ANTIGONISH: It’s not going ahead after all.
On March 14, Taylor Chase, StFX student union president, and Bob Hale, StFX head of student services, jointly announced that the BurMac Hockey game set for March 25 is cancelled.
The announcement came less than a month after the student union announced the game was to return to the Keating Millennium Centre after being barred from taking place at the Antigonish Arena.
“We worked with the leadership of both the MacIsaac and Burke houses and we presented a proposal to the university asking the university to partner with us, be 50-50 partners moving forward in hosting this game on campus at StFX,” said Chase, noting the negotiations included agreeing to several conditions, including no damages to the facility, as well as the houses themselves, no objectionable comments, and making tickets available to first year students first.
“Unfortunately, at this time, these conditions were not met and we had to pull our support from the BurMac hockey game of 2017.”
Chase said he didn’t have the specifics in front of him while he was speaking with media but he said one example was damage “particularly the MacIsaac building,” noting the damage took place in the last couple of weeks.
“Moving forward, I think the university and the students union recognize we have to invest a serious amount of our resources and time into addressing a positive, healthy, safe culture in our residence buildings and I think that’s where we’re going to focus our energy moving forward,” the student union president said.
“In the future, I think there is definitely an opportunity for this game to return. I don’t think this has to be the end forever but I think, for the short term, we’re going to focus our energy on this positive residence culture.”
On February 19, the student union announced the game was set to return to the Keating Millennium Centre. On March 29, Antigonish Town and County Councils jointly announced the Antigonish Arena would not host the BurMac hockey game. The decision came after safety and damage concerns arose from the 2016 edition of the annual on-ice matchup of Burke and MacIsaac houses.
The Antigonish Arena hosted the event for years until 2002, following the completion of the Keating Millennium Centre. After fans damaged the new facility, administration barred BurMac from taking place on campus and the event returned to the Antigonish Arena in 2003.