Former NHL star Paul Bissonnette landed in the hospital after he was assaulted by seven men in a brawl that broke out at an Arizona restaurant over the weekend.
Bissonnette, who played with the Phoenix Coyotes and is now a hockey analyst and podcaster, said in a video shared to X on Monday that the fight unfolded at Houston’s, a restaurant in Scottsdale he frequents.
He was seated in the dining room on Sunday night when he noticed “a bit of a ruckus” unfolding at the bar.
“It was a bunch of drunk golfers. Things obviously continued to escalate,” Bissonnette said. “They asked one guy to leave, and then one guy kept getting in the manager’s face, put his hands on him, and that went on for about probably 30, 45 seconds. And you could tell (the manager) was a little shocked and surprised and stunned.”
Bissonnette said he then went over to intervene.
“So 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 gonna have problems.’ And then they just started chucking,” Bissonnette said.
He said the fight escalated “extremely quickly” and involved seven men against him.
The fight spilled over from the restaurant to the parking lot, and then to a nearby CVS.
“Got taken down a couple times. I got boot f—ed in the head three times by the CVS, luckily didn’t get knocked out. Did go to the hospital,” he explained.
He said he got hit in the face a couple times, but it “could have been a lot worse.”
“Took some, gave more,” he continued. “I just want to thank, not only the staff for having to put up with that, but the police, who were very quick to get on the scene, who arrested six of the seven guys.”
The Scottsdale Police Department confirmed the men assaulted Bissonnette both inside and outside the eatery, and he was taken to a hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Six men involved in the incident were arrested and face assault and disorderly conduct charges, police said.
Bissonnette described the situation as “bad dudes” who were “way too drunk.”
“I’m very, very angry about these guys,” Bissonnette said. “Just unacceptable behavior at a family restaurant, just because they couldn’t grab another cocktail and didn’t want to hear no for an answer.”
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