Third-period collapse embodies disconnect throughout ASU hockey

(Photo: Marina Williams/WCSN)

TEMPE – As Arizona State entered Mullett Arena for its home opener, an abundance of distractions that had hovered over the team for the past six weeks followed them in their dressing room.

When the Sun Devil players walked into their locker room, one empty locker with second-year defenseman Matthew Mayich’s jersey caught everyone’s eyes. For many of the players, including fourth-year captain Kyle Smolen, the jersey served as a reminder of the bigger cause ASU was playing for – an opportunity to play and honor their teammate who remains on life support.

“Added motivation,” Smolen said. “I mean, everything we do from here on out is for him, and every time you see that jersey, it’s just a reminder.”

However, the effort to honor Mayich did not string throughout the entire arena, or even throughout pregame. At 6:00 p.m. MST, when the doors for fans were pushed open, Sun Devil supporters received a yellow ribbon that read “MM27”, similar to the ribbon their coaching staff wore and the decal on the team’s helmets.

That was the extent of mentioning Mayich. There was no moment of silence for Mayich, no announcement for him, and the only way fans knew that his jersey was hung up was a post from the Sun Devil Hockey X account.

As the puck dropped, ASU tried to focus on its hockey game, an impossible task.

Unfortunately for the Sun Devils (1-2-0, 0-0 NCHC), that focus diminished at an inopportune time. With 95 seconds left in the game, ASU conceded two goals in 10 seconds to fall to Holy Cross (2-1-0, 0-0 AHA) 2-1. The loss was the team’s third straight home-opening loss, with the last win coming in 2023 against Merrimack.

“The biggest thing is what I try to relate to these kids is everything matters,” assistant coach Mike Corbett said. “Everything you do on the ice is going to matter. You can’t relax for a second, and you relax, and that’s what happens.”

Throughout the week, the attention around the Sun Devils had little to do with actual hockey. Just over a week after head coach Greg Powers was placed on administrative leave, ASU had yet to find a full-time interim replacement, leaving Corbett in the lead role of the Sun Devil bench.

While the Mayich family and a letter from seven anonymous ASU players called for its entire coaching staff to be put on leave, only Powers and assistant coach Alex Hicks have been absent from the team. Corbett and assistant coach Jimmy Mullin remain on the bench while the university looks for an interim coach.

“I’m a coach, and I’m here to do my job,” Corbett said. “So for me to navigate that, I care about these kids. We care about this program, and the kids want to play, and we’re in place right now. So I’m going to give them the absolute best that I can give them, and all of our staff is just going to do it that way.”

On the contrary, fourth-year forward Sean McGurn complimented Corbett, saying “he is doing a great job.”

First-year defenseman Jack Willson, third-year forward Nic Chin DeGraves, second-year forward Olivier Houde and second-year forward Ben Kevan, all of whom played a role in last weekend’s series against Lindenwood, were listed as healthy scratches on Friday. College Hockey News’ Adam Wodon reported pregame that at least one of those players took himself out of the lineup for personal reasons and would not return until a new coach was brought in.

That I don’t know,” Corbett said. “As far as that, all the guys were healthy scratches and were coaches’ decisions.”

“I don’t feel comfortable answering that,” Smolen replied when asked if he was approached by any teammates about discomfort playing under the current staff.

Despite being flooded with speculation and accusations surrounding the Aug. 20 workout that left Mayich on life support, Corbett implored people to take a more human approach toward him and others in the program.

“It’s hard,” Corbett said. “People can say what they want to say about the coaching staff or me personally and dig up things, and that’s their prerogative to do that. We hurt too. We are human beings too. We were there too, and we hurt. People have to understand that, okay.”

“There’s always emotions. There’s going to be. This is a young man that I recruited. So to me, that was something that was very big. So we know this kid, and we hurt just like everybody else. And I think people lose sight of that at times to think that we’re these monsters and we’re not. We’re hurting just as much as anybody else.”

The disconnect between the Sun Devils presented itself late in Friday night’s game. With just under 1:30 remaining in the third period, the Sun Devils held a 1-0 lead, as the Crusaders’ goaltender skated toward the bench to bring on an extra attacker.

They didn’t need to wait for the 6-on-5 opportunity, as a shot from the blue line somehow snuck through second-year goaltender Samuel Urban’s legs. 10 seconds later, a turnover in ASU’s zone left Holy Cross’ Ben Richie wide-open for a one-timer to take the lead.

The few seconds of lost focus served as a microcosm of the entire atmosphere surrounding the team the previous few weeks. While Corbett may not have many games left to lead the team, the task remains his responsibility until athletic Graham Rossini finds a new coach.

“When you have those 16 new players, the buy-in is gonna come,” Corbett said. “The culture building. Everybody just says they want to build a culture. It takes time to build a culture. You just don’t say put something on the wall, and everybody’s going to buy it. They’re not going to. I’ve done this for 30 years, and we know that that’s not how it’s going to be. It’s going to take time. Due to some of the other things outside of hockey, it’s probably going to take this team a little bit more time to be able to do that.”

It has been reported that the Sun Devils are expected to name a new head coach next week, with that coach getting full reign of the staff. Until then, Corbett, Mullin and volunteer coach Taylor Pyatt will lead the team against Holy Cross on Saturday at 3 p.m. MST.

“I try to be myself every single day, and show them that we are in it with them the entire way,” Corbett said. “I’m not necessarily trying to change who I am, or tiptoe around because it’s just not. These kids know. I told them you can’t fake passion, okay. You’re all in on passion, and that’s all. And I said, guys, I’m not going to fake my passion. These guys came to us, and they said they want to be coached, and they want us to do everything we can to help them to win.”