It appears that the man on the receiving end of an Alberta golf course beatdown featuring a former NHL enforcer got away with only some minor damage.
To both his face and ego.
According to a picture of the man allegedly involved in the viral brouhaha – which saw him get pummelled and rag-dolled by ex-NHL tough guy Nick Tarnasky – some minor bruising appears to be the worst of the damage.
In a post by an alleged acquaintance of the man on Reddit, the apparent instigator – and ultimate loser – of the brawl only suffered a “tiny” black eye during the incident and appears to be in good spirits.
“Just a tiny lil black eye,” the man wrote over the selfie-style snap with his tongue sticking out. “That’s it, that’s all, boys.”
A user who goes by the name DustyDave1971 posted the photo from the man’s Snapchat on Reddit, adding that his “son-in-law knows him well” and “lives in the same town.”
As for Tarnasky, the former Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning tough guy reportedly is under investigation by the minor hockey association where he coaches over the incident which happened last week.
A video that went viral on social media showed a man appearing to be Tarnasky manhandle a fellow golfer, tossing him into a lake and punching him in the face several times.
Red Deer Minor Hockey — where the former Florida Panthers tough guy coaches an under-17 squad — told TMZ in a statement that it has seen the video and is looking into the incident.
“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,” Red Deer Minor Hockey told the outlet.
Police confirmed on Wednesday that Tarnasky is not a subject of further investigation.
“It appears to be a consensual fight,” RCMP spokesman Const. Cory Riggs told the Red Deer Advocate.
The incident, which took place at around 5:47 p.m. at Alberta Springs Golf Course in Red Deer, erupted over an argument about a group of golfers’ slow play.
The 2 1/2-minute clip, which was posted to Reddit by user YEGG35, shows the argument beginning with a large man in a white shirt arguing with two other golfers on a cart path beside a tee box.
The man in white accuses the two men in front of him – one in a black-and-white patterned shirt and shorts, the other in a light shirt and a hat – of taking far too much time to tee off at the hole.
“Let’s get going,” the large man says to the two, “or you can play behind us all and you can take all the f—ing time you want.”
WARNING: Offensive language
The cameraman then insinuated that the other two have perhaps had too much to drink.
“You guys can’t even stand and tee your ball up,” he says as the man in the patterned shirt approaches the tee box, appearing to struggle to place his ball.
“This is f—ing bulls—,” the large man is heard saying. “He’s been sitting there for 23 minutes!”
That’s when the man in the tee box seemingly gets triggered, standing up and walking towards the group and telling them to, “Go cry about it.”
Insults and threats fly between the man in the patterned shirt and the larger man in white before the first golfer charges at him.
It doesn’t end well for the slow player, who is easily roughed up and tossed into a nearby water hazard.
After he gets back up, he again comes at his foe with disastrous results.
The man in white grabs him by the shirt and lands two punches to his face – yelling “bang” for dramatic effect as he sends the first man to the ground.
Seemingly not content with the damage received, the slow golfer stands up and again comes at the large man, only to be greeted by three more punches and three more “bangs.”
After getting up off the ground again, the larger man then proceeds to toss the other man several feet through the air and down a hill.
At this point, the man’s friend steps in to keep his buddy from any further punishment.
According to a post by Paul Bissonnette — a former NHL instigator turned commentator — Tarnasky will be making an appearance on his Spittin’ Chiclets podcast to clear the air over the viral incident.
Tarnasky played five seasons in the NHL from 2005-10 and racked up 297 penalty minutes in 245 career games with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers.
According to hockeyfights.com, Tarnasky was involved in more than 100 fights in professional hockey games, including a classic tilt with a young Milan Lucic.