What happened to Paul Bissonnette? All we know about reported six-man assault of ex-NHLer in Scottsdale

NHL player turned analyst Paul Bissonnette was the victim of an assault by six men at a Scottsdale, Arizona restaurant on Sunday night according to police. The incident occurred at Houston's restaurant near McDonald Drive and Scottsdale Road around 7:30 pm.

According to Scottsdale Police Sgt. Allison Sempsis:

"There was an altercation inside the restaurant with six adult men and the management. Reportedly, Paul Bissonnette tried to help management calm the men and get them to leave. The situation escalated to the men assaulting Paul Bissonnette both inside and outside of the restaurant."

All six men were arrested and accused of assault and disorderly conduct charges. Their identities have not been released by police at this time.

Bissonnette sustained injuries in the attack but police say they are not believed to be life-threatening. He was transported to the hospital for evaluation following the incident.

Dave Portnoy, owner of Barstool Sports, shared a screenshot of a text exchange he had with Bissonnette following the incident. When asked if he was okay, Bissonnette replied:

"Ya. Took some but gave more. 7 guys."

This suggest that seven guys assaulted Bissonnette, contrary to the police report which mentioned six.

On Monday, Bissonnette posted a video on X, to address the entire situation, explaining that he wanted to provide clarity on the matter himself.

"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 to 45 seconds," Bissonnette said. "And you know, you could tell he was a little shocked and surprised and stunned. And you know, it's a family restaurant.

He further added:

"I don't think there was anybody in there who could come, go, maybe, like, help him out. So I went over. I just grabbed the guy's arm that was on him. I said, I said, 'Sir, if you continue to harass and assault the staff, we're gonna have problems.' And then they just started chucking, so it escalated extremely quickly."

Fans react to Paul Bissonnette's post after the assault in Scottsdale

Paul Bissonnette took to social media on Monday to promote the latest episode of his popular Spittin' Chiclets podcast. In the post, he made no mention of the assault he suffered the night before at a Scottsdale restaurant.

Fans quickly took to the comments to voice their concern and support for Bissonnette, with one writing:

"Hope you're alright fella..Good on ya for sticking up for restaurant staff."

Another fan speculated that it was a scheduled post given the lack of reference to the incident.

"I am guessing this is a scheduled post."

Here are some fan reactions:

"You good fella? Heard you dropped the mitts with 6 bums in Scottsdale. Bet they had no clue who they were f**king with." one fan wrote.

"On behalf of all hockey fans, I hope you are doing okay. And I hope you pulled a couple of shirts over some dudes heads and beat the living bleep out of them..." another fan wrote.

"Hope you’re healthy tweeting this from home and not the hospital still. Honorable thing to do and hope those guys get jail time." a user commented.

"Biz my guy I hope you’re okay and recovering well, love you my guy you bring so much joy to all of us get well soon" another fan wrote.

The 39-year-old Bissonnette is a former NHL player who spent parts of six seasons in the league with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Phoenix Coyotes from 2009-2014. He was known as an enforcer during his playing career, racking up 340 penalty minutes in 202 career NHL games.