Islanders mark anniversary of infamous 'Santa Brawl'

General view of the ice before a game between the New York Islanders and the Philadelphia Flyers at Nassau Coliseum Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Bad Santas: Islanders mark anniversary of the infamous 'Santa Brawl' with the real story

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 12/23/22

On Dec. 23, 2003, the New York Islanders ran a simple promotion to try and boost attendance to see their struggling team: Wear a Santa costume, get a free ticket to the game and be a part of a Santa parade on the ice during the first intermission.

That seemed easy enough – until things went hilariously wrong.

The entire event was derailed when not only did way more Santas show up than the team expected, but a handful of them took off their Santa costumes to reveal jerseys of the hated cross-town rivals, the New York Rangers.

What followed became infamously known as the Nassau Coliseum Santa Brawl. To remember the game, MSG Network in New York has a huge feature on the events of that infamous night and the real story behind what happened.

It is a 10-minute video (seen here) that is well worth the time.

2003. #NYR vs #Isles

Red suits.
A simple prank.
See how it turned into something bigger.

The Santa “Brawl”, A Holiday Tale
Watch tonight after the Rangers post-game or…

Watch now ➡️ https://t.co/l6Ih2m77KV pic.twitter.com/tfM1nXGgqN
— MSG Networks (@MSGNetworks) December 22, 2022

It began as a simple prank between a group of friends who were mixed between Rangers and Islanders fans. The Rangers fans in the group were going to reveal their Rangers jerseys, their friends would playfully push them and that was supposed to be the end of it.

But the other Islanders fans who were not aware of that play only saw Rangers jerseys, heard the boos they drew from the crowd and then joined in what was supposed to be a playful altercation.

The amazing thing is the Islanders were able to stop the brawl, clear hundreds of Santas from the ice and even get the second period started on time. You can still never erase the memory of hundreds of Santas fighting during the intermission of a hockey game on this legendary night.

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