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)
honestly I dont mind it- if these were their primaries it would be a sad day for buffalo fans. But since it isn't I dont hate it, personally I dislike the retro (plus more stripes and pit stains) ones more that this. Those make poor primaries but to me this is a decent third. It's just a crazy third jersey, a bunch of teams have went a little crazy on a third at some point and I honestly think the only fail it that hideous black Isles one (ok a lot are hideous but they are kinda cool when you look back). I like when teams have classic primary jerseys but get more creative with the third, isn't that partially why it's there? Overall, I'm ok with them wearing these a couple times a year for a couple years but please don't let the thought of making this the primary cross anyone's mind.
The only good thing about this sweater is they took the number off the front. Numbers on the front remind me of football jerseys, not something for hockey.
I can't believe this is real.
It's hideous. My wife said, "It looks like a shirt that kids wear when they're riding dirt bikes over those big dirt jumps."
Couldn't have said it better myself. A motocross jersey.
My first impression.....I am not a fan. I know all of us who visit this blog are a little "geeky" but I have seen some of the best concepts on this site. I have been collecting authentic NHL jerseys since college (20 years ) and I have always been a huge fan of design and architecture. I own around 40 jerseys and I have a very open mind when it comes to designs outside the box; I love the original Thrashers blue/red away "T" jersey and their original 3rd powder-blue "Atlanta" on the sleeve jerseys, I also like the Islanders wave jersey when they removed the fisherman and put the old "circle" logo back on. I am a huge fan of the original Coyotes kit and I still love the Nordiques sweaters......but all that being said, these are not good. I am not sure if it is out of arrogance or what, but owners / team marketing execs, should visit this site and at least take in some of the great concepts that will spark brand identity while fulfilling fan base loyalty. This Summer: Minnesota A, Dallas A, San Jose B-, Carolina C-, Buffalo F. Can't wait to see what my 'Hawks are going to come up with for the Classic.
Also, did anyone consider that when a Sabres player is passing to someone's backhand, he'll be staring at a blue sweater. A forehand pass goes to a yellow sweater. Only mildly confusing on the power play...
It's not that bad. It's a THIRD. They choose to experiment. Isles and Avs still have uglier 3rd jerseys.
Looks like a Jersey for a Ball hockey team.. brutal
Pretty ugly. The grey does not go, too much blue, and it looks like a jersey my son would wear in his roller hockey league.
A lot of detractors are trashing the two-toned elements. The Blue and Yellow parts of this jersey are the ones that work for me, it's the white and gray that I think fail. The white stripes that start and end at random places look tacked on, and the gray blocks muddle and otherwise colorful jersey. I think the blue is dark enough and the yellow light enough that there didn't need to be random white stripes where they met...
And as I look at it...are the tapered white stripes supposed to look like...Sabres?
Might make it tough on the players to spot each other out there. They will have to look for two colours instead of one. I wonder if the socks will be yellow in the front and blue in the back? :)
Thank you Buffalo for taking the baton of worst redesign away from the Sharks! And also drawing it out for over a month too for this mehtacular design only aggregates this transgression. Yay!
Im at a loss for words. I had such high hopes for this jersey and then with all the stupid 'sneak peeks' I was expecting to be blown away but man, they missed the mark BIG time here. This is horrendous. Worse than the slug jerseys (which I actually like the jersey design, just not the logo). Honestly I feel like its a big disrespectful to that logo to put it on there. No hockey jersey should be 2 toned like that (technically 3 if you count the 2 different shades of yellow which makes no sense). It looks so bad. Im with the group that's hoping this is all a rouse to get a response from the fans and then they'll show us the real thing but im not to confident in that. well at least our home/away are nice...
If I had to pick one thing that I like about this jersey it would have to be: the logo. Everything else about this jersey is horrible (the yellow is cool though).
This jersey is poop. Yep , poop.
It's a third jersey so I understand that experimentation is key with these kinds of jerseys so I don't mind them messing with unconventional designs. However I just don't understand why there's so much grey on the sleeves; it just doesn't seem to fit well to me. The yellow's fine, but overall it looks like a Preds jersey more than a Sabres jersey.
Buffalo above the crest is severly out of place and unnecessary. It's to busy for me. Not a fan of crazy third jerseys or crazy uniforms altogether. As a Sabres fan I'm a bit disappointed. This makes the slug look awesome! Should of kept it simple. A yellow version of their home/road jerseys would of been much better with a added shoulder patch and blue shoulders. Well that's what us Sabres fans were hoping for at least.
If I could pick one good thing about the jersey besides the logo. hmmm? hmmm? At least it isn't pink!
A few thoughts:
1) It really does seem like there is, somewhere, a contractual obligation that requires the NHL to ensure that at least ONE franchise must field a brutal jersey design each year. Just as one or two teams finally get their uniforms "right", some other team releases something unbelievably bad. It might be part of some twisted marketing plan to "starve" a particular market, and once the look is "fixed", revenues then surge. (Not sure why the fans in Buffalo and Long Island would be subject to such extended exploitation, though.) "A fine line between clever and stupid." (Spinal Tap)
2) From a color theory website: "Yellow is the most fatiguing color. Why? The answer comes from the physics of light and optics. More light is reflected by bright colors, resulting in excessive stimulation of the eyes. Therefore, yellow is an eye irritant." I've never been a fan of yellow as a primary jersey color in hockey. Painful.
3) As already mentioned, this could be a bogus, over-the-top parody... a team poking fun at the new trend of teaser image posts that now lead to an eventual unveiling.
brutal.
and after such a nice redesign 3 years ago.
The only, and I mean ONLY saving grace to this design is the horizantal striping pattern on the sides. They sort of of pay tribute to the late 90's black red and white uniform sets. That's hardly a saving grace, just an observation really. Kind of surprised nobody pointed that out yet.
But yeah, just terrible. What were these people thinking?
As a Sabres fan i get more and more tired of someone in the offices thinking "Hey lets try to do something new to get more sales but not listen to what the fans would like." I mean They are the Buffalo SABRES! If you want a 3rd jersey why not do something completely different that would focus on the team name not where they play.
Does anyone remember the Black and Red days with the Red third jersey? I mean that was different but it focus on what the teams name is. To be honest that had to be one of my favorite jerseys because it was out of the box and did not relate much to the others. Why couldn't they do something like that with the Blue and Gold? I think it would have worked well but what do I know. I am just a die hard fan who pours money into going to the games and doesn't see anything in return when it comes to a product on the ice or even a simple thing like a nice looking jersey so our team doesn't look like a joke.