It’s been like forever since there has been anything on the Sabres in this space. I did not attend Thursday’s press conference… it was the one day that I was loaded down with service calls at my business and I could not rearrange my schedule. But I did tune in a bit, caught the whole thing later on, and wish I had been there to fire off a couple of my own questions.

First of all let me say this… I am a Larry Quinn fan, and I am a Tom Golisano fan. Lately that is not a popular position to be carving out around these parts, but hear me out. Quinn is a bright guy when it comes to urban planning and downtown development. When he ran the community development department for the city, he almost singlehandedly brought the Theatre District back to life. If you remember the 600 block of Main back in the 70s, then you should know what total devastation there was in the neighborhood. Later on, he got us our new arena built, on time and within budget, and that was no small feat. When it comes to vision about the Buffalo we all want, he understands it and he gets it.

As for Golisano, I could just imagine how this state would be on its way back from the abyss if he had won as Governor. He rescued this franchise and wrote a check to take it out of bankruptcy, when all other ownership bids were just pretenders.

So now that I got all that out of the way, I was very disappointed by the message delivered, the tone of the whole affair, and some of the concepts and ideas on how this front office is going to return the franchise to its former glory.

Quinn laments the alarming rise in the salary cap, and apparently is digging in his heels in stating that the organization is not going to offer long term contracts to anyone. In doing so, he illustrated Toronto’s problems with their long term contracts and being saddled with players who have outlived their usefulness. To me, however, this whole stance smacked of the former organization mantra “we don’t negotiate contracts during the season”.

Quinn also predicted that the Canadian dollar, now virtually at par with the greenback, will fall in the future, and that should offer some relief to the salary cap issue. Quinn’s prognostication on the future value of the US dollar is just speculation, work better left to currency futures traders.

The team is not going to make a splash in the free agent market, but will continue to develop home grown talent. Oh really? Where? Check out Rochester… the cupboard is bare. The farm system, the scouting system has been decimated in the Golisano era. Right now we don’t even know where our minor league affiliate is going to be housed next year.

The question that wasn’t asked, and that I would have asked, is what sort of damage is this on the ice meltdown and the failings of the front office going to do the season ticket base. The team sold 14,800 season tickets, and has a waiting list for several thousands more, and some of those waiting plunked down $100 a seat to keep their status. Will the customers come back? Will we see sellouts as far as the eye can see, or will those yawning gaps of empty blue seats, the norm at many games during the bankruptcy era, make a comeback?

One could see troubling signs at the last few home games - scattered empty seats in the traditional season ticket areas, tickets selling on eBay for far below face value, and fistfuls of ducats outside the arena, a real deal for buyers. Contrast that to a year ago, when tickets were such hot commodities and demand approached the fervor not seen since the 70s.

The Sabres have not announced any pricing plans or marketing pushes for next season, but Sabres management is deluding itself if they simply send out renewals and expect the people who they refer to as “their best customers” to just accept the garbage being shoveled at them and re-up for next season.

What the Sabres do in the next few months will be crucial in keeping them relevant and viable going into next year, and keeping intact the goodwill in this community that they worked so hard to build in the post lockout era.

Here is my checklist in what needs to be done:

1) Tom Golisano needs to show his face, show he is in charge, communicate his plans with the public, assuage the season ticket holders, in essence do the Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce circuit.

2) Sign a marquee free agent. We need a team leader, a voice in the clubhouse, and a visible message to everyone that this franchise is committed to its future.

3) Miller and Pominville - no yackety-yack. 3 years… 6 years… just get it done.

4) Develop a marketing hook for season ticket holders. Perhaps a “playoff guarantee” offering a $3 per ticket rebate if the team fails to qualify next spring.

5) Is this Rochester divorce thing really a done deal? There’s trouble a-brewin in Amerks land. Steve Donner surely has to be joking that he would move one of the flagship AHL franchises out of the city or suspend play, just because it’s all about him. Maybe this is just wishful thinking, but it would be great to see the Sabres swoop in and just buy the team and end this soap opera once and for all, then show the Florida Panthers the door.

We have been season ticket holders since 1993-94, have stuck with the team through the highs and the lows, and have no plans on bailing for next season. But as much as we love the Sabres, what comes to mind is a classic line from the sports chick flick “Fever Pitch”: “Do they love you back?” I guess we will find out, won’t we.

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