Lightning: Lightning not the only beneficiary of playoffs

When you sit at one of the six front-row tables at the NHL draft, it means your team was one of the six worst in the league that season. The next six are in the second row. The elite six sit in the back.

Feaster has sat in the front row every year he has been with Tampa Bay.

"It's one of these things when you're sitting there and everybody has to go past you to get a drink, to go to the restroom or whatever they're doing," said Feaster, who joined the Lightning in October 1998 as assistant GM. "It's nice to see everybody, but it's frustrating after a while that you are always in the front row."

It appears Feaster is about to break that streak. And if the Lightning is one of 16 postseason teams, the worst he will do is a seat in the third row. It's all good when you make the playoffs.

With every play and mistake magnified, players learn quickly to perform under pressure. Players often bond more firmly. And if they don't win the Stanley Cup, their appetite for it becomes stronger.

The organization gets richer, not just financially but in stature. No doubt president Ron Campbell and CEO Tom Wilson will have their chests out a little farther at board of governors meetings, as will Feaster at GM meetings.

Bigger crowds at the St. Pete Times Forum mean nearby businesses, especially the bars and restaurants, will increase revenue. Lightning flags will wave from car windows. People who don't know a blue line from a line change will jump on the bandwagon and maybe paint their faces.

"The playoffs," said Lightning defenseman Brad Lukowich, "are an amazing time."

Twelve Tampa Bay players have NHL playoff experience. Players without it asked them to describe the flavor. Center Tim Taylor, who has been in 44 playoff games and won a Stanley Cup in 1997 with the Red Wings, said the playoffs can be a transforming time, especially for young teams like the Lightning, which has 10 players in their first playoff race.

"I don't think you've ever played in the NHL until you play in a playoff game," he said. "When you're on the road, you have a suite and everyone watches the games the night before. You talk up there. You put a little pressure on each other, but it's pressure you're happy to take upon yourself because you're trying to win for the other guys. There's nothing like it."

And you want that experience again.

"You get that taste," said Lukowich, who helped the Stars to the 1999 Cup. "Once you get that, it's like a dog when it tastes blood. You'd better put him down because he's going to do whatever he can to get it again."

"It matures you," coach John Tortorella said. "It makes you understand some of the arrogance these teams have when they're in it year after year. It's very important."

As is playoff money.

Campbell estimated the Lightning could clear $1-million per round. Considering owner Palace Sports & Entertainment claims it will lose between $10-million and $15-million this season, the extra cash won't hurt.

Give the organization credit for not gouging fans who have shelled out a lot to watch a lot of bad hockey since Tampa Bay's last, and only, playoff appearance in 1996. Ticket prices are up 10 percent for the first round of the playoffs, 20 percent for the second.

The real payoff comes next season with higher ticket prices, fewer giveaways, fewer discounts and better sponsorship and marketing deals.

"Getting to the playoff helps build the whole product," Campbell said. "You're building a fan base. You're building hope. You're building emotions so that they will be more likely to buy season tickets next year and get involved with the team."

Which puts the onus on the organization.

Campbell said he anticipates payroll increasing from $28.1-million to about $33-million next season to keep the team's core intact. Adding new players could increase it more, though it still will be a lot less than this season's league average of $42-million.

Why would ownership, which always has doubleknotted its purse strings, kick in a little more? Because in the battle for relevance inherent in any nontraditional market, the Lightning cannot afford to backtrack as the Hurricanes did this season or as Tampa Bay did after 1996-97. The team missed the playoffs by three points that season. By the next, with ownership desperate to cut costs as it tried to sell, the Lightning was abysmal, and attendance fell to an average of 13,867.

"People felt betrayed," Campbell said. "It almost damages the franchise more when you have that one-hit wonder. It's like having a girlfriend you're starting to fall in love with, and then she's gone. It's like, 'I don't want to fall in love again.' "

Please, say business owners around the Times Forum, fall in love again.

Jack Newkirk, co-owner of Newk's, a restaurant and bar across the street, remembers well the 1996-97 playoff race in the Lightning's first season at the arena.

"There were twice as many people here," Newkirk said. "So if we gauge getting to the playoffs by what almost happened, I would expect our business would be up 25 percent."

Ray Krause, general manager of The Outpost, and Ian Porter, general manager of Beef O'Brady's, also across the street, said business would double.

"We're all talking about that," Krause said. "The volume of people will be high, and the excitement and exuberance of the people will be high. Win or lose, we'll have fans who have lost crying the blues and fans who have won wanting to celebrate."

And players reveling in the scene.

"You're listening to the radio and it's the classical channel giving you props," said Lukowich, recalling his time with the Stars. "Everybody jumps on board. People don't realize how much fun it can be."

"It's the thrill that we all have a chance to win," said captain Dave Andreychuk, a veteran of 128 playoff games. "That's why we all play the game, for the competition, and that's the best it gets."

Who wouldn't want a front-row seat?