Hockey team takes action after ex-NHL star punched rival golfer and threw him into a lake during brutal on-course fight
A youth hockey team in Alberta is investigating an incident involving a coach and former NHL enforcer who was filmed getting involved in a fight on a golf course over the weekend.
Red Deer Minor Hockey, the organization where former Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick Nick Tarnasky works as a U-17 coach, is looking into an incident caught on camera.
In the video, a man who appears to be under the influence of some kind of substance came after Tarnasky repeatedly – despite the ex-NHLer shoving him away, throwing him, and punching him while telling the attacker to stop coming at him.
‘At this time, given that we understand the matter is being reviewed by local policing authorities and we are conducting our own internal investigation into the alleged incident, we will have no further comments,’ the hockey team told TMZ.
The video almost could be an outtake from the popular Canadian comedy series ‘Letterkenny’ – showing the bizarre interaction between the instigator and Tarnasky.
Starting in the midst of an argument between the man and Tarnasky, the ex-NHLer’s attacker charges at him. Tarnasky catches his momentum and then throws him toward a body of water.
A hockey team in Alberta is investigating a fight involving coach and ex-NHLer Nick Tarnasky
Tarnasky was involved in a fight when a visibly intoxicated man kept instigating him, leading to punches being thrown and the man eventually leaving the golf course after police were called
Tarnasky accumulated more penalty minutes than games he played in his NHL career
The man then gets up and goes back at Tarnasky, squaring up while the man’s friend tries to calm the situation down.
Tarnasky sends him to the ground with a pair of punches. Even though the friend is telling Tarnasky to ‘leave him alone’, the attacker gets up again and goes after him.
This repeats twice, despite one person saying ‘I wouldn’t keep going back you f***in’ moron’. Tarnasky punched the attacker a few more times, before the man goes at him a fourth and final time, ending with the enforcer tossing the man again. Eventually, the attacker and his friend leave.
Canadian police responded to report of an intoxicated person instigating fights at Alberta Springs Golf Resort in Red Deer, which appears to be the person taking exception with Tarnasky.
By the time police arrived, the person in question was gone, with no arrests or further investigation taking place, per TMZ. The outlet also says that Tarnasky is not a subject of investigation.
Drafted 287th overall by the Lightning in 2003, Tarnasky also played for the Florida Panthers and the Nashville Predators. Across 245 NHL games, he totaled 13 goals, 30 points, and a whopping 297 penalty minutes.
He spent many more games in the American Hockey League – playing in 486 games and putting up 80 goals, 145 points and an astounding 881 penalty minutes.
