By Eileen Buckley
Buffalo, NY – Rochester billionaire Tom Golisano will become the new owner of the Buffalo Sabres in the next ten days. That's when the contract between the National Hockey League and Golisano will be signed.
Golisano received two big approvals and now his bid to become team owner is almost complete. A US bankruptcy judge Thursday approved Golisano's purchase agreement. Judge Michael Kaplan says the deal is "in the best interest of the community." Kaplan also noted that since Golisano's submitted the bid, the Sabres played better and attendance improved.
National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman was in town Thursday to watch some of the NCAA Frozen Four hockey tournament at HSBC Arena. He said the NHL Board of Governors also approved Golisano as team owner. Bettman says everything is on track and expects the contract to be finalized in the next 10 days.
"We're not anticipating any problems at all," Bettman said. "When it's all done, then I'll give a final wrap-up on how it feels. But things are progressing exactly how we hoped that they would."
Larry Quinn, an advisor to the Rochester billionaire, says Golisano was out of town. But he said he left him a message about the good news. Quinn say once they are ready to take over day-to-day team operations, they will work to lower ticket prices.
"I think the initial thing we'll have to do is get next year's ticket pricing out to our fans," Quinn said. "We have to prepare for the draft and any potential player transactions."
Quinn says he believes they've been given a fair amount of input into team operations during the bid process.
Bettman said he is "thrilled" with the impact Golisano has already had on the franchise.