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Paul Bissonnette is back in the Valley of the Sun. No, not for that reason.

The former Coyote is training at EXOS with Coyotes strength and conditioning coordinator J.P. Major in preparation for another season with the Ontario (California) Reign of the American Hockey League, after signing a one-year deal with the L.A. Kings’ affiliate in July.

He’ll start skating with a number of Coyotes and other NHL players later this month at the Ice Den in Scottsdale. In the meantime, he’s living at his girlfriend’s place in Cave Creek even though he kept his house in Grayhawk (Coyotes defenseman Klas Dahlbeck lived there last year and is accruing squatter’s rights).

Coming off sports hernia surgery last summer, Bissonnette, 31, wasn’t able to train as hard and played in just 35 of 68 regular season games due to various injuries, but he dressed for all 13 playoff games and scored his first pro postseason goal as the Reign advanced to the Western Conference Final.

“I don’t think I have many years left in my career. My role has been pretty hard on my body so if this is my last year, I will try make a good run of it,” said Bissonnette, who appeared in 202 NHL games for the Penguins and Coyotes, but has spent the past three seasons in the AHL with Portland, Manchester and Ontario as the role of the enforcer is phased out in the NHL. “Hopefully, a good summer of training will lead to no injuries, a successful season and I’ll base my decision off of that. I would like to play to 35. That would be a good career.”

Bissonette understands why the NHL is phasing out fighting, and to a certain extent, he agrees with the decision.

“Do I think they’re getting rid of it partially because of lawsuits and money? Yes,” he said. “Would taking away the staged stuff be better for guys’ health and the game? Yes, but I don’t want to see it go away entirely because it does separate us from other sports.

“I watch other sports and it’s frustrating when they trash talk and it doesn’t need to be backed up. The number of liberties some guys take, even in the NFL, is ridiculous and that’s what separates us and makes the game of hockey nice because you have to answer for it. It’s a brotherhood. Most people would defend their brother if he got sucker punched in bar. I know that’s not a great comparison but that’s the feeling I get when somebody throws an elbow to Shane Doan and he gets concussed.

“I know you hear a lot of people saying they need to take it out of the game but you rarely hear it from anyone who has played the game and that tells you something. If you take out the staged stuff and let it happen organically and let players police the game, that’s when fans really embrace it.”

Bissonette has no trouble finding activities to occupy his time in the offseason. He attended the Pemberton Music Festival this summer in British Columbia, which has quickly become his favorite summer event.

Great first day @Pemberton_Fest. Miguel, J Cole and Kaskade rocked the house. #pembyfest pic.twitter.com/xQcR0yXQzs — Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) July 16, 2016

He also provided his usual brand of entertainment on Twitter on the first day of free agency, in a series of hilarious tweets.

Phones fully charged. Still no calls but It's early. #StayPositive #NHLFreeagency — Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) July 1, 2016

This is usually how it goes. All the big dogs go right away. Role players to follow. Not gonna panic. Stay the course. #NHLFreeagency — Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) July 1, 2016

Toronto's officially out. #NHLFreeagency pic.twitter.com/QSdxbjDsxJ — Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) July 1, 2016

Even so, Bissonnette said the thought of retirement concerns him for one simple reason.

“To me, the scariest part is not having that structure in my life; knowing exactly what I’m going to be doing,” he said. “Hockey is all I know. I’m going to have to set up a schedule for the gym because when I don’t work out I feel sloppy and I don’t feel good about myself. I’ll have to maintain some kind of routine when I stop playing.”

That shouldn’t be too hard since his girlfriend, Annie, is a personal trainer that he met when he played for the Coyotes, but just started dating about a year ago.

Bissonnette still keeps tabs on the Coyotes and, like many others, he sees a bright future given their pool of talented prospects. He was also happy to see captain Shane Doan re-up for one more season.

“All in all, he’s a great human and the one guy where I can genuinely say if I ever had a son, I would want him to emulate Shane Doan,” Bissonnette said. “The guy has time for everyone. I’ve never seen a more tireless person. He’ll be at the arena until midnight on game nights.

“I’m sure his wife doesn’t appreciate it, and given what (vice president of communications) Rich Nairn is making per hour, he’s probably losing money waiting around for all Shane’s interviews to end.”

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