Each NHL team’s most famous superfan
By Cody Rivera
New York Islanders: Ralph Macchio
A good mantra for the New York Islanders to adopt would be, “Fear does not exist in this dojo!”
It would be pretty cool to see Islanders fans chanting that sentence throughout games at the Barclays Center. One fan that would especially enjoy it would be Ralph Macchio.
America knows Macchio for a handful of movies he was in, mainly during the 1980s. But none of them were more popular than the one and only The Karate Kid from 1984. In that film, Macchio portrays Daniel LaRusso, a teenager who is taught to defend himself from bullies by Mr. Miyagi. Daniel then goes on to defeat the main bully, Cobra Kai leader Johnny Lawrence (played by William Zabka), in a karate tournament at the end of the film, crane kicking him in the face.
But long before Macchio captivated audiences in that timeless movie, he was supporting his beloved New York Islanders, and he still does to this day. Macchio grew up in Long Island, New York, and still resides in Long Island still. He spent many nights of his childhood inside Nassau Coliseum, when the team was still playing in Uniondale. He’s essentially spent his entire life right next door to the Islanders, so his fandom makes perfect sense. He was there to witness the team win four consecutive Stanley Cups in 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983.
In 2016, the Islanders even honored Macchio with his very own bobblehead. But it wasn’t just a regular bobblehead. It featured Macchio wearing an Islanders jersey while doing his iconic crane pose with his leg in the air. And the most interesting feature is that the leg even bobbles as well. It’s a bobblehead with a bobbleleg.
It must pretty cool to be a celebrity fan.