Ex-NHL enforcer Nick Tarnasky gets 100% honest about his viral golf course fight

Former Florida Panthers enforcer Nick Tarnasky, who played five seasons in the NHL, spoke about his viral golf course fight on Tuesday. The incident happened on July 4 at Alberta Springs Golf Resort. A video showed him throwing a man into a pond at the course. However, the man continued to charge at Tarnasky, which prompted him to throw some more punches.

Tarnasky told host Paul Bissonnette on the "Spitting Chiclets podcast" that the fight started after a group playing golf ahead of them slowed everyone down. He said they were acting strangely and were seemingly under some kind of influence.

"We're talking two some a two some, a threesome. And we're 20 - 22, or 25 minutes a hole," Tarnasky said. "And so now we've jammed up at 15 tee box. I'm behind my buddy. He's a little tentative, because these guys are clearly, I mean, bath salts or meth or I don't know what was going on there.

"So I said, 'Hey, I'll go talk to him.' And so I rolled up, and I just said, 'Hey, guys, we've got to get moving.' And that instantly set him off. Then he's doing the fist clenching and the pump in his arms... that's where the altercation starts. That's on the video."

When the man charged at Nick Tarnasky, he battered him with punches before throwing him into the nearby lake. But the man came out of it and again engaged with him.

Tarnasky also explained why he yelled “Bang!” during the fight. He said he was just trying to make the moment less serious. Tarnasky didn’t want things to get worse, but wanted to show the guys that they were the ones in the wrong.

"God, I was trying to be like, you know, let's make it fun," Tarnasky said. "Like, I'm not gonna threaten you, but like, 'Hey, if I hear I'm gonna get thrown in the pond by this f_ mutant, maybe I'm gonna chill out. Maybe, you know, and I thought that might be kind of a good fun way to be like, 'Hey, you guys are in the wrong. Let's speed things up.'"

During his time in the League, Nick Tarnasky played for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators.

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Nick Tarnasky called the fight "unfortunate" and asked people to move on

Nick Tarnasky made it clear he didn’t plan to fight anyone. He said he only wanted to play golf and enjoy the day. He added that the situation just got out of control, and it was not his intention to hurt anyone. He also said people should move on and not keep attacking the other man.

"It's noting to continue hacking a guy about it," Tarnsky said. "Unfortunately, it happened, but, like, I don't think we need to beat the guy to death about it."

The other man, Trevor Ogilvie, later apologized. He said he drank too much and acted poorly. He took full responsibility for the fight.

However, Nick Tarnasky's current employer, Red Deer Minor Hockey, told TMZ Sports it is investigating the course fight.