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Could this mean were keeping Briere & Drury & maybe Biron 
Buffalo Sabres fans are going to pay more for the hottest tickets in town - a moderate increase in season-ticket prices next year and a lot more for playoff tickets this spring.
The team that is selling out HSBC Arena for all 41 home games this season will raise season-ticket prices an average of 8 percent next year, a lower figure than some observers had speculated. But for the first two rounds of this year's playoffs, season-ticket holders will pay an average of about one-third more than their season-ticket rate.
Sabres officials also have added an incentive for season-ticket holders renewing early - charging them this year's season-ticket rate for the first round of the playoffs.
In unveiling the plan, Sabres managing partner Larry Quinn and other top Sabres officials also revealed that:
• They don't expect individual playoff tickets to be available to the general public.
• The team likely will come close to breaking even for the regular season. An extended playoff run could lead to a decent operating profit.
• The moderate season-ticket increase for next season doesn't mean the Sabres plan to dismantle the nucleus of the team. Instead, the player payroll is expected to rise for next season.
The biggest surprise in the new plan may be that season-ticket prices will increase an average of 7.8 percent next season, with almost all the price-level increases under 10 percent.
Each 100 Level Preferred seat, for example, will cost $53 per game, compared with $49 this season. A 300 Level II seat will increase to $23 from $21.
With a totally sold-out building for the season, some outsiders expected a bigger increase.
"If we increased season-ticket prices by 20 percent, I think we still would sell out for next season," Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisano said. "But I think we would be breaking a covenant we made with our fans, and we're not going to do that."
The team that is selling out HSBC Arena for all 41 home games this season will raise season-ticket prices an average of 8 percent next year, a lower figure than some observers had speculated. But for the first two rounds of this year's playoffs, season-ticket holders will pay an average of about one-third more than their season-ticket rate.
Sabres officials also have added an incentive for season-ticket holders renewing early - charging them this year's season-ticket rate for the first round of the playoffs.
In unveiling the plan, Sabres managing partner Larry Quinn and other top Sabres officials also revealed that:
• They don't expect individual playoff tickets to be available to the general public.
• The team likely will come close to breaking even for the regular season. An extended playoff run could lead to a decent operating profit.
• The moderate season-ticket increase for next season doesn't mean the Sabres plan to dismantle the nucleus of the team. Instead, the player payroll is expected to rise for next season.
The biggest surprise in the new plan may be that season-ticket prices will increase an average of 7.8 percent next season, with almost all the price-level increases under 10 percent.
Each 100 Level Preferred seat, for example, will cost $53 per game, compared with $49 this season. A 300 Level II seat will increase to $23 from $21.
With a totally sold-out building for the season, some outsiders expected a bigger increase.
"If we increased season-ticket prices by 20 percent, I think we still would sell out for next season," Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisano said. "But I think we would be breaking a covenant we made with our fans, and we're not going to do that."
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