Coyotes enforcer Bissonnette tries to evolve in a league with fewer fights

Coyotes enforcer Paul Bissonnette has made his name and his living primarily with his fists. A career fourth-liner and press box regular, Bissonnette is among a dwindling number of pure enforcers in the National Hockey League. 

Bissonnette can read the tea leaves, however. He knows that fighting is becoming increasingly rare in the NHL. And the Coyotes forward knows that his game will have to evolve if he hopes to remain in the league.

"Do I think that they’re eventually going to take fighting out of the game? Maybe, or maybe not," Bissonnette told National Post hockey reporter Sean Fitz-Gerald. “I think it will end up going down to, if you fight once, you’re out of the game. And if it comes to that, there’s really no point in having a guy in the lineup that’s just going to fight once and be out..."

This season Bissonnette has only fought one time, but he's already bested his career high in points. 

"He’s a smart guy," Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett told Fitz-Gerald. "He knows what he has to do to play in the league. But that being said, I give him credit, because he’s trying to become a better player every day."

"He was honest with me," Bissonnette said of his coach. “He was like, ‘You’re at a crossroads in your career, where fighting’s kind of deteriorating a bit — you’ve got to kind of figure it out as a player.’"

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