ASU’s Matthew Mayich reportedly participated in military-style workout before collapse

Arizona State hockey player Matthew Mayich was participating in a “military-style team workout” when he collapsed and was taken to a hospital on Aug. 20, according to The Athletic’s Katie Strang and Adam Kilgore.

The workout lasted approximately 60 minutes and consisted of sprints, planks, push-ups and bear crawls outdoors with “an emphasis on repeating instructions back to the instructor and keeping a correct count of each exercise,” anonymous sources who were briefed on the workout told The Athletic. “Players who failed to do either or lagged behind other groups were forced to complete extra sprints or exercises.”

The workout’s instructor was identified as Tim Ziesel, a former military service member and non-university employee. Ziesel declined to speak to The Athletic and azcentral regarding the circumstances of the workout.

Mayich, who had transferred to Arizona State for the upcoming season, collapsed during the workout with what paramedics called a “heat-related illness.” Mayich, a 2023 NHL draft pick by the St. Louis Blues, remains hospitalized as of Thursday, per The Athletic.

While the school did not officially name Mayich due to privacy concerns, the Blues said Wednesday that they were monitoring Mayich.

Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Thursday that the university was “reviewing” the incident, distinguishing it from an “investigation.”

“We are collecting information, and if there’s things that we need to identify and learn from, we’re gonna do that, but this is not an investigation where somebody’s suggesting something went wrong. We’re just reviewing the facts and understanding the scenario,” Rossini said.

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