Daniel Robertson scored twice as St. Francis Xavier shut out Acadia 5-0 in the first game between the two Atlantic University Sport men’s hockey rivals since an ugly brawl between the two teams.
The schools hadn’t faced each other since a Feb. 2 fight which resulted in 39 games of automatic suspensions.
An additional 36 games worth of suspensions were handed out by the AUS on Tuesday.
The brawl lasted several minutes and spread through both benches and onto the ice. Video of the incident went viral and showed profanities and fighting between both teams.
Acadia’s Rodney Southam took responsibility for the comments last week, admitting he told St. FX’s Sam Studnicka he “looked like a rapist.”
Southam also said in his statement he wasn’t aware Studnicka had a sexual assault survivor in his family.
The Axemen were without Southam on Wednesday as he was suspended seven games for his actions in the brawl.
Chase Marchand stopped all 34 shots for the X-Men on Wednesday as St. FX took Game 1 of the best-of-three first-round series.
Holden Cook, Adam Laishram and Cole Macdonald also scored for the X-Men.
A fight between St. FX forward Marcus Cuomo and Acadia’s Jack McClelland took place in the third period. Both players received 10-minute penalties for roughing.
Game 2 of the series takes place on Friday in Wolfville, N.S. — the site of the original brawl.
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