[youtube_sc url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiYWxo_0zgM]
The Big Ten announced Tuesday a series of suspensions related to an altercation that occurred at the conclusion of the game between Michigan and Ohio State on Jan. 17.
Immediately following the conclusion of the game, four players each were issued a major penalty and a game disqualification by the on-ice officials. Game disqualification penalties are accompanied by an automatic one-game suspension to be served in the team’s next game against an NCAA member institution.
Michigan’s Dexter Dancs and Cutler Martin and Ohio State’s Brendon Kearney each received a major penalty for fighting and a game disqualification, while Ohio State’s Dakota Joshua received a major penalty for facemasking and a game disqualification. As a result of these penalties, Joshua and Kearney are ineligible to play in Ohio State’s Jan. 22 contest against Penn State, while Dancs and Martin are ineligible to play in Michigan’s Jan. 28 game at Penn State.
Following a review of the incident by the conference, the Big Ten imposed additional suspensions and issued public reprimands of Michigan’s Dancs and Martin for violating the Big Ten sportsmanship policy. Dancs has been suspended for one additional game and will be ineligible to play on Jan. 21 against the United States National Team Development Program Under-18 Team. Martin has been suspended for two additional games and will be ineligible to play on Jan. 21 against the United States National Team Development Program Under-18 Team and Jan. 30 against Penn State.
The Big Ten determined that the actions of Dancs and Martin were in violation of Big Ten Conference Agreement 10.01, which states in part that “The Big Ten Conference expects all contests involving a member institution to be conducted without compromise to any fundamental element of sportsmanship. Such fundamental elements include integrity of competition, civility toward all, and respect, particularly toward opponents and officials.”
