Sabres' New Owner Keeping Look

No changes to Sabres uniforms in 2011 / SabresThe Buffalo Sabres will retain their current home, road and alternate uniforms for at least another season, according to the club's new ownership.

This is old news but it deserves a place on the blog for posterity. Sabres blog Die by the Blade recently did a write-up on an online chat between fans and new president Ted Black, speaking on behalf of owner Terry Pegula. Among the topics were two that will please Icethetics readers.

Quoting Die by the Blade's Andy Boron:

• The slug will be taken off the scoreboard, and they team is considering some sort of fun "Slug Appreciation Day" for that event. He did not mention whether this would involve the proposed jersey trade-in/discount program.
• There will be no changes to the primary or third jerseys for next year.

Despite the sweeping uniform changes this season (back to something a little more traditional), the slug has persisted in some places, most notably, the arena. Totally unacceptable, right? Sounds like the new brass will be doing some house cleaning.

And of course, it's great to see that the current uniform set will remain unchanged. As it should be. But don't count out the possibility that the new owner may want to put his stamp on the club with a new third jersey in 2012-13 or beyond.

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Related: A Look Back at the Infamous Buffaslug | Sabres Debut New Uniforms

A Look Back at the Infamous Slug

Taking a quick break from the somewhat fun but tedious work of creating new Jersey Galleries to keep the blog fresh. (By the way, Montreal is up next.)

Today marks the start of a new era for the Buffalo Sabres as a new owner takes the reigns. So you might wonder why I'm using the old logo in this post.

Charlie from Sabres Not Slugs directed me to a discussion last week on the SportsLogos.net forums regarding the genesis of the 2006 uniform and logo. The team's creative services director, Frank Cravotta, posted some early sketches to his online portfolio — which were later removed.

As luck would have it, that doesn't mean they're gone from the Internet at all.

Early sketches of 2006 Sabres logo / Frank CravottaVery cool to see the evolution of a mark that was so despised — and to see it from its earliest stages when it both looked like a bison and incorporated the swords for which the club is named. But the question remains, why were they removed at all? Usually that signals an artist claiming work not his own.

Well, that's not exactly the case here, as explained by Kristopher Bazen, a member of the team involved in the rebranding efforts. He wrote about the process and the harsh condemnations the logo received. 

I have several rounds of work where you can see how the "Buffaslug" took shape, so when I was given a heads up ... and saw the work online, I felt the need to speak up. I spoke to Mr. Cravotta and stated how the postings of some images could be misleading, due to the fact that the re-brand was a collaborative effort, and I thank him for removing those images in such a timely manner.

It's funny, I never really thought I'd be speaking on behalf of this project, especially since they've all but abandoned the mark, but since I'm on the subject, I guess I'll let it rip! The thing that frustrates me the most is a lot of people have no idea of the amount of work that goes into these projects, yet fire off at the mouth (or keyboard) like they are seasoned veterans at this stuff. ...

The truth of the matter is there was months of work that came from our team before this logo was decided upon. It's common for designers to work up a ton of sketches and options to please a client, but when the client has their own idea of how things should look.

Honestly, I'm thankful because I've grown thick skin by reading people's bashings and critiques. I don't believe I'm a bad designer, despite people calling for me (or should I say, "the designer") to be castrated, among other things. Does anyone remember www.fixthelogo.com, an online petition to have the Sabres logo scrapped immediately after the unveiling? I sure as hell do! That sucked because I was a young designer just trying to do my job and service a client, and happy for the opportunity to be able to accomplish a childhood dream.

In the end, I've learned to chalk it up as a learning experience and move on. I am happy to report that since that catastrophe, I've worked on other sports identities and luckily, response has been rather positive. I won't go into detail on that stuff, but I just figured I'd clear the air on that. ... It's all good!

Bazen has it right. As I've learned, you can never please everyone, so you just have to accept that people will shoot their mouths off even over things they know nothing about. But almost everyone is guilty of that at some point, myself included.

So with all the bad-mouthing this logo received during its short tenure, especially on websites like Icethetics, I felt it only fair to present the other side of the story. Consider it presented.

We seem to be a little concept-heavy these days, but I think most of us enjoy seeing the "what-might-have-beens." So continuing on that note, Cravotta had also posted a few of the early designs of the new third jersey the Sabres launched this year. It was also removed.

Early sketches of the 2010 Sabres third jersey / Frank Cravotta

Again, it's fun to see the options that were considered. Personally, I think my favorite of the four is the "Force Uniform" as it incorporates more gold. But they're all very cool. And I like that Cravotta included a picture of the number stitching that was the inspiration for the final design.

Lastly, since this seems to be a tale of two artists, I'll finish with the other one. Bazen's portfolio features a lot of sports branding and identity work, including other NHL teams. Here's a little preview.

NHL identity concepts / Kristopher Bazen

If you want to see more, check out his website.

Sabres Debut New Uniforms!

The Buffalo Sabres introduce new home, road and alternate jerseys today

It's official. Years of work have paid off for the guys at Sabres Not Slugs — a hardcore group of fans on a mission to rid their team of the infamous "Buffaslug" logo, instituted in 2006.

Today, the Buffalo Sabres unveiled new home, road and alternate jerseys for the 2010-11 season — and the old logo is nowhere to be found. In fact, the new sweaters show a shift by the team back to its original identity.

Thomas Vanek #26Where to start... First, the previous third jersey, introduced in 2008, is the new standard home sweater. No surprise, and it's a welcome change as this is a spectacular hockey uniform. Even better, the Sabres will double up on this solid design by wearing a white version for road games.

Some fans have bemoaned the heavy use of navy blue, but let's be honest: this is 2010, not 1980. Bright colors are better in small doses. And that makes the new alternate sweater perfect. The bright colors are a great change of pace and superb tribute to the past.

And BUFFALO across the front, an homage to the town's original pro hockey club, couldn't be better suited. After years of new logos that have failed to catch on with fans, this was exactly the right play for the Sabres. Celebrate the city, its hockey history, and stop trying to reinvent the wheel.

In a single day, one of the NHL's worst-dressed clubs has become one of the best. It's an outstanding set of sweaters. Most teams would be lucky to look this good.

Unique features on the back of the thirdA release on the Sabres website details some interesting facts about new third jersey:

•  The royal blue color of the third jersey reflects the original Sabres jersey that debuted in 1970.
• The “Buffalo” script wordmark was inspired by the old Buffalo Bisons “bottlecap” logo. 
• The choice of an off-white color for the Buffalo script was to give the jersey a vintage feel.
• There are four stripes on the sleeves, socks and around the waist that represent 40 years of Sabres hockey. 
• A commemorative 40th anniversary “1970” logo sits below the Buffalo script. 
• The faux felt numbers have a unique cross stitched pattern in reference to early pro hockey jerseys.

The new third jersey will be worn for 12 home games this season, including its debut on Oct. 9 for the Sabres' season opener when they host the New York Rangers at HSBC Arena. Seems 10/9/10 is going to be the night for retro sweaters in the NHL.

According to the Sabres' website, "the design for both jerseys was a collaborative effort between the Sabres and Reebok International." By the way, they also have a complete photo gallery of today's unveiling for your enjoyment.

Flyers "Unveil" Road Jersey

Richards sports new road jerseyNo one was surprised when the Philadelphia Flyers unveiled their "new" road sweater this afternoon.

Flyers captain Mike Richards was on hand at Virtua Flyers Skate Zone to model the jersey for the cameras and the crowd.

As anticipated, it's the Winter Classic throwback sweater recycled. And it's the third time in as many years that at least one specialty uniform from the big outdoor game went on to be used on a regular basis the following season. Pittsburgh and Chicago each turned theirs into third jerseys.

If you're craving more photos from today's unveiling event in Philadelphia, the Flyers website has you covered.

By the way, today's announcement means the Flyers are the third team to replace both their home and road sweaters since the league-wide Reebok Edge redesign in 2007. The Maple Leafs and Islanders already did so earlier this summer and the Sabres will join that small group tomorrow with their unveiling event.

In case anyone's keeping track.

Sabres tease third, coming tomorrow

Sabres tease new third jerseyThe Buffalo Sabres will officially unveil their new third jersey tomorrow at PuckDrop 2010.

It's also expected the club will take the opportunity to officially introduce last season's third jersey as the new home sweater — along with a brand new white version to be worn on the road.

Both the new alternate and away sweaters were leaked online earlier this month.

Still, the Sabres currently have a small teaser photo on the splash page of their website tonight. Doesn't really do much for us since we've seen the whole thing now, but if nothing else it further confirms the speculation.

If you are interested, the Sabres will be streaming tomorrow's sweater unveiling on their website starting at 11:30 AM eastern. I, for one, will be watching.

Blue Jackets third launches Nov. 26

Just in time for Black Friday, the Columbus Blue Jackets will hit the ice for the first time donning their new alternate jerseys on Friday, Nov. 26 as they go up against the Detroit Red Wings.

These details were confirmed in a posting on the team's website outlining special events and promotions for their 10th anniversary season.

The article does not detail any plans to unveil the sweater or its design prior to the game, so we may just have to wait until November to see the thing. I'll keep you posted.

Until Saturday morning, that's all the third jersey news I have for you. But I have a lot of other Icethetics-related news to catch up on all weekend, so keep checking back.

Sabres Jerseys Now Leaked

Sabres third jersey leakedSo this is funny. Just hours after I debunked a fake leak, the real thing is here — with 11 days until the unveiling.

Seems someone secretly snapped photos of the Buffalo Sabres' new road and alternate jerseys.

The three photos in this post are making the rounds. And while these images are new to me, I have seen the Sabres' new sweaters and this, in fact, what they look like. And if these are fake, someone has gone to a lot of trouble to mislead us. A lot.

Sabres third jersey leakedThe royal blue third jersey you should find as described in the September edition of JerseyWatch 2010, right down to the strange striping.

While the script across the chest was almost certainly inspired by that of the old Buffalo Bisons, careful observers will note that it is actually different — perhaps a simple modernization?

You'll also note the 40th anniversary logo beneath the script mark — the classic Sabres logo with 19 and 70 inside the blue circle. That leaves the door wide open for the Sabres to keep this jersey in their arsenal for years to come.

Sabres new road jersey leakedThe new road jersey also started making the rounds today. It is, as stated, a white version of the new home sweater — formerly the alternate uniform. And as some have asked, it does appear that the "silver armpits" and piping will carry over.

It also appears that neither sweater will have a shoulder patch. And neither these pictures nor the ones I saw had numbers on the jerseys which means will still don't know how they will be placed, especially on the third.

Before I wrap this up, it's important to point out that while I mistakenly used the word "confirmed" on Twitter earlier today, nothing is confirmed or official until the team makes an announcement. There's my disclaimer.

As always, check back here for jersey updates as the season gets under way.