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Arizona State University (ASU) says it will “part ways” with the hockey coach who oversaw the training at which Hamilton-born hockey player Matthew Mayich collapsed during an outdoor workout on a hot day this August.
ASU has “reached a mutual agreement to part ways with hockey coach Greg Powers,” officials said in a statement Thursday, adding that former NHL coach Dave Hakstol will replace him.
Mayich, an NHL prospect drafted by the St. Louis Blues, remains in hospital in serious condition, his family’s lawyer, Robert Carey, said Thursday.
In an initial review released last month, ASU official James Rund wrote that Mayich collapsed at a training at ASU’s Tempe campus just before 8:30 a.m. Aug. 20. The review also said coaches didn’t submit a plan for review by trainers before the training session.
ASU then said it would commission an independent review, to be conducted by former Supreme Court of Arizona Chief Justice Scott Bales.
Mayich’s family and their attorneys have questioned the circumstances around the Aug. 20 workout and how coaches and school officials responded to his collapse. Mayich’s parents say he was healthy prior to the workout. The family’s lawyers said the “military-style,” session took place in “overwhelming” heat and that water was withheld from players.
The parents of Matthew Mayich, a 21-year-old NHL prospect from Stoney Creek, Ont., speak to CBC News after their son collapsed after ‘military style’ training at Arizona State University. Mayich is in critical condition and unlikely to recover, says his lawyer.
Family says Powers should cooperate with investigation
“Our focus remains where it has been since August 20, on Matthew, and making sure what happened to him is fully understood and never happens to another player,” the Mayich family said in a statement through Carey Thursday.
They said Bales’s investigation must continue “with its full scope, gathering all digital evidence and covering everyone involved in that morning’s workout and in approving it, and its findings must be made public.”
“Coach Powers’s departure should not limit his cooperation or anyone else’s, and the players who have spoken up must be protected,” the family added. “We wish Coach Hakstol, his staff, and the players a safe and successful season.”
Seven of Mayich’s teammates anonymously sent a letter to ASU’s president Michael Crow on Sept. 28, disputing some findings from the school’s review of the workout that led to his collapse. Players alleged Mayich “received no water” during the outdoor workout and called for the university to place the trainers “responsible for approving, conducting and supervising the session” on leave pending an independent investigation.
It urged that the team’s coaching staff be replaced “for the period of the investigation if the facts set out in this report, together with what the investigation finds, indicate that step is appropriate.”
Powers had been ASU’s head coach since 2015 and, in 2022, signed a five-year contract extension through the 2026-27 season. He was placed on paid administrative leave on Sept. 30, ASU said in a statement. ASU assistant coach Mike Corbett was appointed to lead the team.
University hires Colorado Avalanche assistant coach
Before ASU announced hiring Hakstol on Thursday, he had been working as an assistant coach for the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. He previously worked as a head coach with the Philadelphia Flyers and the Seattle Kraken, as well as an assistant for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
ASU Athletics Director Graham Rossini also announced that former NHL player Matt Greene, who played for the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers, would join the team as an assistant along with current assistant, Jimmy Mullin. Corbett’s status was not announced.
Mayich played minor hockey with the Hamilton Huskies between 2016 and 2020 then with the Ottawa 67’s before the St. Louis Blues drafted the defenceman in the sixth round of the 2023 NHL draft.
