Former Arizona Coyotes player Paul Bissonnette was assaulted at Scottsdale restaurant

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Previous Arizona Coyotes player, podcaster and TNT hockey analyst Paul Bissonnette was assaulted by six men at a Scottsdale restaurant Sunday night, the police department said.

The assault on 24 November happened at Houston’s restaurant near McDonald Drive and Scottsdale Road around 7:30 p.m

“There was an argument inside the restaurant involving six adult males and management. Paul Bissonnette reportedly tried to help management calm the men down and get them to leave. The situation escalated to the men assaulting Paul Bissonnette both inside and outside the restaurant.” Scottsdale Police Sgt. Allison Sempsis said.

The six men were arrested and charged with assault and disorderly conduct. Five of them face misdemeanors and the sixth faces a felony. They were not identified.

As for Bissonnette’s injuries, Scottsdale Police would not detail the severity, but say they are not believed to be life-threatening. He later released a video about the incident and said “all is well.”

FOX 10 called Houston and spoke with a manager who said they did not want to comment at this time.

Bissonnette played for the Arizona Coyotes from 2009 to 2014. He hosts Barstool Sports’ hockey podcast Spittin’ Chiclets and is an analyst and host for NHL on TNT.

The former NHL team left Arizona after last season due to management issues and now plays in Salt Lake City as the Utah Hockey Club.

Bissonnette speaks out about the incident

At X, Barstoll President Dave Portnoy shared a text exchange with Bissonnette in which he says he was attacked by seven men, adding that he “took some, but gave more.”

FOX 10 reached out to Bissonnette and his rep, but have not heard back. But he posted a video for X on November 25 talks a bit about what happened.

“What’s up gang? I just wanted to stop by because the news is out there and I’m getting a lot of texts and calls. Love you, thank you all for coming out and checking in,” Bissonnette said. “I just wanted to address what happened last night so you hear it from my mouth. I don’t know what kind of, I know there’s a few articles that came out and news floating around.”

He says the full story will be told in a Spittin’ Chiclets podcast episode on November 26 because Monday happened to be a taping day.

“To be quite honest it was kind of nice to jump on with the lads and have a few laughs and forget about it for four hours,” he said.

He gave a summary of what happened, saying he goes to Houston’s restaurant three to four times a week. He did not stop to supplement the staff and the food.

“The bar where I usually sit was packed. I was sitting in the dining area and at one point there was a bit of a commotion in the bar. It was a bunch of drunk golfers. Things obviously continued to escalate. They asked a guy to leave, and then one guy kept getting in the manager’s face and put his hands on them,” Bissonnette said.

It lasted at least 30 seconds before the former NHLer intervened. He says he grabbed the guy’s arm who was on the manager and said, “Sir, if you keep harassing and assaulting the staff, we’re going to be in trouble. They’re just starting to screw up.”

He says the incident escalated quickly and ended up in a CVS parking lot.

“Got taken down a couple of times,” he said. “Luckily I didn’t get knocked out. I went to the hospital, so that’s probably what everyone’s reading about.”

He calls the suspects “bad guys” who were “way too drunk.” He says he is angry and wants the suspects’ names released.

“Unacceptable behavior in a family restaurant just because they couldn’t get another cocktail and didn’t want to take ‘no’ for an answer,” he continued.

He says he wants to thank the restaurant staff, Scottsdale police officers, paramedics and hospital staff.

“It’s all good guys, it stinks,” he said. “It could have been a lot worse.”

Although Bissonnette says there were seven men involved in the fight, Scottsdale PD maintains there were six.