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.
