Sources say Adam Mair of the Buffalo Sabres has been fined $2,500 by the NHL for venturing down a hallway and trying to get at Ottawa Senators players during Monday's NHL game in Buffalo.
The fine is the maximum amount that is allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Mair, who exchanged words with Senators forward Chris Neil at the end of Monday's game that saw the Sabres lose 5-2. Both players received misconduct penalties with 1:48 left in the third period.
For his part, Neil only claimed to make one comment to Mair on the ice.
"I said, 'I've used you as a punching bag before,'" Neil told the Ottawa Citizen on Tuesday. "That's the only thing I said to him out there, and he didn't like that too much."
After the assessments, Mair headed toward the Senators dressing room, but was stopped by Senators Luke Richardson, Jarkko Ruutu and vice president of communications Phil Legault.
It's not the first time that Neil and Mair have had run ins in the past. In 2001, when Mair was playing for the Los Angeles Kings, he left the bench to help teammate Mikko Eloranta who was fighting against Neil. Mair received a 10-game suspension for leaving the bench.
"We've had some good battles and he has taken some suspensions on me in the NHL," Neil told the Citizen. "He must not like his paycheque or something like that."
