Sabres Unveil Third Jersey (With Help)
Photo from Steve Ott (via Twitter)
Steve Ott "leaks" photos of new sweater on Twitter
What a strange morning. An apparent Twitter ultimatum from Buffalo Sabres forward Steve Ott resulted in the sudden reveal of the team's long-awaited new third jersey. But seeing how it all played out, you can't help but think it was all a little staged.
It started early this morning when the Sabres seemed to be releasing their latest teaser.
But one look at the image and you knew they were just messing with everyone. It looked like they decided to take the vitriol they'd created and run with it.
They figured if everyone's going to hate the sneak peeks, why not give them a really good reason to hate them?
Then Ott chimed in: "Uncle, This is ridiculous! How about just releasing the jersey???"
To which the Sabres replied: "Hi Steve, we appreciate your excitement for the jersey, but we have a lot more pics to go before we unveil!"
And fans everywhere rolled their eyes.
Then an hour later, Ott tweeted: "HEY GUYS... I GOT it."
He's been known to be interested in this third jersey. We just didn't realize it was because he would be integral to the unveiling.
Shortly after came Ott's ultimatum, saying, "I'm sharing if you don't @BuffaloSabres #FansWantToSeeIt pucks in your rink! Boom. I'll give you 10 minutes."
Following that came another sign the Sabres were just screwing around with everybody. They tweeted: "Steve, thanks again for your interest, but we have the only two jerseys and they're under lock and key. #FortKnox"
Photo from Steve Ott (via Twitter)I know Reebok's prototype process can be slow, but the season starts in a month and they only have two jerseys on hand? Come on.
Then, to Twitter's surprise, Ott made good on his threat! He posted the photo seen at the top of this post. And since it was a photo of him, not taken by him and apparently in the Sabres' locker room, it all became clear. Then he shared a photo of the back. This was an elaborate Twitter unveiling.
Whether they cultivated it from the start or not, the Sabres used the universal hate to their advantage. They created a hero in Ott that fans could rally around. The guy who stood up to the powers that be. I suppose the hope was that the emotional response to Ott's championing of the fans would be tied in some way to the reaction to the jersey design itself.
It wasn't.
I don't think I've seen a single positive comment. But I'll get to that in a moment.
A little while after Ott's revelations, the Sabres tweeted their own cropped versions of Ott's photos. So either they were in on it, or they played off the leak very well. (I think it's the former!)
The Sabres also followed up in response to a fan tweet asking when the jerseys would be going on sale. Given the feedback I've seen so far, I'm surprised anyone would want to buy one. (Unless of course to burn it, hence assuring one less in the world.)
But the reaction hasn't been great so far. I've read dozens of tweets and haven't seen one nice word to describe them. As for me, I think most of you know where I stand on third jerseys.
The widely despised black Islanders jersey wouldn't hang in my closet, but that doesn't mean I'd have anything bad to say about it. I believe alternate jerseys are meant for stepping outside the box. Like the Isles, the Sabres have moved back to retro-inspired primary jerseys. I think they should be able to goof around with their third and try new and different things.
By "goof around," of course, I mean the fact that the front is a different color from the back. Never seen that before in the NHL. I wouldn't want to see anybody make a habit out of it at this point, but it's also not the end of the world. It's unique. I will say the number on the back seems to be a bit large, though. What happens when you get a second digit in there?
Anyway, if/when the Sabres share official photos and a press release with details about the design, I'll write up a full review. Until then, what do you think it? (I think I already know.)
Chris
Photos from Buffalo Sabres
Official photos posted to Sabres' website
A theory that emerged earlier today was that the Sabres were just messing everyone on Twitter. That somehow the photos of Ott didn't show the real jersey. I think we can put that rumor to bed with the fact that the Sabres splashed it all over the main page of their official website today. There was a small photo gallery too.
Screen shot of Sabres' official website
Sorry to have to bum out the naysayers even more, but I'm afraid this little number is the real deal.
Reader Comments (122)
They are absolutely hideous. I'm embarrassed to call myself a Sabres fan.
Just awful. God awful.
It's one thing to think outside the box and fake a "leak" but it's a whole other thing to build up so much frustration and hate and actually think that unveiling this piece of crap can actually assuage the fans and build the brand!
Time to get the band back together and dust off the ol' blog...
Whoever designed this should be fired. Just awful. It looks like someone took scraps from about five different jerseys and cobbled them together into one awful mess. Brutal Buffalo, just brutal.
I do believe there is more to this than we see. The jersey is so terribly made, stitched together like a Frankenstein jersey, with the number and nameplate looking as if they were home made, that i think it is fake. I believe Buffalo is screwing with us and will release and new jersey soon. This is a prank and will actually give us a good jersey.
While the Sharks new sweaters might resemble practice jerseys to some folks, that organization along with the Minnesota Wild organization set the standard at how do an unveiling and got it mostly right with their new threads. I don't know where this Sabres sweater ranks at this moment, but at first glance it's like they called Nashville and said "Hey, you know that third jersey design you had? Can we buy it off of you? Cool great, thanks man."
We all know where their unveiling ranking sits: Somewhere between "For crying out loud just show the sweater already" to "This was exciting three months ago, now it just gives me a headache."
Yes - to those asking about two different shades of yellow - sure looks like it. But something is amiss here. A while back they revealed a photo of the Captains patches that were both over white, I thought that was supposed to be on these third jerseys, so guess I was wrong.
The sweater itself: Makes every jersey in the league look great.
Had they gone with one shade yellow all around and the had a blue shoulder yoke that ran down the length of the sleeves - it would have been a lot better. Second Gray/Silver should only be used with Darker colors.
Oregon Ducks and the Colorado Buffs are have been huge offenders of the Gold and Gray - there are a reason other teams and schools are not using that combination!! Numbers,
Names and crest logo are massively big or appear to be.
Not sure what's going on with the horizontal striping.
Anyway, sorry Sabres fans. You waiting a long long time for this and if this is "real" leak (Which I'm still skeptical) then I'd be really disappointed. Hope some of you Sabres fans like it, but just not doing it for me.
SUFFERING................................
it isn't really all that bad, actually. i mean, the front is kind of odd with the three colors and the white line, but the back i really, really like. the back is clean and cool. it could have been much, much worse. maybe that is why it doesn't look so bad.
All the sudden, the black Islanders 3rd jersey looks really good...in comparison to something worse.
Create-a-jersey mode in NHL 14 come to life, in the worst possible way.
I think it look "okay." It would look best if that weird looking lighter grey tape doesn't abruptly stop on the chest, make the tape merge into the centre like the collar part. I also dislike the darker grey sleeve at the end, it should stay yellow or make it a navy.
THIS NEEDS TO BE A JOKE! TAKE IT BACK! DON'T JUST READ THESE COMMENTS, TAKE ACTION! TAKE THE JERSEYS BACK AND PRETEND THIS NEVER EVER HAPPEND! WE HAD THE SLUG JERSEY, NOW THE "PIECE OF TRASH" JERSEY! AWFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow, that is.....something.
If I try to imagine the worst uniform design possible, my mind goes to a hellish place populated with this sort of mess. It's not the shirt's fault that its scary. It's like a confused and angry baby of a deadly gargoyle family. It means well, but it's lack of self-awareness is terrifying, considering its deadly potential. This would only be acceptable in a one-game match against Anaheim clad in their old flying duckwing uniforms.
How are they going to fit 63 on the back of this jersey?
There is thinking outside the box and then there is taking the box behind the shed and hitting it with an axe. I think they did the latter here.
If they had made the back gold to match the front, then it might have been passable. But the two colours makes no sense. The grey looks extremely dingy compared to the bright gold. And the grey stripe down the arms is just confusing.
actually surprised the NHL allowed a two toned jersey. Is this going to be a home or an away alternate?
Buffalo continues its tradition of coming up with a crappy jersey. They just can't help themselves.
I believe the Raptors did this a few years ago
You know what this is missing?
Front chest numbers. Everything looks better with front chest numbers...
It's all chopped up. I dub thee... "Frankenjersey"!
Where are the shoulder logos from the previews??? I'm going with hoax.
Feels...I'm full of feels... Ummmmmm it's different but not different enough to make me wanna drop the $100 + on it. I'll just stick to my blue and yellow vintage styles
horrible
I'm actually surprised the league would even let the Sabres use these. With different colors on the front and back, it's going to look like there are three teams out there. It's going to be a cluster fck for the officials.
That. Is. Terrible!
It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman It's the Buffalo Sabres' third jersey
Has anyone noticed how HUGE "OTT" is on the back. We're talking three letters -- can't imagine how this would look with a long name. Plus the number looks huge as well. Is that REALLY the font they plan on using? Really makes you wonder at the "professional" departments of some of these teams (Carolina, San Jose, and now Buffalo). How do these guys stay employed?
That is a barf-inducing design (still not as bad as Isles' third). Considering what we just saw coming from the Wild, this is nothing short of garbage. Let's see how many Sabres fans are willing to spend their hard-earned money to wear such crap. There is nothing like poor sales to make an organization deep-six an awful third jersey as soon as the rules permit.
terrible. just terrible.
Buffalo, the one team I wish would have also gone back fully retro. These are awful.
long live
http://store.hockeyhelps.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/LAFP113030.jpg
Craptacular! Your brother's crayon drawings at 8 years old outdo this mess. Haven't seen anything this bad since the trumpet jerseys the Blues tried until Mike Keenan put his foot down. I'm all for trying new things but this is just plain ugly.
Buffalo's new alternate jersey actually reminds me of the two Mighty Duck alternate jerseys that the Ducks wore during the late 90's because of the striping on the arms with no hem stripes as well as the number font. Correct me if I am wrong but isn't the font on the Sabres' new third jersey as well as the shade of grey they used on this practically the same as the two alternate Mighty Duck jerseys from the 90's? Anyway, I think this new jersey looks more like a promo jersey they would give to kids rather than a legitimate third jersey. A Golden Yellow front and a Navy Blue back. Come on Buffalo, I think that is a little too much, for any uniform. I agree that alternates are great for letting teams try something new however, it is always a lot better when a new look is actually done in a way where it actually looks good too, which I don't think this is a good look at all. To be honest, this is actually better than what I thought it would be however, in my case, that isn't anything worth celebrating. After all these months of teasers, a lot of times, their teasers didn't even reveal anything new. That has made this even worse and how about the "BUFFALO" script under the collar. Talk about salt to the wound. By the way, Buffalo has the new jersey on their website so Ott's revealing isn't a joke. Finally, I think Buffalo unveiled it like this as PR damage control. They knew the fans were pissed with all the teasers so they used Ott as the hero to end their ridiculous summer of teasers and to try and get back to a good standing with their fans. I'm sure I am not the only one that's glad this is finally over.
Looking at just the front, it is a sweet jersey, looking at just the back its a sweet jersey, the combination of the two, well im not sure. Being a sabres fan its hard to hate a jersey. (I somehow liked the buffaslug).
When I saw this earlier this morning, I really didn't know what to say. My first thought was somewhere between "wow" and yikes...". I don't know, I guess it didn't live up to the hype for me. One thing I do like is that the Sabres went out there, and I mean wayyyyy out there. They didn't stick to the status-quo of third jerseys. It really is an alternate, a jersey they really experimented with. I appreciate that fact, but I'm still not completely sold on the finished product. Maybe if it didn't have a blue back, if the collar didn't extend all the way down, and the sleeve piping started from the collar instead, maybe then it'd look pretty cool. I'll give it some time and wait to see it on ice. Maybe it'll grow on me. Some of my favorite jerseys happen to be the weird alternates (Tampa's waves and lighting bolts, Coyotes desert landscape, Oilers oil drop, etc), maybe because they're just so different. I'll see how I feel about it as time passes. For now I see it as an attempt that missed the target.
They took 2 months for that. Sabers + Cape Jersey = Zorro
Can't wait for the day I read that Reebok has gone bankrupt and disappeared from the face of the Earth.....
I really hope there is solid reasoning and meaning behind the two tones of yellow, the abrupt silver stripes on the front and backs, the fact that the front basically says "BUFFALO BUFFALO SABRES" , the front and backs being two different colors going to be a nightmare matchup on TV do they wear these against white sweaters??? (how did the NHL approve this) the fact that people are calling it mulletjesrsey and capejersey are probably signs you messed up somewhere... Ever since Pegula took over even their website has been taken over by bad graphic design, he must have hired a niece who spent one year studying graphic design at a community college
insults aside the grey numbers are awesome and thats it
Kill it with fire, Then throw it in a fire. Then burn it.
Whats with the two tone yellow? I honestly was expecting much worse. I dont like the collar or how silver replaced white and i definitely hate the two tones of yellow but besides that i think they can be fixed up a bit and they'd be about 6.5 out of ten
I don't understand how this happened. The drawn out twitter tease seems like a lack of confidence now.
http://imgur.com/sfjFlgX
Not one to normally post a link, but this is a rather humorous idea for everything wrong with the front of the jersey. (nothing for the back though).
Please just bring back the slug... Did I just say that?? Oh no this train wreck of a jersey made me lose my mind!
The irony of the word "Excellence" in the collar perfect.
pretty sure the yellow is not two toned, just an after effect of bad lighting. Both pictures the left side yellow is brighter. Plus the right front sleeve yellow matches the chest yellow
I'll continue to support the Sabres on the ice but I won't be buying one of these when they're available this fall. Who in their right mind would have signed off on this design? At first, I was hoping this was just a prank set up by the team, but I highly doubt it. Same views as a few people who have posted on this, I'd rather see the Slug come back as the 3rd than purchase one of these. And to think some people gave me flak for the gold jersey I made a few years ago..
Just, wow.
I will let Al Pacino represent my thoughts on this jersey (@ the 58 second mark)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S6eUFbOfIU)
I really like the front of the jersey. But I wish the back followed suit instead of having two different colours. Maybe have the shoulder/arm yoke extend down to cover the name like the new Carolina Hurricanes away jersey? Because it does look like they're wearing a cape.
Legitimate contender for ugliest uniform in NHL history. Ewww
Wow. Absolutely awful. Just a Hodge-podge of design disasters all rolled into one hideous mess of a sweater. Did someone actually think this looked good? I don't have a problem with pushing design boundaries but this is ridiculous. There are some interesting things there but they needed to settle on a consistent approach and stick with it throughout. Instead they just mashed up a bunch of different elements and, apparently, called it done. Fail.