the body can adapt to heat, cold, and altitude, she said, but "it does not make adaptations to withholding hydration." Yeargin framed the episode as a wake-up call about guidelines that already exist.

ASU has stressed that it has policies for outside entities who interact with student-athletes and heat-illness guidelines for outdoor workouts. A university spokesperson said ASU is reviewing the workout, policies, and training protocols. Athletic director Graham Rossini, speaking to Arizona Sports 98.7 as quoted by The Athletic, described the school's process as a review of facts rather than an investigation that presupposes wrongdoing.

What is Matthew Mayich's condition, and what comes next?

Carey has said Mayich has been incapacitated since leaving the field, that this is not an induced coma, and that the family is "praying for a miracle." In remarks to the Los Angeles Times, he said there was "no chance of recovering" based on the prognosis shared with the family, while also noting limits on what he is authorized to discuss.

Mayich, a sophomore defenseman from Stoney Creek, Ontario, was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the sixth round in 2023 but never signed. He played four OHL seasons and one season at Clarkson before transferring to Arizona State. His family said he had no history of health issues.

Campus police responded to the 911 call and, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Athletic, are investigating whether any criminal acts occurred—separate from the university's internal review. An ASU spokesman called police inquiry into serious on-campus injuries "standard practice."

Carey called the police probe "a step in the right direction" while urging evidence preservation, independent investigation, witness protection, and transparency. He said no decision on legal action has been made until a transparent, robust inquiry is complete.

James Rund, ASU's senior vice president for educational outreach and student services, is leading the university review. ASU's public statements have avoided naming Mayich for privacy reasons while confirming an ASU hockey player who collapsed Aug. 20 remains hospitalized.

For now, the verified public record is stark: a young matthew mayich hockey player transfer remains critically ill after a heat-related collapse, attorneys allege water and rest were inadequate in extreme conditions, and both institutional and law-enforcement processes are underway to determine what policies were followed—and what failed.