By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – The good old days of hockey are making a come back - at least in ticket prices.
The Sabres announced Wednesday they are lowering season tickets and individual ticket prices by as much as twenty-eight percent.
But there might not be a season to sell.
In some cases, fans can buy season tickets at old Memorial Aud prices. New variable pricing also allows fans to get the seat and the game they want. In fact, NHL action can be bought for as little as ten dollars.
That is, if there are any games to attend.
Many speculate that collective bargaining between the players and the NHL could put all, or part of the season, on ice.
Team owner Thomas Golisano said they are moving forward with what they can control.
"Everybody is hoping we're going to have a season and we think we can come out of this where everybody enjoys the benefit - in other words, an agreement will be reached for the common good, not only the ownership, but the fans and the players," said Golisano. "So, we're very hopeful, but regardless, we can't put ourselves on hold until we see what happens with that collective bargaining agreement. So, we're going to proceed as if there's going to be a season."
But some Sabres players are not counting on it.
Maxim Afinogenov and now Dmitri Kalinin said they will defect to a Russian pro-team if play stops in the U.S.
That's o.k. with Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier.
"It's something all the players are doing, they have outs in their contracts in the event there's (no) collective bargaining agreement," said Regier. So, it really doesn't effect us. I think the good thing is that, in the event we're not playing at the National League level, we know that those players will be playing. And that's more important certainly than sitting around."
Players just sitting around would also be very bad for the financial performance of owner Golisano.
The Rochester based, self-made millionaire lost eight point five million last year on his newly purchased Sabres franchise.
And an idle season could send his investment crashing into the boards.
To reassure and coax Sabres fans into reserving season tickets, the team is offering to hold seats for only fifty dollars - without penalty.
Deposits will be returned if the season is cancelled. A date for when the season will officially be called has not yet been set.