Suspensions have been announced following a major on-ice brawl between the StFX men’s hockey team and Acadia.
Fighting started near the midway point of the third period in Acadia’s 6-3 win against StFX in Wolfville Saturday night.
The brawl between the teams’ benches led to a 20-minute delay and close to 300 minutes in penalties; eight members of the X-Men, five Acadia players and both head coaches were ejected from the game.
Officials with Atlantic University Sport say 15 players- nine from StFX, six from Acadia- and the two head coaches have been suspended for anywhere from two to five games for a total of 39 games.
They say those are all automatic suspensions; their disciplinary process will continue, and supplementary discipline will be handed down once a more extensive review, which could be done within a week, has been completed.
In a statement, Sam Studnicka, a forward with the X-Men, says he’s had to deal with “insulting and derogatory comments on the ice pertaining to the shaming of a sexual assault survivor” during his three-year university career, and it’s been frustrating one AUS hockey program in particular has been behind repeated on-ice comments toward him; Acadia reps say the information they’ve gathered on the incident is not consistent with the allegations.
AUS officials say the allegations are very serious, and they intend to investigate them thoroughly during their secondary review.
You can find a complete list of the suspensions here.
