Fighting is illegal in college hockey. But apparently no one told Illinois and Lindenwood.

The two rivals squared off on the ice this past weekend with a history of bad blood between the perennial contenders.

After a peaceful Friday game in which just one penalty was assessed the whole game, Saturday exploded and tensions and frustrations flared. When the game was over, eight players were ejected and a slew of suspensions and disciplinary action are pending from the ACHA.

With Lindenwood up 4-2 in the second period, freshman John Olen made a beeline across the ice and threw a vicious elbow to the jaw of a Lindenwood player, leaving him down on the ice for some time. The freshman Olen was given a five-minute major and ejected from the game.

Things really escalated to bar fight levels in the third period, with the Lions up comfortably 6-2. After scoring a third period goal, Lindenwood freshman Cody Barra and Illini senior Kent Kovalsky dropped the gloves and the helmets and let out the first true fight of the night, which ended when Kovalsky nearly pulled Barra’s jersey off his body. Both were ejected and face suspensions from the league.

Not even two minutes later, team-wide fights broke out all over the ice. Illinois’ Mario Pacheco was sucker punched, while Nick Stuercke and various Lindenwood players dropped the gloves to fight.

Illinois captain Austin Bostock was literally pulled into the Lindenwood bench, where he was attacked by a mob of Lions players.

“It was a buildup of the whole weekend,” said Stuercke, who participated in his first collegiate fight. “They were chippy all weekend, and we were getting kind of mad, not being able to pull off a sweep.”

The brawl at 10:47, which featured the fights with Pacheco and Stuercke, doled out a combined 48 minutes of penalty time.

“Lindenwood likes to play on the edge,” head coach Nick Fabbrini said. “If the referees are going to let that happen, then things are going to get out of hand.”

Per ACHA rules, anyone participating in fights is automatically suspended; however, Fabbrini said he plans to send in a video appeal to the ACHA to eliminate suspensions for players like Pacheco and increase disciplinary action for some Lindenwood players.

“Them pulling guys off the ice onto their bench is bush league,” Fabbrini said. “In order to get respect, you have to give respect, and they don’t. They’re a bunch of clowns up and down that lineup.”

With a huge conference matchup against Ohio next weekend, Fabbrini told his players to stay out of fights after the 10:47 fights as to stay eligible for the games next weekend.

In the final minute of the game, Illinois freshman Kevin Chowaniec was ejected for a hit to the face on a Lindenwood player, while Lindenwood freshman Darnell Dyck was ejected with just 12 seconds remaining for misconduct.

In addition, Illinois players had three sticks broken in the scrum, allegedly from Lindenwood players.

“I’d say they’re a little behind the learning curve for their age,” Stuercke said.

After the game, Bostock was seen with a cut stretching down his nose between his eyes, while Stuercke had multiple bandages and cuts on his hand from landing shots on a Lindenwood player’s helmet cage.

This is nothing new between these two teams, however, and Fabbrini expects the tension and tempers to fester until they meet again in January.

“We know what to expect from these guys going forward,” Fabbrini said. “I expect it’ll carry over to when we go to their place.”

Stephen can be reached at [email protected] and @steve_bourbon.