The Alumni Plaza outside of First Niagara Center is going to be growing sooner than you might think.

As of Thursday, discussions about the next statue for the plaza were ongoing, and the organization is coming closer to deciding on the next man to be immortalized in Bronze next to the French Connection.

The final decision, Sabres President Ted Black told Queen City Sports on Thursday, isn’t too far off, and fans should expect an announcement on it sooner rather than later, likely within the next six to ten months. Unfortunately, Black wouldn’t divulge too much into who was being discussed as possible choices. He did say that it was the “usual suspects” of Dominik Hasek, Pat LaFontaine, and Alexander Mogilny, among others, being talked about.

The current plan is to have a new statue erected every other year, and turn the plaza into a memorial park like the one in St. Louis next to the Scottrade Center. However, plans may change on just how often they want to have a new one created. Black said that the timing has to be right for them to have the most meaning.

One plan that Black is nearly certain of happening in the near future is a jersey retirement ceremony.

It’s been long expected, but it seems that the 2013-2014 season will finally see the number of Dominik Hasek  officially retired by the organization. Since he was traded in 2001, no one has worn the number 39 jersey made famous by the all-time great goaltender.

Black said that the team still needs to find out if the 48-year old Hasek has filed the proper retirement papers, but once they get the notice that he has, the process will really begin on the plans for the ceremony.

When asked if there is a possibility of a Hasek statue unveiling on the same night as a jersey retirement, Black, with a grin, simply said, “We’ll see.”