Matthew Mayich, an Arizona State hockey player and St. Louis Blues draft pick, has “zero chance of recovery,” his family’s lawyer said Monday after the athlete collapsed and fell into a coma following an offseason workout last month.
Robert Carey, the lawyer for Mayich’s family, is searching for answers as the player remained incapacitated from an Aug. 20 on-campus workout. The session began in the morning of Aug. 20 as classes for the first semester of school were just about to get underway.
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Carey told the Arizona Republic that he gleaned on his own that Mayich was struggling through the workout and was unable to complete the things that were being asked of him.
“He was disoriented and struggled well before he collapsed,” he told the paper.
Carey added in an interview with The Associated Press that the temperatures for that day were unsuited for an outdoor practice – especially for those who hadn’t been in the region for a full week. He called the workout “onerous” and “grueling.”
He said the workout lasted for over an hour without any rest of a water break for some athletes.
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“ASU’s only statement so far was to note that coaches and trainers were present to support their claim that this workout was nothing unusual,” he said. “It doesn’t. It just means ASU’s own people stood there and watched exactly what they dialed up, and had no problem with it, at least the head coach didn’t. We will find out down the road if other university employees realized the student-athletes were in jeopardy. I suspect some did.”
Arizona State has said it would conduct a thorough review of the incident.
“This is not an investigation where someone is suggesting something went wrong,” Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini said last week. “We’re just reviewing the facts and understanding the scenario.”
OutKick reached out to Arizona State for further comment.
Carey called for the school to conduct an independent investigation.
Mayich, who is from Canada, played four seasons with the Ottawa 67’s in the Ontario Hockey League before joining Clarkson University last season. He transferred to Arizona State for the Sun Devils’ 2026-27 campaign.
The Blues selected Mayich in the sixth round of the 2023 NHL Draft but he never signed an entry-level contract.
“He is twenty-one years old,” Carey told The Associated Press. “His family is at his side, and they are grateful for the support they’ve received from the hockey community and from Matthew’s teammates.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report
