Paul Bissonnette

Early life

Paul Albert Bissonnette was born March 11, 1985, in Welland, Ontario to parents Yolande and Cam Bissonnette. Paul’s mother was an Office Administration professor at Niagara College for 30 years in Southern Ontario. His father, whom Paul credits for his own off the cuff personality, was a steel worker.

When Bissonnette was 16, he was drafted 31st overall by the Ontario Hockey League’s North Bay Centennials. He played in 57 games as a rookie and scored three goals and three assists. Following the 2001–02 season, the Centennials relocated and became the Saginaw Spirit.

Bissonnette was named co-captain on the Spirit and also became a member of Canada’s Under-18 gold medal winning team. He was named the MVP of the Canadian Hockey League’s Top Prospects game after scoring a goal and scrapping with top defensive prospect Dion Phaneuf.

Paul credits his success from being a good'ol Ontario Boy.

Playing career

Bissonnette was selected in the fourth round, 121st overall, of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins. When drafted, he was playing with the Saginaw Spirit of the junior Ontario Hockey League. During the 2003–04 season, Bissonnette served as the Spirit captain, and finished ninth in points. He played another half season with the Spirit before being traded to the Owen Sound Attack, where he finished the 2004–05 season.

He began his professional career in 2005 with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL. Bissonnette finished the season with only 14 games in Wheeling. He then played 55 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League. On November 12, 2005, Bissonnette picked up his first professional fighting major when he took on Jordan Smith of the Portland Pirates. During the 2006–07 season, he played 65 games with Wheeling. He only appeared in 3 games with the AHL Penguins. Bissonnette scored his first professional goal in the AHL on February 25, 2006, on goaltender Maxime Ouellet of the Manitoba Moose. After beginning the 2007–08 season in Wheeling, Bissonnette was recalled to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he earned a permanent roster position. Teammates Dennis Bonvie and Deryk Engelland worked with Bissonnette often practising fighting techniques. Due to his size and physicality, Bissonnette earned a spot on the Pittsburgh Penguins roster for the beginning of the 2008–09 season. On October 16, 2008, Bissonnette picked up his first NHL fighting major when he dropped the gloves with Matt Bradley of the Washington Capitals. Bissonnette TKO'd Bradley to the ice, bloodying his nose. On January 13, 2009, Bissonnette picked up his first point in the National Hockey League, when he assisted a Tyler Kennedy goal against the Philadelphia Flyers. He was waived in November and spent the rest of the season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

On May 5, 2009, during a playoff game between the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the Hershey Bears, Bissonnette was hit awkwardly by Greg Amadio and Steve Pinizzotto. He was deeply cut by the skate of one of the Hershey players on his left wrist and suffered nerve damage in his left hand.

On October 1, 2009, Bissonnette was claimed on waivers by the Phoenix Coyotes, after failing to make the Penguins out of training camp. On October 12, 2009, Bissonnette's first fight as a Coyote occurred against Jody Shelley of the San Jose Sharks. On November 12, 2009, Bissonnette scored his first NHL goal on Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens.

On October 5, 2011, Bissonnette signed a two-year contract extension with the Coyotes. During the 2011–12 season, on November 19, 2011, Bissonnette scored the game-winning goal, playing in front of his mother and grandparents for the first time as an NHL player. The Coyotes went on to win 4–2 over the Buffalo Sabres.

With the 2012–13 NHL lock-out in effect and to keep game shape, Bissonnette signed a contract for the duration of the lock-out dispute with Welsh side, the Cardiff Devils of the Elite Ice Hockey League on November 1, 2012. In the lower level EIHL, Bissonnette rediscovered his scoring touch posting 21 points in 11 games before returning to the NHL.

As a free agent after five seasons with the Coyotes, Bissonnette was unable to attract an NHL contract in the off-season leading into the 2014–15 season. On September 16, 2014, he accepted an invite to the St. Louis Blues training camp. After a full preseason with the Blues, he was released from his try-out and later accepted a one-year contract to return to the U.K EIHL for a second stint with the Cardiff Devils on October 24, 2014. The contract Bissonette signed included an "escape clause", permitting his release from the Devils in the event he signed an NHL or AHL contract. On October 26, 2014, Bissonette signed an AHL tryout contract with the Portland Pirates, the AHL affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes, Bissonette's most recent NHL team. After playing eight games with the Pirates, Bissonette was released by the team on December 9, 2014. On the same day, he signed a tryout contract with the Los Angeles Kings AHL affiliate, Manchester Monarchs. He remained with the club and helped the Monarchs claim the Calder Cup in their final season in the AHL.

On July 8, 2015, the Los Angeles Kings' AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, announced they had signed Bissonette to a one-year contract.

After two seasons with the Reign, on April 21, 2017, Bissonette broke news of his retirement on the popular sports podcast "Pardon My Take." He was later announced as a commentator in the Radio Booth for the Arizona Coyotes on June 23, 2017. He replaced former Coyotes defenseman Nick Boynton in that role.

Twitter

Paul Bissonnette has attracted over 889,000 followers on Twitter, and is known for his blunt and entertaining tweets. Bissonnette went by the screen name "@PaulBizNasty" until he made an off colour comment about Ilya Kovalchuk and his rejection from the NHL for a violation of the CBA which resulted in the removal of "@PaulBizNasty" on Twitter. Bissonnette's fans began a "Free BizNasty" campaign following his dismissal from Twitter.

In 2010, Bissonnette began using Twitter again as "@BizNasty2point0".