'Cry about it!': Hockey world buzzes as ex-NHL enforcer brawls slowpoke golfer on Alberta course

Yahoo

2 days ago

Video of a brawl between former NHL enforcer Nick Tarnasky and an aggressive bearded assailant on an Alberta golf course has gone viral.
The video of the fight, which lasts about 30 seconds with plenty of blows and profanity, was taken a few days ago, but went viral today, with tens of millions of views on social media.
It's not clear who is taking the video, though from some of the conversation it sounds it might be a member of Tarnasky's golf party or perhaps a golf course manager or marshal. I've put in a call to the reported golf course where the incident occurred, but haven't got any answer back yet.
Tarnasky, 40, from Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, was listed at 6-feet, 2-inches, 230-pounds as a player. He had dozens of fights in 13 years of pro hockey, including 245 NHL games with Tampa and Florida, where he got 297 penalty minutes.
He fought other tough players such as Tanner Glass, Aaron Asham, Zenon Konopka, Milan Lucic, Matt Greene, Mike Commodore, Colton Orr and Zack Stortini.
Said Jordie Demcher of Barstool Sports of Tarnasky and the golf fight: 'He wasn't a hockey player who fought occasionally. He was a fighter who sometimes managed to play ice hockey. He was bashing dudes skulls open while he was skating on a sheet of ice. Do you really think he was even going to break a sweat having to beat the sh*t out of some nerd while standing on foot? So let this be a lesson to all the guys out there who have a short fuse, and have had too much to drink–if you're going to challenge a guy to a fight, maybe do your homework first. At least figure out his name and do a quick Google search. You might think you're just fighting some random massive mutant who was going to kick your ass anyway. But next thing you know, you're dealing with a guy who was legitimately a professional ass kicker. Check the game notes, bud.'
Like most videos, we only have part of the interaction between the two adversaries, but we've got far more of the back story on what starts the fight than on the vast majority of social media fight videos.
The incident started with Tarnasky and his group of golfers frustrated that the two players ahead of them were taking too much time to tee off, possibly due to inebriation.
Tarnasky and his group can be heard telling the two players to either drive or they'll be booted off the course. The two are also warned not to act too tough because they're not tough guys. If they want to keep playing, it's suggested they let Tarnasky's group go ahead because at that moment they been standing there for 15 minutes: 'That's not golf. You guys can't even stand up,' the two were told.
At that point the bearded golfer exploded in response, yelling repeatedly, 'Well, cry about it! F*ckin' cry about ir! F*ckin' cry about it!'
The bearded golfer then taunted Taranasky, calling him a 'p*ssy.'
The bearded golfer was warned to back down and that he was going to take a beating if he did not.
'I don't give a f*ck,' the bearded golfer said, then took off his sunglasses and threw them to the ground: 'Let's f*ckin' go, man. Ho, ho, ho.'
He then started to clap his hands. He advanced on Tarnasky.
Again, he was told to back away, that he was not scaring anybody.
Just then, the bearded man launched himself at Tarnasky, who dodged and used the aggressor's energy and momentum to push him into a golf pond.
Tarnasky backed away, but the soaking assailant got out of the pond and kept after him. The ex-hockey player then grabbed him and hit him twice in the face, yelling 'Bam!' and 'Bang!' with the two blows, knocking down the assailant.
The bearded man's golf partner then tried to intervene, but Tarnasky pushed him aside.
Again, the assailant came at Tarnasky, this time getting punched hard three times in the face, Tarnasky yelling out with each blow, 'Bang! Bang! Bang!'
When the assailant fell down, Tarnasky yelled, 'Enough! Enough! Get out!'
But again the assailant charged him, this time Tarnasky using his momentum to rag-doll him, and toss him high through the air and onto some grass.
Finally, the assailant appeared to have had enough and the incident ended.
Reaction on the hockey world was almost entirely sympathetic to Tarnasky:
Panthers fan Stu Young @utsgnuoy Wow, I didn't know NHL player fought on land just like they do on ice! Guy takes a serious beating!
Sports fan Dylan Barrons 🌍 @Bloop33 The more I watch this the funnier it gets
Writer Steve Skojec @SteveSkojec Yelling 'bang!' every time you punch a d-bag in the mouth is a strangely Baller move. Also, really appreciated the airtime on those launches
Businessman Adam Rossi @rossiadam Anyone looking for a sales guy? He gets thrown in a lake, gets pounded in the face by a Sasquatch yelling 'bam' with each punch, and still keeps a coming. Would make an amazing cold caller.
Hockey news site The Morning Skate @morning_skate Can you imagine running your mouth at the golf course only to get fed by former NHLer Nick Tarnasky 😂 The Bangs were straight out of the WWE and the guy was warned. Mess with the bull you get the horns! Hockey players are the best
Hockey content creator Andrew Weiss @WeissHockeyTalk Looks like former Lightning tough guy Nick Tarnasky is still fully capable of throwing some knuckles 🫡 That's one way to deal with (probably drunk) idiots
Hockey stats analyst Derek Braid @Royal_Arse Tarnasky almost 300 PIMs in 150 games in AHL 04-06. This drunk fool picked a fight with a professional nail gun. Wrong door pal.
Top ranked hockeh podcast Spittin' Chiclets @spittinchiclets BANG BANG BANG 💥🤛 Nick Tarnasky fed some lunch on the golf course and gave a good lesson on not to chirp a former NHLer 😂
Minnesota hockey fan Bob ' The Bear' Murphy @murphfrommidway The Rick Flair 'WOOOOOO' wasn't scaring the big man. Tarnasky gave him more hang time than a Ray Guy punt. And Tarnasky with the Batman sound effect with every blow he landed was priceless. Good thing Percy Pringle finally stopped the carnage. 🤣🤣🤣
Former NHL ref Tim Peel @TimCPeel20 😂😂😂 I reffed Nick. Never saw that side of him!😂
Senators fan Kevin McConville 🇨🇦 @Sensfan001Kevin Golf in Canada … is very much a contact sport it seems. And not just contact on the ball …
1. Three decades ago I interviewed one of Edmonton's toughest but sanest men, Norm Brochu, the top bouncer at Edmonton's roughest bar, the Beverly Crest. Brochu said in his decades of being a bouncer he had rarely fought and had learned that even as he could handle himself well, it was best to avoid a fight, that you never know who you are up against, and the body doesn't always recover from a beating.
Wise words.
2. The assailant in this fight was evidently drunk. He certainly acted as if he'd lost his good sense. He was aggressive and kept coming. He picked the wrong guy to mess with in Tarnasky. But as much damage as Tarnasky did, you can also see him letting up on the assailant. He warns him repeatedly to stand down. He never kicks him. He leaves him alone when he's down. He might well have thrown him onto pavement, not grass, but didn't do so. I see a controlled rage here, which was lucky for the assailant given he instigated the fight and kept on charging even as he was taking a beating.
The fight was comical and Pythonesque in that way, with the maniacal aggression of the instigator repeatedly rebounding on him.
There's also an element of the assailant getting what he richly had coming to him, a key element in so many vigilante movies, from Charles Bronson's 'Death Wish' series to Denzel Washington's 'The Equalizer.'
No one weeps when the bad guy gets punched in the face, even punched repeatedly.
The video is sure to have a long, long, long life on the internet.
3. Finally a few sentences about the bearded assailant, who is took one beating from Tarnasky, and now is taking one in the court of public opinion.
First, got to give the guy the credit as a warrior who kept on coming, even as he was getting trounced.
Second, no harm in sucking up and admitting you were far too aggressive, or, better yet, having a laugh with most everyone else at the temporary insanity that saw you unwittingly challenge one of hard men of hockey, then pay the inevitable price.