Former NHL player Paul Bissonnette says a fight he got involved in at a restaurant in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Sunday night started the moment he attempted to help staff defend themselves from nine unruly men who were being denied service.
Speaking on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast released Tuesday, the 39-year-old former player, who is now widely known for the podcast and as an analyst for NHL on TNT (he also has made appearances on Sportsnet), said he felt compelled to assist the manager at Houston’s from a group who’d been asked to leave.
“I get up and I go over. I grab the guy’s arm and I say, ‘Listen buddy, if you keep harassing and assaulting the staff here, we’re gonna go outside and we’re gonna have some problems,’ ” said Bissonnette, a native of Welland, Ont., who played 202 NHL games between 2008 and 2014, largely with the Phoenix Coyotes. “The minute that left my mouth, the guy beside him starts throwing punches. And next thing you know there’s about four guys swinging at me.”
To say the fight quickly escalated would be an understatement, according to Bissonnette.
“We’re in the middle of the bar area and I am just throwing. I’m eating punches. I’m getting pushed against the bar. My shirt gets ripped off.”
Bissonnette alleges that the brawl eventually worked its way out of the bar to the parking lot, with him defending himself from at least five of the men at the same time and described falling to the ground several times and being kicked in the head area at least three times.
With his shirt torn and his shoes lost, Bissonnette says he eventually took refuge in a pharmacy next door.
“I’m just glad I got in that CVS, although the lady working the CVS was like, ‘Sir, you can’t be in here.’ And I’m like, ‘Ma’am, there is a pack of hyenas out there that is ready to attack me if I leave the store.’”
Bissonnette estimated that the fight lasted from three to three-and-a-half minutes, but the buildup in the bar gave time for the police to eventually arrive.
Six men were arrested and face charges related to assault and disorderly conduct, police confirmed to Sportsnet.
Bissonnette was transported to hospital and says he is extremely sore from the incident, with his jaw swollen and his throat extremely uncomfortable from being kicked.
He promised to release the names of the men he says assaulted him.
“I’m gonna do what I can to ruin these guys’ lives,” he said. “I kind of want my vengeance at this point.”
