A brawl broke out between players, fans, and police officers during an ice hockey game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the St. Louis Blues in Philadelphia.
St. Louis Blues–Philadelphia Flyers brawl
The Blues–Flyers brawl was a fight involving players, fans, and police officers that took place during a National Hockey League (NHL) game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the St. Louis Blues on January 6, 1972, at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. St. Louis-based television station KSDK called the event "one of the worst player-fan-police fights in hockey history".
Ice hockey
Ice hockey is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Two opposing teams use ice hockey sticks to control, advance, and shoot a vulcanized rubber hockey puck into the other team's net. Each goal is worth one point. The team with the highest score after an hour of playing time is declared the winner; ties are broken in overtime or a shootout. In a formal game, each team has six skaters on the ice at a time, barring any penalties, including a goaltender. It is a full contact game and one of the more physically demanding team sports.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Wells Fargo Center in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, an indoor arena they share with the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). Part of the 1967 NHL expansion, the Flyers are the first of the expansion teams in the post-Original Six era to win the Stanley Cup, victorious in 1973–74 and again in 1974–75.
St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the six teams from the 1967 NHL expansion and is named after the W. C. Handy song "Saint Louis Blues". They play their home games at the 18,096-seat Enterprise Center in downtown St. Louis, which has been their arena since moving from St. Louis Arena in 1994.