Doug MacLean will get the bulk of the attention as the sale of the Lightning goes forward because he will have his hands in the one-ice product. But the member of the ownership group to really watch is Jeff Sherrin. The Coral Springs resident and South Florida native is the real estate guy, and the Lightning as a commodity has been tied up in real estate since it was bought by Palace Sports & Entertainment in the summer of 1999.

You all remember that first press conference, right? Owner Bill Davidson was honest that he wanted the building more than the team. But he also wanted the land around the St. Pete Times Forum that was to be developed and the real way the company was going to make money. But things changed during Davidson's stewardship as two of his partners in the transaction, both of whom were real estate point men, died within a short time of each other. That, Lightning executives said when I reported on this several years ago , dampened Davidson's passion for developing the land.

Enter Sherrin, a big-time developer who is poised (if the NHL Board of Governors approves the sale of the team to Absolute Hockey Enterprises) to have 5.5 acres of prime land to develop around the Times Forum. Sherrin said he has no plans yet as to how the land will be developed. But you can bet there will be plans, and probably sooner rather than later.

Who knows what the fortunes of this new ownership group will be. Perhaps it is destined the lose money at the same rate as Palace Sports claims it did. But for sure, the odds will be a lot better if Sherrin, who, by the way, made a play for the Ducks during the lockout, can get those parcels developed.