Former NHL player turned TNT analyst and Barstool Sports podcast host Paul Bissonnette broke his silence after reportedly being assaulted during an incident at a Scottsdale, Arizona, restaurant resulting in six arrests.
Bissonnette, 39, shared a three-and-a-half minute video on his social media accounts detailing the incident, which he said took place Sunday (November 24) night at Houston's, a restaurant he frequents, and involved a group of "drunk golfers" giving staff a hard time before one of the individuals got into the manager's face and got physical.
“You could tell he was a little shocked and surprised and stunned,” Bissonnette said. “It’s a family restaurant. I don’t think there was anybody in there who could go maybe like help him out. I went over, I just grabbed the guy’s arm that was on him, I said ‘Sir, if you continue to harass and assault the staff, we’re going to have problems.
“And then they just started chucking, so it escalated extremely quickly.”
Six individuals were reportedly arrested during the incident, according to FOX 10 in Phoenix, however, Bissonnette said seven people were involved in the fight, which he said took place “throughout the course of the restaurant all the way into the parking lot over to CVS.”
“Got taken down a couple times,” said Bissonnette, who was involved in 69 fights during his NHL career, according to HockeyFights.com. “Got boot f**ked a couple of times by the CVS. Luckily didn’t get knocked out. Did go to the hospital, so that’s what everybody is reading about. Just bad dudes. Way too drunk and I don’t know what else they had in their system.
“I’m very, very angry at these guys and kind of want their names out there and kind of want them to pay the piper.”
Police have not publicly identified the six men arrested, all of whom were charged with assault and disorderly conduct, with five facing misdemeanors and a sixth facing a felony, according to FOX 10. Bissonnette said "all's good" otherwise and expressed gratitude for the restaurant staff and responding officers.
“Unacceptable behavior at a family restaurant just because they couldn’t grab another cocktail and didn’t want to hear ‘no’ for an answer,” he said. “At that point, with the guy all over the manager, I just figured I had to go over. Took some, gave more.”
Bissonnette spent the majority of his NHL career with the then-Phoenix Coyotes, having also played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he teamed with his Spittin' Chiclets co-host Ryan Whitney. The Ontario native joined Turner Sports as part of the inaugural NHL on TNT broadcast team alongside Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky, as well as fellow former players Anson Carter and Rick Toochet in 2021.