Seven Arizona State hockey players told the school on Monday that its review of their teammate's collapse is wrong about what happened. Matthew Mayich, a 21-year-old defenseman and St. Louis Blues draft pick, collapsed from heat stroke on August 20 during an outdoor workout on the Tempe campus. He remains on life support, and his family's lawyers say he is not expected to recover. Tim Ziesel, a former Army Green Beret, ran it. ASU released its own review last week. It found that Ziesel had no contract with the university and that the coaches never submitted a written workout plan for approval. The players say ASU hasn't disciplined anyone. They sent a 26-page letter to President Michael Crow through a lawyer and kept their names off it. They want the school to put head coach Greg Powers and his staff on leave before the team opens its season Friday.

1. The Coaches Should Step Aside Now

The players say the school's review got the key facts wrong. They fear retaliation while the same coaches control their careers.

The players say their teammate never got water. ASU's review says Powers told Ziesel to give a water break 20 minutes in and another toward the end. The players say there was one short break, about 40 minutes in, and that Mayich never reached the water. "No one at ASU properly monitored him during the workout and no one intervened," they wrote. They say the session ran more than 75 minutes and that he showed distress early, during bear crawls and a buddy carry.

They say staff ignored the school's own heat rules. According to the letter, the field had no cold-water immersion tub and no ice, which the players say ASU's heat policy requires. The players say staff cooled Mayich with towels and a garden hose. They say paramedics arrived 17 minutes after he went down. The players also say Powers called it "a little heat stroke." Douglas Casa, who runs the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut, has said heat stroke is "100 percent survivable if it is quickly and appropriately recognized and treated."

They kept their names off the letter out of fear. "We are submitting this report anonymously because we fear retaliation from the coaching staff," the players wrote. The coaches who were on the field that morning still decide playing time, roster spots and scholarships. "We should not have to choose between telling the truth about August 20 and keeping what we have worked our whole lives for," they wrote. They want interim coaches in place for the season. They name former Arizona Coyotes captain Shane Doan as one candidate.

2. ASU Can't Investigate Itself

The family's lawyers and a state lawmaker want someone outside the university to find out what happened.

The family's lawyers say the players did the school's job. Rob Carey represents the Mayich family. "The athletic department, the compliance office and the administration should have produced this report. Instead, the players did," he said. Leonard Aragon, another family lawyer, said the players had to go through a lawyer to protect themselves. "It tells me that this is just designed to protect ASU, not designed to get to the bottom of what happened," Aragon said.

The family wants prosecutors, not campus police, on the case. ASU Police are investigating and will send their findings to the county attorney. Last week, Carey asked Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell to run a criminal investigation herself. "ASUPD is a department of the university and answers to the administration whose athletic department, coaches and outside instructor are the subjects of the inquiry," he wrote.

A state lawmaker says the review leaves serious questions unanswered. Arizona state Representative Matt Gress chairs the House Education Committee. "Seven players who were on that field have raised serious questions that ASU's own review does not answer," he said.

3. The School Is Standing by Its Review

ASU's review found the coaches skipped approval steps. The school promised an expert panel and says it has nothing more to add.

ASU's own review already lists what went wrong. James Rund, ASU's senior vice president of educational outreach and student services, led the review. The review draws on 20 interviews. It found that the coaches skipped the approval step for the workout plan and brought in a consultant with no contract. ASU says it will form a panel of experts to review outdoor workouts and the use of outside consultants.

The review says staff on the field did respond. The review says three hockey coaches, an athletic trainer and Ziesel were all there. It says the trainer brought water and a cooler of iced towels. When Mayich collapsed, the trainer applied iced towels and cool water, moved him to shade and called 911 as he got worse. The review doesn't mention any discipline for Powers.

The school isn't saying more. "We have nothing else to add at this time," a university spokesperson said about the letter.

The coach says he should stay. Asked last week why his players should keep playing for him, he said, "I believe I am the right guy, and 20 years of a body of work and building a program, almost 20 years now, I still believe that."

4. The Workout Was Ordinary

The instructor's lawyer says the session was routine exercise the coaches knew about in advance.

The instructor's lawyer calls it a basic workout. Buddy Rake represents Ziesel. "The workout was not punishing unless you consider flutter kicks, pushups planks, and sprints punishing," Rake said.

He says the coaches knew the plan beforehand. Rake said last week that the plan "was discussed with the coaches beforehand and with the training staff." He called it "a mid-level, or what I would call a low-level, high school football workout." He told ESPN that players were never denied water and that Mayich showed no signs of distress until after Ziesel left, shortly before the final drill.

Where This Lands

Seven players say the school got the water, cooling and supervision wrong. They want the coaches out while someone else investigates. The family says ASU can't judge itself and has asked the county attorney to take over. ASU points to the failures its own review found and has nothing to add. The instructor's lawyer says the workout was routine and the coaches knew the plan. Powers says he is still the right coach. He and his staff remain in charge, and Arizona State opens its season Friday at Lindenwood.

Sources