ASU Hockey players formally request Greg Powers be placed on leave

Update: Since publication, KTAR has released a full copy of the letter from seven anonymous Arizona State hockey players, which can be found here.

Update 2: In the hours since this letter was revealed, the chairs of both the Arizona House Education Committee and the Arizona Senate Education Committee - Matt Gress and Hildy Angius, respectively - publicly called for an independent investigation.

Arizona State will commence its hockey season in four days, with head coach Greg Powers still in charge as details continue to emerge regarding an August 20 workout that led to defenseman Matthew Mayich's collapse and subsequent hospitalization, where he remains to this day.

While there have been calls from a variety of people and outlets for Powers to be placed on leave while the university reviews what happened, the most meaningful contingent just joined the conversation: seven active players on the roster.

According to a report by The Athletic's Katie Strang, Adam Kilgore, and Nathan Fenno, seven current Sun Devil hockey players penned a 26-page letter to university president Michael Crow on Monday asking Powers to be placed on administrative leave.

The letter was provided anonymously by attorney Tim Casey - it should be noted that Casey is not the attorney representing Mayich's family - because the players fear retaliation for speaking up. The players had this to say:

The head coach and his assistant coaches were all on the field on August 20, all remain in their positions, and together they decide our playing time, scholarship levels, and roster status. No one has separated us from them since that morning.

We should not have to choose between telling the truth about August 20 and keeping what we have worked our whole lives for.

The letter also disputes several details from the university's initial report it shared last week, which placed no blame on anyone for Mayich's collapse and subsequent coma.

According to the letter, Powers tried to downplay the severity of Mayich's condition, telling players that he only needed an IV and the situation was something the coach had seen "a million times."

The letter also disputes the university's report that water was not withheld from players. According to the players, the only water break came over halfway through the workout, it lasted mere seconds, and it was reserved only for the first few players to finish the drill that was just wrapping up.

The players also said that, upon his collapse, Mayich's lips were gray and he remained in direct sunlight for several minutes. They also said that Mayich was twice positioned to sit upright, a position that can reduce blood flow to the brain, while the university's report says that Mayich remained lying on the ground.

There was also no immersion ice tube present, which is a university requirement "for all practices and competitions that occur during training periods of increased heat and/or humidity." Players state that the only cooling mechanisms present were towels from a cooler, squirt bottles, and hose water that was sprayed on Mayich for "less than a minute."

The letter also describes some of the commentary from Tim Ziesel, the Green Beret who led the workout, as being inappropriate and discouraging the players from drinking water. The university's report acknowledged that Powers had formally requested permission for Ziesel to speak to the team, but there was no workout plan submitted for review ahead of time, as per university protocols.

In addition to calling for Powers to be placed on leave, the seven anonymous players also shared a desire for the university to refer the investigation to an independent agency, as well as guarantees that no player lose their scholarship for cooperating with the investigation.

With just a few days before the season opener, this creates a very short timeline for Crow and other university officials to act. We will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.