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Paul Bissonnette
Paul Bissonnette is a Canadian former NHL enforcer who became one of hockey's best-known broadcasters and podcasters. Bissonnette played 202 NHL games for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Phoenix Coyotes before finishing his playing days in the AHL, then built a second career on the BizNasty persona he started on social media in 2009. Bissonnette now works as a studio analyst for NHL on TNT and co-hosts the Barstool Sports podcast Spittin' Chiclets.
| Role now | Studio analyst for NHL on TNT and co-host of Spittin' Chiclets |
|---|---|
| Born | 11 March 1985 in Welland, Ontario, Canada |
| Playing career | Drafted 121st overall by Pittsburgh in 2003; last professional season 2016-17, in the AHL |
| NHL career | 202 games, 7 goals, 15 assists, 22 points, 340 penalty minutes |
| Known for | Fighting, chirping and the BizNasty persona he launched on Twitter in 2009 |
| Since retiring | Coyotes radio analyst from 2017, Spittin' Chiclets co-host from 2018, NHL on TNT analyst from 2021, multi-year TNT extension announced January 2026 |
Why did Paul Bissonnette retire from hockey?
The short answer is that the enforcer job he was hired to do was disappearing. His last NHL season was 2013-14 with Phoenix, and after the Coyotes let him go he spent three AHL seasons with Portland, Manchester and the Ontario Reign, playing just 18 games in his final year. He confirmed his retirement in 2017 and moved straight into the Coyotes broadcast booth as a colour commentator. His NHL break came almost by accident, as our story on the phone call that gave him his NHL chance covers in detail.
Paul Bissonnette's NHL stats tell only half the story
Across 202 NHL games Bissonnette recorded 7 goals, 15 assists and 22 points against 340 penalty minutes, which works out to more time in the box than on the scoresheet. Fifteen of those games came with Pittsburgh in 2008-09 and the other 187 with Phoenix between 2009 and 2014. The numbers were never the point. His value sat in the fourth-line role, the fights and the talking, and his favourite chirp from his playing days has had a longer shelf life than any of his goals.
Is Paul Bissonnette Canadian? Welland, Ontario and the road up
Bissonnette is Canadian, born in Welland, Ontario, on 11 March 1985, a steel town between Niagara Falls and Lake Erie. Pittsburgh took him in the fourth round, 121st overall, in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, which made him a late pick who had to grind for every call-up. The hometown connection still shows up in his television work: when TNT put him in the booth for a game in Buffalo in January 2026, the network noted the arena sits roughly 40 minutes from Welland. Bissonnette has leaned on that small-town Ontario background throughout his broadcasting work.
Paul Bissonnette's television work alongside Rick Tocchet
As of October 2026, Bissonnette appears on the NHL on TNT studio panel with Wayne Gretzky, Henrik Lundqvist and Anson Carter, hosted by Liam McHugh, under a multi-year agreement the network announced in January 2026. Rick Tocchet sat on that same desk before returning to coaching, and Bissonnette and Lundqvist gave him a mock send-off on air. The two go back further than television, as our piece on an old hotel run-in between Bissonnette and Tocchet describes.
