0355: Sabres or Swords?

This one is sort of a mix of old and new. Matt Marczel says he "was inspired by the old Cinncinati Swords of the AHL during the '70s" for this concept. Their classic look would still work today. But then so would Buffalo's original jerseys from the 1970s. If only they could lose all the extraneous silver piping and fix the blue.

For reference, here's a look at the old Swords jersey.

0144: Sabres Re-Bourne

Andrew Bourne's recurring series marks another installment here with the Buffalo Sabres. I'll admit, even I'm a bit skeptical on this one, but I'm curious to see the feedback it gets.

Although my reasoning for The 305cHL Buffalo color scheme might be laughable, at least I have a reason. I decided to ditch the blue and yellow from Buffalo because there is a blue epidemic in the NHL right now: teams with no blue in their color scheme are finding ways to use it in their 3rd jersey. So, one less blue team certainly wouldn't hurt. I believe that the team was onto something during their 'red and black era'. They looked intimidating. What I didn't like was the brightness of the red with the high contrast of the black.

I kept the bright red as a very small accent color and brought in a burgundy to replace the black. The change from yellow to light gold was to hint at the sabre and gives a regal element to the design. Finally, the laughable part: Buffalo can never escape from what they are known for. Yep, that's right, Buffalo Wings. No, I didn't want this team to literally be a buffalo wing with orange, red and brown swirls of color, but I did keep in mind that this is what Buffalo is known for. So, I kept the colors warm (red and gold) and tried to hint - if only slightly - to the big Buffalo claim-to-fame... Laugh now or forever hold your peace.

0102: Sabres with Swords

One of the gripes I hear a lot is about how the Buffalo Sabres logos tend to feature the animal for which the city is named as opposed to the weapon for which the club is. Jake Bartal's concept deals with that issue pretty well. But then I've never minded the Buffalo sports franchises allowing the symbol of their city to represent them. What's your take?

0083: Blending Buffalo's Brands

Ross Taylor continues to surprise week after week with his Freak Out Friday series. Just when you thought there are no more teams left to do, he finds another. This time it's the Buffalo Sabres, who've endured more than their share of identity issues over the last 42 years. But with this set, Ross is ignoring the Buffaslug years. Pretending that era never happened.

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One of Ross's earliest creations was also his most popular. Readers had a lot of love for his Colorado Rockalanche concept (a mix between the Avs and Rockies) back in March, so he decided to put the full uniforms on display.

Update on Tuesday · May 15 · 2012 | 11:01 AM PDT by Chris

Ross read your comments and made some changes, most notably with the addition of some yellow striping.

0031: That Which Will Never Be

A few days ago, we learned the Buffalo Sabres retired their third jersey and have no plans to rejoin that club for the foreseeable future. Apparently, the new owner wants to build the brand and the best way to do so is by foregoing extraneous jerseys. However, before all that, there were rumors of the Sabres potentially swapping their royal blue alternate sweater for a black one. Mat Ware demonstrates what such a jersey might've looked like. With the Sabres' new owner so intent on establishing a brand with staying power, we can probably count on never seeing anything like this for real — at least while he's at the helm.

0012: Buffalo's Third Jersey Inversion

Word on the street is the Buffalo Sabres' royal blue third jersey isn't long for this world. The team is expected to dump it at the end of this season. That's too bad because if they ever wanted to make it their home sweater, Tex Fischer has designed the perfect complement for the road. (Oh, and my apologies to Tex for the delay in getting his work on the site.)