Mair Madea Youthful Mistake

Adam Mair apparently was on the level Friday when he said he didn’t realize he faced an automatic 10-game suspension for leaving the bench to join a brawl in Thursday night’s 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators.

Ian Laperriere said he broke the news to him in the penalty box.

“Sorry, kid, it’s 10 games,” Laperriere said he told Mair.

“But I didn’t throw any punches,” Mair replied.

“It doesn’t matter. You can’t do that. It’s 10 games. Sorry.”

Though Mair’s action in coming to the aid of teammate Mikko Eloranta was generally applauded by the Kings as an act of selflessness, one teammate said it was a product of inexperience.

“He’s young,” the teammate said. “I don’t know if he really understood the consequences. You get pretty emotional. ... When you’re on the bench, you have that feeling of helplessness.

“I can guarantee, he won’t do it again. But it’s hard when you see a teammate in trouble and you want to be there for him.”

Mair, 22, is eligible to return to the lineup Jan. 15.

The Kings said Mair’s willingness to join the fray showed the team is unified. Here’s another, perhaps more telling sign: His teammates are expected to take up a collection to make up Mair’s lost salary, more than $25,000.

“He didn’t go for any personal reason,” Coach Andy Murray said of Mair. “It’s all about team, and that’s why he did what he did.

“It’s the emotion. You have to be in the moment to know.”

Jason Allison felt the emotion. His leg draped over the boards, the Kings’ leading scorer was ready to jump onto the ice before teammates held him back.

“I don’t really want to talk about what happened during that game,” he said Saturday. “It was an emotional game. A lot of stuff was going on.”

Allison said he felt frustrated on the bench: “Definitely. Especially when you see a big mismatch and no one there to break it up.”