A leisurely day on the links near Red Deer, Alberta, recently took a dramatic turn when a dispute on the golf course escalated into a physical confrontation involving former NHL player Nick Tarnasky. A video of the incident has since circulated widely online, highlighting a bizarre clash of sports worlds – the calm decorum of golf meeting the brute force sometimes associated with professional hockey.
The incident occurred at Alberta Springs Golf Resort. According to reports stemming from dialogue captured in the video, the catalyst for the confrontation appears to have been a disagreement over the pace of play. While such disputes are not unheard of in golf, they rarely descend into outright brawls.
The footage captures Tarnasky, 40, in a heated exchange with another man. As tensions rise, the situation rapidly deteriorates. The other individual is seen moving aggressively toward Tarnasky. Responding physically, Tarnasky lifts and throws the man into a nearby pond. Undeterred, the man emerges from the water and re-engages. The video then shows Tarnasky delivering a series of punches, reportedly punctuated by him shouting “bang” with each strike, before again physically throwing the man down.
Nick Tarnasky is certainly no stranger to physicality. He played 245 games in the National Hockey League between 2005 and 2010 for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Nashville Predators, and Florida Panthers. During his NHL career, he accumulated nearly 300 penalty minutes, a statistic reflecting his role as a tough, hard-nosed forward. Following his time in the NHL and several seasons in the AHL, Tarnasky transitioned into coaching. He was recently announced to return as the head coach for the U17 AAA North Stars team within Red Deer Minor Hockey for the upcoming 2025-26 season.
The circulating video quickly brought the incident to the attention of Red Deer Minor Hockey. The organization acknowledged awareness of the footage and issued a statement confirming the involvement of one of their coaches. They indicated they are conducting an internal investigation into the matter. Their statement also noted an understanding that local police authorities were reviewing the alleged incident, adding that they would provide no further comment pending the reviews.
However, the status of the police investigation appears different from the hockey organization`s understanding. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Central Alberta have stated they are not investigating the incident. According to Cpl. Troy Savinkoff, a public information officer, officers in the Blackfalds detachment received a third-party report about a fight and a possibly intoxicated individual at the golf course. Crucially, the person who made the report had left the scene before police arrived, and nobody involved subsequently came forward to police to allege an assault or any other crime. As a result, the RCMP concluded their investigation without laying charges or pursuing the matter further from a criminal standpoint.
This leaves the Red Deer Minor Hockey`s internal review as the primary formal process currently examining the confrontation involving the former NHL player on the golf course. A request for comment sent to Alberta Springs Golf Resort regarding the incident had not been publicly addressed at the time of reporting.
While golf is typically associated with quiet concentration, polite applause, and perhaps the occasional thrown club out of frustration, this incident serves as a stark reminder that even on the fairway, tensions can boil over, particularly when involving individuals whose professional past involved a much more physical line of work. The golf course brawl has certainly put an unusual spotlight on Nick Tarnasky`s activities away from the rink.
Ellis Thorne 
Percy Harlow