It’s time to put the finishing touches on the 2009-2010 season for the Buffalo Sabres. Here is a complete report card of every single player that played any amount of time with the Sabres this season. The journey will begin with Chris Butler and conclude in almost a month with Thomas Vanek. Thanks to Japers Rink and Mile High Hockey for the inspiration.
Adam Mair
#22 / Center / Buffalo Sabres
6-1
208
Feb 15, 1979
2008-09 Grade: C
Contract Situation: Made $775,000 in 2009-2010. UFA on July 1
Introduction: As I have stated many times on this site, I am not the world’s biggest Adam Mair fan. However, I thought it would be a good writing exercise (or some form of sick writing torture) to attempt an unbiased review of Mair’s strengths and weaknesses, so here we go. Adam Mair is your prototypical fourth-line grinder. He skates hard, he works in the corners, he hits, and he gives maximum effort on the ice. The drawback to this is his lack of offensive talent and his miraculous ability to take penalties at the worst possible times.
Voting: On a scale of one to ten, one being the lowest and ten being the highest, grade Adam Mair on his season according to the expectations you had for him. If he met them, give him a five or a six. If he eclipsed them, aim for a seven or beyond. If he failed to meet them, give him a lower number relating to how poorly he missed the target.
Follow the jump for more information on Adam Mair.
Key Stat: Mair had the fourth best goals against per sixty minutes on the team at 2.12. Granted, his goals for per sixty was sixth worst at only 2.02, but come on, work with me people. He did, however, end up with a better differential than fan-favorites Mike Grier, Tim Kennedy, and Paul Gaustad.
Additional Ridiculously Complicated Stat: GVT (Goals Versus Threshold) is a stat created by Tom Awad to help us see the value of a player, in goals, over a replacement player – similar to VORP in baseball. GVT allows us to see how much a player helped or hurt the team’s total goal differential over the course of a season. For example, Ryan Miller had the highest GVT in the NHL at +37.1, meaning he was 37 goals per season more valuable to the Sabres than an average replacement player. Adam Mair’s GVT was -0.2, putting him in the bottom 10% of all NHL players with at least 40 games played. He was trailed on the Sabres by only Matt Ellis at -0.4.
Thumbs Up: As much as I razz him for unnecessary penalties, Mair actually decreased his penalty minutes this year from 93 to 75 (in six fewer games played) and, as mentioned above, he is a guy who always gives you his best effort, something that I think we now appreciate after much debate over which top-6 forwards give the least amount of effort. He’s one of the few guys who will occasionally drop the gloves. He’s a grinder, and he…um, grinds well.
Thumbs Down: Mair regressed from last season in almost every category: goals, assists, +/-, GWG, shooting % and fittingly, ice time. The grinder was placed on waivers on November 9, but no other team claimed him. He also earned the right to rename the trophy for “Dumbest Penalty Taker” – formerly known as “The Alexei Zhitnik Award”.
Discuss: Do you think Mair was effective as a fourth line player? Could he have a place in Portland next year with all the talent coming down the pipeline? Should the team re-sign him or look to someone like Cody McCormick to replace his grindability?
Give a grade to Adam Mair for the 2009-2010 season.
| 10 | 7 |
| 9 | 2 |
| 8 | 10 |
| 7 | 23 |
| 6 | 41 |
| 5 | 45 |
| 4 | 27 |
| 3 | 8 |
| 2 | 3 |
| 1 | 7 |