GRAND FORKS — Arizona State placed head coach Greg Powers on paid administrative leave Wednesday morning, 42 days after defender Matthew Mayich collapsed during an outdoor team practice.
Mayich remains hospitalized with no significant chance of recovery, according to his family’s attorney.
Arizona State opens the season Friday at Lindenwood.
Arizona State assistant coach Mike Corbett will serve as head coach while Powers is on leave. Corbett has head coaching experience at Alabama Huntsville. He also won an NCAA national championship as an assistant at Quinnipiac.
Arizona State says it will soon name an interim head coach.
“We continue to focus on Matthew and his family, as well as our student-athletes, to ensure they have the support they need during this time and as the season begins,” Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini said in a statement. “We have continued to gather as much information as possible. After extensive and careful deliberation, I believe this is the best decision to ensure the stability of the hockey program.”
The National Collegiate Hockey Conference says it supports Arizona State’s decision.
“The concerns raised by student-athletes deserve to be heard and thoroughly investigated,” the NCHC said in a statement. “We will not prejudge the findings of this review. Hockey matters deeply to our conference, but the well-being of our student-athletes matters even more.”
The move comes two days after seven Arizona State players anonymously sent a letter to the school’s president, through an attorney, requesting that staff be placed on leave while an independent investigation into Mayich’s meltdown was underway. The players contradicted much of the school’s initial report.
The players’ letter alleges that Mayich was not given water during a 75-minute outdoor workout and that Arizona State staff were not prepared to identify and treat heat stroke. Their letter also said Mayich appeared in distress before his collapse, but training continued.
Powers declined to answer any questions about the Aug. 20 practice during last week’s National Collegiate Hockey Conference media call.
Arizona State finished in last place in the NCHC last season. The Sun Devils signed 18 new players this offseason, including Mayich, a transfer from Clarkson.
Mayich is a draft pick of the St. Louis Blues.
Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been recognized four times by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the top writer in the Herald’s broadcast division and twice as North Dakota Sports Writer of the Year. He resides in Grand Forks. Contact him at bschlossman@gfherald.com.
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