Before We Punish the Players, Let’s Find Out What Happened Find the facts before deciding who deserves the blame

There is a terrible situation unfolding around Arizona State hockey, and before we turn it into another social media trial, maybe it is time to slow down and separate what we know from what we think we know.

Matthew Mayich, a 21-year-old defenseman who transferred to Arizona State after playing his freshman season at Clarkson and was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in 2023, collapsed during an outdoor workout on August 20. He was transported to a hospital and remains in extremely serious condition. His family and their attorneys have provided increasingly grim updates about his prognosis.

There is no question that this is a tragedy.

There is also no question that there needs to be a thorough investigation into exactly what happened.

What there does not appear to be, at least yet, is enough verified information to justify deciding the fate of an entire hockey team.

That distinction matters.

I have spent a considerable part of my life around hockey, and I have always considered myself a players' advocate. That is not going to change because something terrible has happened. If anything, it makes me even more determined to make sure we do not lose sight of the players in the middle of all the noise.

There are reports describing the workout as a military-style session involving sprints, pushups, planks, bear crawls and other exercises. There are also allegations that players were discouraged from stopping or obtaining water and that Mayich was showing signs of distress before he collapsed.

Those allegations need to be investigated.

They should not simply be accepted as established fact.

The workout was reportedly led by a third party who had previously worked with the Arizona State hockey program. Arizona State has acknowledged that the individual was present, along with coaches and training staff. The university says it is reviewing the circumstances and the policies and procedures surrounding the workout. Arizona State University Police are conducting a separate investigation.

That is exactly what should happen.

Find out who organized the workout.

Find out who was responsible for supervising it.

Find out what instructions were given.

Find out how much water was available.

Find out whether players were permitted to stop.

Find out whether medical personnel were present and what they observed.

Find out what happened when Mayich began struggling.

Find out whether Arizona State's own heat and athlete-safety policies were followed.

And find out what happened after he collapsed.

Those are legitimate questions.

What is not legitimate is answering all of those questions before investigators have had an opportunity to do their jobs.

There has also been considerable discussion about the Arizona heat. That discussion is understandable. Heat illness is serious, particularly when intense physical exertion is involved.

But some of the public conversation has made it sound as though these players were dropped onto a field in the middle of an Arizona afternoon with temperatures approaching 120 degrees.

That is not what the available information shows.

The emergency call came at approximately 8:31 in the morning. Reports based on weather observations put the temperature in the upper 80s around that time, with a heat index reported at roughly 91 degrees. That is certainly warm, and strenuous exercise in those conditions deserves appropriate precautions. But it is also a very different circumstance from exercising during the hottest part of an Arizona summer afternoon.

That distinction is important because facts matter.

So does acclimatization.

Reports indicate that Mayich had only recently arrived in Arizona after transferring from Clarkson. His family's attorneys have questioned whether he had adequate time to acclimate to the climate before participating in the workout. That issue deserves serious examination as well. Arizona State's heat policies reportedly contemplate a gradual acclimatization process for athletes arriving from different climates.

Again, investigate it.

If someone ignored a policy, determine who did it and why.

If someone put athletes in an inappropriate situation, determine who made that decision.

If someone failed to respond appropriately when Mayich began showing symptoms, determine who was responsible.

And if wrongdoing is established, hold the responsible people accountable.

But let's be very careful about where that accountability lands.

There are young men on the Arizona State hockey team who did not design this workout. They did not decide how long it would last. They did not determine what safety protocols were in place. They did not hire or invite an outside trainer. They did not decide how coaches or medical personnel would respond.

They are hockey players.

Some of them are undoubtedly scared. Some are probably angry. Some are probably asking themselves whether they could have done something differently. Some may be dealing with the emotional trauma of watching a teammate collapse.

And now there are people suggesting that the entire team should be punished by having its season taken away.

That is ludicrous.

If a coach, trainer, administrator or outside contractor violated rules or acted negligently, investigate that person and deal with that person.

If the university failed to follow its own policies, hold the appropriate people accountable.

If the investigation uncovers systemic problems, fix the system.

But punishing every player on the roster for something they did not control is not accountability. It is collective punishment.

And collective punishment has no place in college hockey.

The players deserve to know what happened just as much as everyone else does. They deserve answers. They deserve a safe environment. They deserve to have their voices heard during the investigation.

They also deserve the opportunity to play hockey.

This is where the hockey community needs to be very careful.

We can demand answers without demanding predetermined consequences.

We can support Matthew Mayich and his family without convicting people before the evidence is assembled.

We can question Arizona State without condemning every person associated with its hockey program.

And we can insist that something went terribly wrong without pretending we already know exactly why.

There will be plenty of time for accountability once the facts are established.

If the evidence shows that somebody crossed the line, then cross-examine every decision, every policy and every person responsible.

But until then, let's remember something that seems to get lost whenever social media gets involved.

The Arizona State hockey players are not the problem.

They are part of the human cost of whatever happened that morning.

Protect the players.

Find the truth.

Then hold the right people accountable.

That is what a players' advocate should be demanding.