Most sports fans can agree on very little, but one general point of consensus among them: Of all the different types of athletes in the world, mixed martial artists and hockey players are probably the last two you’d ever want to mess with.
Now, in fairness to the seven alleged assailants in this story, they all appeared heavily intoxicated and may not have realized who they had just picked a fight with.
But that didn’t make their decision any less harrowing — as evidenced by subsequent mug shots that have popped up.
To wit, former Arizona Coyotes player-turned-NHL analyst Paul Bissonnette found himself in some unwanted spotlight recently when an otherwise innocuous dinner outing turned into anything but.
According to NBC News, Bissonnette was having dinner Sunday night at a Scottsdale, Arizona, steakhouse (Houston’s) when he noticed “a bit of a ruckus” brewing at the bar.
“It was a bunch of drunk golfers,” Bissonnette revealed in a Monday X post. “Things obviously continued to escalate.”
Bissonnette added: “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.”
When Bissonnette tried to physically intervene on behalf of the restaurant staff, the seven men jumped him.
You can watch Bissonnette’s Monday post below:
WARNING: The following video contains vulgar language that some viewers will find offensive.
Thanks for your calls & messages. Love you fuckers. Had a blast getting to record @spittinchiclets today and share some laughs with the gang. See you tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/5WOxkxARvx
— Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) November 26, 2024
Note that Bissonnette, apart from what looks like a welt on the bridge of his nose, appeared relatively unscathed.
The same cannot be said about the seven men that attacked Bissonnette, six of whom were apprehended and have had their mug shots released by Scottsdale police.
Here are the mughsots and names of the 6 guys who jumped Biz. They picked the wrong guyhttps://t.co/316ppOvMWY pic.twitter.com/uxb6wCOvzc
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) November 26, 2024
The six men whose mug shots were released: Henry Mesker, John Carroll, William Carroll, Danny Bradley, Edward Jennings and Sean Daley.
“All six were booked on assault counts,” TMZ reported. “Some were additionally booked on disorderly conduct charges. Daley was the only one accused of committing a felony.”
Note that all six men appeared far more worse for the wear than Bissonnette did, though some of that probably had to do with their collective drinking.
Or, as Bissonnette himself put it, “Took some, gave more.”
After a quick hospital visit, Bissonnette appears ready to move forward with his life.
But the former hockey star made it clear he has no love lost for these men.
“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.”
