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Family of ASU hockey player Matthew Mayich is ‘praying for a miracle’

Arizona State hockey player Matthew Mayich remains incapacitated more than two weeks after he collapsed during an outdoor team practice in Tempe.

“Matthew’s injuries [are] from exertional heat stroke that caused the lack of oxygen to his brain,” the family’s attorney, Robert Carey, told The Times on Thursday. “There were no other contributing conditions, only exertion-related heat. This is not a coma, and the family is at his bedside praying for a miracle.”

While the family has not given up on the 21-year-old former draft pick of the St. Louis Blues, Carey said the prognosis they have received is not good.

“He’s been incapacitated from the moment he left the field, and with no chance of recovering,” said Carey, who added that he is limited on what he has been authorized to discuss concerning Mayich’s condition.

He added that the family is “just giving him a chance to have a miracle. And when they decide that’s not coming — I don’t know. They’re in a position no parent should ever be in.”

Mayich was selected by the Blues in the sixth round of the 2023 draft but never signed with the team. He played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League and one at Clarkson University last season before transferring to Arizona State.

Arizona State and its police department referred questions from The Times to a recent statement from the university. In its statement, the university did not mention Mayich by name because of “privacy interests” but talked about an ASU hockey player “who collapsed during an outdoor workout on Aug. 20” and “remains hospitalized.”

Arizona State said that the workout was a team event at which coaches and training staff were present, “along with a third party who had previously worked with the ASU Hockey team.”

The university stressed that it has policies regarding the engagement of “outside entities who interact with ASU student-athletes” and heat-illness guidelines for outdoor workouts. It added that James Rund, senior vice president for educational outreach and student services, would lead a review into the “circumstances surrounding the workout and related university policies, procedures and training protocols.”

“The review will take the time needed to collect and assess information in a manner that is thoughtful, respectful of the student-athlete, his family, his teammates and ASU’s privacy obligations,” the statement says.

The practice took place on a field outside the team’s on-campus arena. According to the university’s statement, the campus police department responded to a 911 call at approximately 8:30 a.m. “and began investigating as they would anytime they are called to a serious incident.”

The temperature at around that time in Tempe that morning was in the upper 80s.

Carey said that from talking to people who were present at the practice and relying on “other objective evidence,” he has determined that it was a military-style practice that ran “nonstop for well over an hour. And there was no rest, and there was almost no water.”

“Matthew was struggling,” Carey said, based on the information he has gathered. “He was disoriented, confused, dizzy, well before he collapsed. … Matthew was demonstrating signs of a problem well before he collapsed, and they did nothing.”

After Mayich’s collapse, Carey said, the staff was “completely and utterly unprepared” to treat him.

“So when he left the field that day, by the time he got to the hospital, there was almost zero chance of recovery,” Carey said.

Carey, who was chief deputy attorney general of Arizona during the 1990s, said he has been retained as the family’s counsel to help guide them through the situation, but no decision about any kind of legal action has been made at this point.

“They’re not going to make any decisions, and I’m not going to make any recommendations, until we get an investigation completed that’s transparent and robust and competent,” Carey said. “We need to know what happened before we can say you have rights or here’s a way to fix things for other kids down the road. …

“We just need to see what the evidence is. That’s our main goal right now, let’s go get the evidence and figure out what happened.”

He added that the family wanted him to express their gratitude for the outpouring of support they’ve gotten during this time.

“They’re from Canada and they’re in Arizona, where they had no connection really, and they’re sitting in a hospital every day,” Carey said, “and they’re just very appreciative of the support they’ve received across the country to help them.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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Italian Grand Prix: George Russell leads Charles Leclerc in Friday practice at Monza

Antonelli’s penalty is caused by using too many engine components this season after reliability problems earlier in the year. Russell will take one at a subsequent race, most likely the Azerbaijan Grand Prix later this month.

Mercedes have chosen this race because they hope the long straights will give him a decent chance of recovering a strong result.

And the Italian, who leads Hamilton and Russell in the championship by 59 points, was the quickest on the race-simulation runs towards the end of the session.

The race runs were inconclusive as Mercedes used the hard compound tyres, Ferrari the softs and Verstappen the mediums.

Antonelli was more than 0.2secs quicker than Russell on average. Norris, also on the hard tyre, was just under 0.2secs slower than Russell.

Meanwhile, F1 has announced that it will host a three-day event for fans before next season in Milan on 18-20 February.

A successor to the F1 Live event in London’s O2 Arena in 2025, it will feature all 11 teams and their drivers as well as music and entertainment.

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Five things to watch for when the Chargers play the 49ers in preseason

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While McDaniel and his system have been a hot topic throughout training camp, he isn’t the only new coordinator in town.

Thursday’s game will offer a similar peek at what Chris O’Leary’s starting defense has in store.

“Overall, we played together; we played fast; we played violent,” O’Leary said of the group’s performance in Houston. “The result was a good result for us. We see a lot of stuff we can clean up along the way.”

O’Leary’s defense followed up a strong opening game by playing well against the 49ers’ offense in Tuesday’s practice.

“Honestly, don’t think it was our best day,” San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy said.

The Chargers would like to hear Purdy — who might play Thursday, according to 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan — say that again.

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Center Tyler Biadasz among three Chargers injured in practice on Tuesday

The Chargers were bitten by the injury bug Tuesday during a joint practice with the San Francisco 49ers in El Segundo.

Center Tyler Biadasz went down hard after 49ers defensive tackle Sebastian Valdez fell on his left leg during an 11-on-11 drill. Biadasz, who was unable to put weight on his left leg, was carted off the field and visibly upset.

“Obviously praying for the best,” Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert said. “I don’t know exactly what happened. And I haven’t heard the report back. But hoping for the best for him.”

Biadasz was replaced by rookie offensive lineman Jake Slaughter, who is among the candidates to play left guard.

“Yeah, man, that hurt me,” Slaughter said. “He’s been nothing but a wonderful mentor. He’s been such a good leader in the room, helping me see the big picture better. We’re hoping and praying he’s in a good spot, and it’s nothing serious.”

Outside linebacker Kyle Kennard exited practice with a trainer after limping off the field.

Wide receiver Quentin Johnston limped to the sideline after attempting a leaping catch. It appeared to be a lower-body injury, and trainers worked on him afterward.

The Chargers have consistently endured devastating injuries over the years.

And it seems there’s a good chance they’ll be shorthanded at SoFi Stadium during Week 2 of preseason play against the 49ers.

“I take it as a blessing that I can help the team in any way that I can,” Slaughter said about potentially starting at center if Biadasz is sidelined for an extended period of time.

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