Arizona State places hockey coach Greg Powers on leave amid Mayich uncertainty
· Yahoo Sports
Arizona State men's ice hockey coach Greg Powers has been placed on paid administrative leave, the university announced on Wednesday, Sept. 30, as an investigation into the collapse of 21-year-old Sun Devils player Matthew Mayich continues.
The decision from the school came two days after seven of Mayich's teammates sent a letter to Arizona State president Michael Crow disputing the university's account of the preseason workout on Aug. 20 led by a former Green Beret that led to Mayich's collapse. In the letter, the anonymous players asked for Powers to be placed on administrative leave.
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That same day, Mayich's parents called for the removal of Powers and his staff.
“Our focus continues to be on Matthew and his family, and on our student-athletes to make sure 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 collect as much information as possible. After thorough and careful deliberation, I believe this is the best move to provide stability for the hockey program.”
Mayich remains at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. Mayich's attorney, Robert Carey, has said that Mayich's condition has not changed in more than a month and that he has no chance of recovery.
Assistant coach Mike Corbett will be in charge of the Sun Devils during their season-opening set of games against Lindenwood later this week. The school said an interim head coach will be named "soon."
In a statement, the National College Hockey Conference, the league in which Arizona State plays, said it supported the university's decision to place Powers on leave and that it will remain in touch with the school "regarding its review and the steps being taken to support and protect its student-athletes."
"The concerns raised by student-athletes deserve to be heard and thoroughly reviewed," the statement read. "We will not prejudge the findings of that review. Hockey matters deeply to our conference, but the well-being of our student-athletes matters more."
Powers, who was present at the Aug. 20 workout, has been Arizona State's coach since 2010, five years before the program began competing at the NCAA level.
During a question-and-answer session with reporters on Sept. 23, Powers was evasive when asked whether he or anyone else should be held accountable for the decisions surrounding the workout and defended himself as the right person to continue coaching the Sun Devils.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Arizona State places hockey coach Greg Powers on leave amid Mayich uncertainty