ASU handling the Matthew Mayich case the right way is the only thing that matters now

Arizona State University has come a long way. Its reputation now stretches from the hallowed halls of academia to the bloodshed on a football field. Its footprint engulfs the Valley, so much that an Uber driver recently remarked that ASU has become more of a real estate company than an institution of higher learning.

The past two decades have been a remarkable period of expansion, evolution and exaltation at ASU. Many big victories have been claimed.

But this current hockey scandal is more than a terrible look. It’s a national embarrassment.

It’s a story that shouldn’t be told in 2026, a story from a bygone era when coaches would berate, belittle and break down athletes to their lowest point. Withholding water to build mental toughness. Making you climb a nearby mountain for jumping offsides too often in practice.

The circumstantial evidence looks terrible. ASU head coach Greg Powers complained on the SunDevilSource podcast in May that his team was too soft the previous season, a team that failed to meet the standards of a man who built the program from soil to nascent power.

Suddenly, a former Green Beret was conducting the first workout of a new season, held outdoors in August, for athletes who play indoors on ice. Video of the workout has surfaced, and at one point, the former Green Beret said:

“Those teams that won, they’re soft. Because that’s what winning does to you. It makes you soft!”

One of the players – Matthew Mayich – may never recover from that ill-fated workout. He is a 21-year-old from Ontario who was drafted in the sixth round by the St. Louis Blues. He is currently hospitalized, and his lawyers say he is unlikely to recover. The ham-handed, sophomoric attempt at toughening up a hockey team with military-style debasement has devolved into absolute horror.

At this point, the story should shift to empathy, transparency and concern for the parents and the players.

Nothing else should matter.

Except it has taken ASU a long time to get this right, even if the administration was blindsided, never aware, never informed, and never had the chance to squash the workout.

Mayich has been on life support for more than a month. Imagine if that was your child. Seven of his teammates had to find the courage to contact a lawyer, expose their head coach and contradict the school’s preliminary findings. Only then did ASU put Powers on PAID leave. And there is still no independent investigation.

Obviously, there are liability concerns at play, especially with a player who was good enough to be drafted by an NHL team. But there are moments inside a community when doing the right thing is the only thing that matters, no matter what the cost.

This is one of them.

Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7.

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