Ex-NHL tough guy Nick Tarnasky explains his side of the story after viral golf-course fight
Nick Tarnasky wants to clear the air.
The former NHL enforcer has been the talk of the hockey world as of late, as a video recently surfaced showing him fighting another man at the Alberta Springs Golf Resort in Red Deer, Alta.
Tarnasky, who racked up 297 penalty minutes in 245 career NHL games with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Nashville Predators, and Florida Panthers, won the bout in hilarious fashion.
Though seemingly everybody was on Tarnasky’s side based on the video of the scrap and what led up to it, the 40-year-old wanted to make sure everybody knew he’s not just some brute looking to relive his glory days.
“I don’t go to the golf course… looking to get in a tilt. I play there five times a week,” Tarnasky explained in an interview with the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast. “It’s somewhere where I enjoy my weekends and my time and the friendships. I’m not trying to make a scene here. I respect the people there. It’s unfortunate that it had to happen.”
Tarnasky called the last 48 hours “pretty overwhelming,” adding that he received approximately 500 text messages from family and friends after the video went viral.
The two men playing in front of his group were apparently slow from the get-go. The native of Rocky Mountain House, Alta. and his friends were being forced to wait at three consecutive tee boxes for more than 20 minutes. The marshal had even attempted to the men off, but was unable to do so as the duo also tried to fight him.
Just a few holes later, Tarnasky learned that the two men had then attempted to fight yet another group on the golf course, which is when he began to get frustrated.
“These guys are clearly on bath salts or meth, I don’t know what was going on there,” Tarnasky said. “I rolled up and I said, ‘Hey guys, we’ve got to get moving.’ That instantly set them off, and he’s doing the fist clenching and the pumping his arms. That’s where the altercation starts that’s on the video.
“Obviously everybody has seen what then happens. From then on, it was basically what you see is exactly what happened.”
Tarnasky also narrated each punch with “bang” sound effects.
“I was just trying to have fun with it, I don’t know,” Tarnasky said with a grin. “I’m fighting at a golf course, I don’t even know what’s going on here. I just thought, ‘ah, f*ck, this might be a blast, f*ck have some fun with it.'”
We got the exclusive breakdown of the viral golf fight from The ‘BANG BANG BANG’ man himself Nick Tarnasky💥🤛https://t.co/lkuEY8QtHs pic.twitter.com/o8Q6B9BlQm
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) July 15, 2025
Tarnasky appeared to have sympathy for Trevor Ogilvie, who has since been identified as the man that was beat up in the video.
“I’m feeling the anxiety of the messages… and they’re positive,” Tarnasky explained.
“Everyone’s getting a good laugh. I think the message was sent, that [his actions were] inappropriate. He got embarrassed by it… It’s nothing to continue hacking a guy about. It happened. It’s done with. He’s not feeling good about it for sure.
For his part, Ogilvie has released an apology video where he took full responsibility for the incident.