15 players, both head coaches suspended in wake of hockey brawl

St. FX to appeal coach's suspension St. FX says it will appeal the ten game suspension of its men's hockey coach following a brawl earlier this month.

HALIFAX -- The head coaches of two university hockey teams and 15 of their players have been suspended for their involvement in an ugly hockey brawl that spread from the ice to both squad's benches.

Atlantic University Sport announced the suspensions Wednesday, days after members of the Acadia Axemen and St. FX X-Men got into a fight during a game in Wolfville, N.S., on Saturday that was captured on video and circulated widely online.

Six Acadia players and nine from the X-Men were handed automatic suspensions that ranged in length from two to five games, totalling 39 games. Sam Studnicka of Tecumseh, Ont.,was one of the suspended players.

A secondary review process will look into allegations the fight may have been sparked by a derogatory comment related to a sexual assault survivor that was made to an X-Men player.

Studnicka issued a statement on Monday, saying that he was the target of the alleged comment.

"Over the course of my three-year AUS career, I have been challenged in dealing with insulting and derogatory comments on the ice pertaining to the shaming of a sexual assault survivor," Studnicka said in a statement. "It has taken an emotional toll on me, and it has been frustrating that one AUS hockey program in particular has elicited repeated on-ice comments directed towards me."

The suspensions also apply to the two head coaches and are effective immediately.

This whole situation is extremely disappointing," AUS executive director Phil Currie said in the statement. "These are institutions of higher learning and as university sport administrators, violence at our events is unacceptable. There is no place for fighting in university sport -- be it in hockey, basketball, volleyball or any other sport."

Currie has also filed official complaints on five athletes and three coaches involved in Saturday's incident after reviewing video evidence.

That means they will be subject to the secondary review process, which will involve the AUS sport chair "gathering additional evidence and speaking directly with players, officials and coaches involved to determine where more severe sanctions are warranted."

Acadia issued its own statement, saying the information it had gathered was not consistent with allegations made by St. FX.

"These allegations are troubling, to say the least," said Currie. "We will not tolerate comments of this nature or gendered insults of any kind in our league."

The fight occurred in the third period of the game, leading to the ejection of five Axemen players, eight X-Men and both head coaches. Currie explained that if a player left his bench, they received an automatic two-game suspension.

Videos posted to social media show players on both teams hurling profanities, striking each other and grabbing each other's jerseys near the Acadia bench during the brawl.

Acadia is scheduled to play at Saint Mary's University tonight, while St. FX is set to return to action Friday at the University of New Brunswick.

Acadia's head coach, Darren Burns, was given a two-game suspension with one being for a game misconduct penalty in Saturday's game, and an additional game because an Axemen player was the first to leave the bench.

Brad Peddle, head coach of St. FX, was also handed an automatic two games because Saturday was his second game misconduct penalty of the season.

With files from CTV Windsor.