Wild U Sports bench brawl between Acadia and StFX should yield many suspensions

U Sports will likely be handing out some lengthy suspensions after a massive brawl broke out on the ice between Acadia and StFX on Saturday night.

The melee began midway through the third period after Acadia took a 4-2 lead on a short-handed goal. The StFX players, who had just coughed up a goal during a 5-3 power play, were understandably frustrated as they approached centre ice for the ensuing faceoff.

In the video below, both centremen can be seen getting chippy as the referee attempts to drop the puck. After a few slashes and a warning from the ref, No. 7 on StFX approaches the faceoff dot with a few quick chirps for the Acadia centreman before throwing a jab with his left hand.

A line brawl quickly ensued, and that was just the beginning.

With StFX still on a 5-3 power play, Acadia found itself outnumbered as chaos breaks out. Before long, an Acadia player hops the bench and skates into the fracas, joining his goaltender who stepped up to make this an even fight.

The line brawl was contained fairly quickly, with referees tending to a few 1-on-1 scraps at centre ice. No. 7 on StFX, who got this dance started with a jab during the faceoff, had a few choice words for the Acadia bench as he was ushered off the ice.

Just when things seemed to be settling down, the camera shifts over to the Acadia bench, where players from both teams began throwing fist and sticks as frustrations continued to boil.

If you pay close attention at the 1:42 mark, you can actually see a hockey stick soaring in the air across the top of the screen like a javelin. At 1:58, an Acadia player can be seen standing on the bench next to his coach with his stick in the air before he chops down at one of the StFX players fighting on the ice. StFX’s No. 55 can be seen doing everything he can to evade the referee and get back into the fight.

The brawl at the benches went on for nearly two minutes before the referees were able to separate all of the players, but the fighting wasn’t quite done yet. As two players from each team started to tangle, referees can be seen doing everything they can to stop the others from getting involved.

When all was said and done, the referees handed out 320 penalty minutes among both teams, according to Victor Findlay, who was calling last night’s game.

With several suspensions likely on the way, the hockey execs at U Sports will surely have their hands full as they investigate the footage from Saturday night’s game. Not exactly the best way to enjoy Super Bowl Sunday.

More hockey coverage on Yahoo Sports Canada