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As a fan we loved the game Mair played. The aggression, the big hits, the fights, the physical intimidation. With the recent transparency over hockey and CTE and the type of game Mair played, I don’t feel I have room to judge him at all. I cheered on his aggressive game. I cheered on the fights. Even the ones where he got his head handed to him, and there were alot of those. Given what we know about the game, CTE, and the depression, anxiety, and substance abuse that goes along with it, I can’t help but feel a level of complicity. (Is that the right word here?) Adam, I don’t know you from Adam, but I know you played the way I wanted you to play, and the aftermath likely contributed to where you are today. I hope the help he gets is effective. And I hope this doesn’t ruin his life. It was a scary lesson. Hopefully its a lesson learned.

She yells that it was in her hand and he took it away from her hand. That it hit her hand before bouncing to the row below hers is immaterial to who should actually end up with the ball. Balls and pucks that go into the crowd very often end up going home with the 2nd or even 3rd person to have an actual crack at them. Is what it is. But she did not have it in her hand when he took it. IF she did, would say she has a case. And the guy didn't come from another section. He came over from about 10 seats away (which happened to be the nearest occupied seat in his row to where the ball was) to a ball rolling around in HIS row. You can say it was in HER area because of its horizontal position relative to her and him; but you could also say it was in HIS area because it was in his row with its vertical position relative to him and her. AND it was way easier and way safer for him to get to it based upon where it was when he got the ball. For her to get to it without jumping over a seat she needed to walk to the end of her row down 2 steps and then traverse essentially the same distance within that row as he travelled from his seat to get to it. IMHO, after having watched the exchange between the 2 from a couple of different angles, fully expect that had the ball bounced closer to the guy while staying in his row after bouncing out of her hand then she would've still run over claiming he stole HER ball.

Tix on the resale market are NOT moving. Might be making a lot more weeknight games than expected. Not sure how much Pegula "saved" by essentially bringing back the entire FO and coaching staff; but uniess they get out of the gate REALLY quickly expect that'll have been a negative NPV decision by the end of October at the latest.

Im surprised it took this many years for tickets, even for a home opener, so be so far behind the rest of the league. Lets see, at $33 per ticket (I'm assuming no taxes/fees on that?) If I wanted to go with one other person, wife, kid..whoever. $66. Add in parking (is that up to about $20 now?) Lets assume not much in the way of concessions and certainly no full meals, but maybe one drink and one snack per person. At arena prices that is another $30-$40 for 2 people? So, for the team that hasn't made the playoffs in a decade-and-a-half, in one of the 'worst' arenas in the league, getting some of the worst seats in the house and having some pretty undesirable food, I might still be looking at $150 per night or more? On a weeknight/worknight/schoolnight? When I could watch it at home for free and if the game is awful tune into the Thursday nigtht NFL game instead? I'm not a person that goes to games anymore, but even if I was, between the quality of the team, the quality of the Arena/Arena experience, they would have to give me SOMETHING for me to spend any money to support them.

I agree. This is a natural byproduct I think of the Internet. Not that I've studied things but it seems logical that throughout history when there is an invention that brings large groups of people together who, until then, had been separated the difference of cultural norms will cause great friction. The Internet opened most of the world to instant communication as it has evolved. It is easier than ever to find people who agree with you or be influenced by others so that you agree with them. The traditional societal norms are not there to inhibit that behavior as it might have done in the past. Tack on perceived anonymity and certainly the safety of distance between those attacking and being attacked and it sets the stage for the behaviors we see today. Because corporations reflect the desire of the people they pick up on it and it snowballs. So, we have sensationalistic marketing, news, etc. That grows into even worse behaviors and here we are. I just hope there is a shift because the escalation is ramping up exponentially.

This doesn't sound good for Ostland and Rosen https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/buffalo-sabres-pittsburgh-penguins-2025-prospects-challenge-recap-highlights

What's shocking about it?

It is strange because people spend more time looking at what everyone else does wrong versus spending that energy on critically analyzing themselves. It's easier that way I suppose. That said, mistakes have varying degree of significance and that's where the debatable line occurs. In this case it's not like he a registered a .08. He registered a 2.0. That's not accidentally overdoing it, that's blatantly going all out. Sure, I'd love for him to get help, but he should have gotten it before this happened. People around him should have taken a stronger stand if they knew it was going on. But it didn't happen and now he very much has to deal with the situation. He's in charge of player development, players who are routinely going into their legal drinking age. It's not a good sign to have the person overseeing that demonstrating a reckless drinking behavior. It's even worse to do it with his kids in the car. If he's willing to do it with his kids then I am sure a 19 year old player might be less of an obstacle. Overall that's the way it is. We are held accountable for our actions. He'll be held accountable for his. We'll see what happens.

I don't know Adam Mair or what is going on with him. You sometimes see this in sports. Time away from family support systems and life on the road can contribute to this kind of problem. Just because professional athletes make a lot of money or are better known to the general public than engineers, accountants, factory workers, service industry employees, etc., does not mean they do not deserve a chance to fix their problems. They are not above problems that the rest of us have. It was good fortune that the police were on the spot and did their job. The best case scenario was he got caught and no one was hurt. Next, its to try to fix the problem. Simply discarding him is more likely to lead to a repeat offense that could have a worse outcome the next time.

Wednesday I think.

When does training camp start?

Groundhog Day. I agree with you re: Adams. How he didn’t get let go as a business move alone is surprising to me.

It remains utterly shocking to me that the Adams regime wasn't flushed in April. Never mind the hockey reasons, the business of the Sabres is absolutely gasping for it. The most likely scenario for this season remains a ***** start, followed by boos, paper bags, a bloodletting, followed by the 4 months of empty seats, 'who cares?' hockey and another 8th overall pick.

They also don’t have any shiny new objects this year. We pretty much just added a second pairing dman and are making a 2C play 1C.

Pretty soon the concessions will cost more than the tickets.

I was just curious what the ticket situation was this year. $33 for the home/season opener. Every away game through November is 2-3x more expensive. That is about as bad as it gets. We have bottom of the barrell attendance these days, and based on prices to start the year it looks like it is about to get a whole lot worse. They better get off to a fast start or the Sabres are primed to have the most contentious fanbase they have ever had.

Didn't get to watch any of the prospect games, unfortunately. Was following along on Twitter a bit though. Disappointed that rosen/Östlund didnt dominate on the score sheet. One goal total between two guys that are likely AHL all stars next year seems pretty lackluster. I heard on the locked on sabres podcast though that Östlund still looked like the most dynamic player out there. But you still have to put up more on the stat sheet against this level of competition. The other standouts I heard about (aside from the already discussed Östlund and mrtka, who i think everyone is excited about now) were novikov and savage.

I think the guy that ran way over into someone else space and took the ball away from people who sat in that area is the one deserving blame here. She probably should have let it go, but she wasn't totally wrong. People making it out like she took a kids birthday ball are wrong, she didn't know that, she just knew some dude had ran over from another section to take something that was bouncing around at her feet. And the social media world gangs up on her.

We live in a simulation.

I think I have an old Simon Pure churchkey....

You gave a very thoughtful and humanistic response. It's obvious that Mair has a serious drinking problem. He should be treated like others who have been involved in similar situations. He will certainly have to contend with the legal system that will direct him to a somewhat coercive course for first time offenders. What will the outcome be after he is directed into a rehabilitating setting? It depends on how seriously he takes the treatment. If he blows it off or just goes through the motions just to get this issue over with, he will then face bigger issues and more severe consequences. For those who blithely and reflexively say that he should be automatically fired, my response is that he is not a disposable human being who isn't capable of redemption. Addiction is a complicated and challenging issue to deal with. It affects not only the individual but the family and relationships around the person. We all know someone either in the family, friends and work circle who struggle to deal with what usually is a life-long tormenting battle. Anyone undergoing what he is currently undergoing needs support, not scorn and harsh judgment. And that doesn't mean that he shouldn't be held accountable for his behavior. I wish him well.

This team is fubar unless several players simply will them to victory. I have no faith in UPL. None in Wilford. A smidgen in Ruff. Deck is stacked against them.

Yeah, or if that combo struggles out of the gate. What a mess this team is.