Evolution of the current Buffalo Sabres identity.

[DC in Da House w/o a Doubt]

The best look the Sabres have had...

Classic usually beats new age looks, but not in this case. The black and red pwn the blue and yellow.

Your use of the meme-term "pwn" undercuts whatever point you may have had.

I would have thought his username already accomplished that.

Classic usually beats new age looks, but not in this case. The black and red [looks significantly better than] the blue and yellow.*

There.

[andrewharrington]

Correct if ultimately irrelevant (and I mean that in the nicest possible way). A team's visual history has to be considered when evaluating a uniform.

No, it doesn't.

Yes, it does. Think about it. In a strange, H.G. Wells/space-time continuum sort of way, without that history, the team as we know it today could not have existed. Thus, the history is the most important part of every team's identity.

[FGWB]

Sure those uniforms aren't the worst thing ever created, but for the Sabres it didn't work at all. That's my issue opinion.

I fix 4 u

[capn89]

Sure those uniforms aren't the worst thing ever created, but for the Sabres it didn't work at all. That's my issue opinion.

I fix 4 u

China Eeen, wah you wahn!?

[Morgan33]

They did rip off their colors

Sure they did... just like Rangers ripped of the Canadiens colours, just like the Whalers ripped off the Canucks original colours and most importantly just like the Sabres ripped of the Blues colours.

Especially considering their identity was fine to begin with.

No it looked awful... still does.

Personally, I believe that for branding and identity purposes a sports league should make sure that none of it's teams have the same color combination at all.

Then the Sabres are forbidden to wear Blue and Gold cause St Louis used those colours first (not to mention with far better results).

They may have used a bit of slate, but not nearly as much as they used black and red.

Are you looking at the same jerseys I am? Black is the primary colour of those jerseys while White, Red and Slate are used almost equally with the exception of the logo which features more slate and white than red.

Since then the Carolina Hurricanes went with nearly the same color combination as the Devils/Sabres did, and finally the Ottawa Senators have slowly but surely pushed gold out of their identity as well.

Yes the Hurricanes ripped off the Sabres 1996 scheme a year later. Sabres were the first team to use the combo though. Red and Black had never been used with silver before. As for the Senators, they use just much Gold in their current uniforms as they always have.

[tBBP]

I'm sure y'all understand why red and black makes perfect sense for the Carolina Hurricanes, right?

[IceCap]

I'm sure y'all understand why red and black makes perfect sense for the Carolina Hurricanes, right?

Indeed.

It doesn't, however, make sense for the Buffalo Sabres.

[habsfan1]

When it comes to the Sabres red and black look, did they try to preserve traditional elements from Sabres history? Almost not at all. Was the look butt ugly? Hell no.

Despite not being traditional, it was a great look. The crest was beautiful and so were the uniforms.

[IceCap]

If the Sabres were a 1996 expansion team it would have been a great look. For a team with 26 previous years in blue and gold, not so much.

[Morgan33]

When it comes to the Sabres red and black look, did they try to preserve traditional elements from Sabres history? Almost not at all. Was the look butt ugly? Hell no.

Despite not being traditional, it was a great look. The crest was beautiful and so were the uniforms.

Understatement...

[IceCap]

Why do people love that logo? You look at the classic logo and it says, without having to use a single letter, "Buffalo Sabres." There's no other team that could be a logo for.

The goat head logo could be for any generic Buffalo or bison themed team. The use of colours that previously had no connection to the Sabres made things worse.

Plus the logo has few strikes against it. 90s snarling animal? Check. Tired, overused colour scheme? Check. Unnecessary shading and highlights? Check.

[Morgan33]

Why do people love that logo?

Because unlike the original logo it looks spectacular on the jerseys. How anybody could look at the embroidered versions of those two logos and say the Original is better is completely beyond my comprehension. The Sabres Red and Black logo is a skillfully rendered work of art.

You look at the classic logo and it says, without having to use a single letter, "Buffalo Sabres."

So what? If logos were meant to be taken that literally, the Canadiens would be represented by a Beret wearing frenchmen holding a Croissant. Fact is the logo is a poorly rendered mess of static shapes bunched together in circle. Theres no depth to the any of these shapes and the motion lines are moronic like the composition itself (why would a Buffalo be floating arbitrarily above two swords?).

Plus the logo has few strikes against it. 90s snarling animal? Check. Tired, overused colour scheme? Check. Unnecessary shading and highlights? Check.

So what if the Buffalo is snarling? That automatically makes it bad? Looking intimidating is better than it looking like a non-descript, docile blob. The colours weren't tired or overused either. They were the first NHL team to use Red Black and White with the addition of Silver. That hadn't been done before, Blue and Gold had (St Louis). Lastly I don't see how any of the highlights are unnecessary. They add something the original logo doesn't have, dimension.

Sorry to trash the Sabres logo with such vitriol but it just irks me to no end how something as poorly done as the original can get universal praise while a skillfully done logo like the 96 one is dismissed instantly because Retro is in and anything 90's is bad.

[JQK]

Morgo is insane. There is not one point that you just made that i can agree with.

The original really isn't poorly done. I don't understand why that keeps getting said. It is a simple, well-executed sports logo.

Also, i hate that 90's logo. If something is well-done, it should be mentioned as being "That great buffalo logo", not as "The Goathead".

...just saying.

[deliver2david]

When it comes to the Sabres red and black look, did they try to preserve traditional elements from Sabres history? Almost not at all. Was the look butt ugly? Hell no.

Despite not being traditional, it was a great look. The crest was beautiful and so were the uniforms.

Understatement...

I don't love it but I never really realized there was a "B" hidden on the left side (from our view) in the negative space.

[Drakonius26]

They did rip off their colors

Sure they did... just like Rangers ripped of the Canadiens colours, just like the Whalers ripped off the Canucks original colours and most importantly just like the Sabres ripped of the Blues colours.

Especially considering their identity was fine to begin with.

No it looked awful... still does.

Personally, I believe that for branding and identity purposes a sports league should make sure that none of it's teams have the same color combination at all.

Then the Sabres are forbidden to wear Blue and Gold cause St Louis used those colours first (not to mention with far better results).

They may have used a bit of slate, but not nearly as much as they used black and red.

Are you looking at the same jerseys I am? Black is the primary colour of those jerseys while White, Red and Slate are used almost equally with the exception of the logo which features more slate and white than red.

Since then the Carolina Hurricanes went with nearly the same color combination as the Devils/Sabres did, and finally the Ottawa Senators have slowly but surely pushed gold out of their identity as well.

Yes the Hurricanes ripped off the Sabres 1996 scheme a year later. Sabres were the first team to use the combo though. Red and Black had never been used with silver before. As for the Senators, they use just much Gold in their current uniforms as they always have.

In terms of answering both the first and third line you quoted... yes, I would like to see all 30 NHL teams in different, but relatively related colors to their respective identities. But the NHL has been around for nearly a century, as the NHL, so it would be impossible to force all of the teams to change now. However, if you were founding a new league, or let's say doing a concept of your own fictional league, then yes, every team should be different.

Secondly, I'd like you to truly describe in detail why you think it sucks to us, and not just spout out a one-liner stating "it sucks, that is all..."

Third, I am looking at the same jerseys you are, and the slate isn't a dominant color on the jersey, other than the thin collar, very end of the sleeves (covered almost entirely by the gloves), as well as side panels, it's not featured heavily on the jersey. The logo has some slate to it, but when you see the jersey font, and the lack of slate in it, it almost seems have the color was forced onto the jersey for the sake of having not be a total rip-off of the Devils. Just because you have a color on your logo, doesn't mean it has to be forced onto your uniform without the proper implementation.

Finally, I can tell from looking at your signature you clearly love that jersey and that's cool, since I personally love the Buffaslug jersey, and it's not that popular by any means. However, that doesn't mean that I think that identity suits the Sabres overall.

[IceCap]

Sorry to trash the Sabres logo with such vitriol but it just irks me to no end how something as poorly done as the original can get universal praise while a skillfully done logo like the 96 one is dismissed instantly because Retro is in and anything 90's is bad.

You don't understand why this happens? As McCarthy's sig points out, uniform and logo opinion is subjective. In this case more people happen to like the classic logo then the 90s logo. Of course this is all subjective.

Here's the thing though. You're in the minority here. Like most subjective fields, like movies, music, and the like, when you're a fan of something most other people don't care for you have to accept that you are the minority. The guy who likes Meet the Spartans needs to accept that most people dislike it for legitimate reasons.

Same thing here. You may like the 90s logo, and that's fine. No one's saying you can't. You just need to accept that you're in the minority in that regard. We don't like the classic logo because we're mindless sheeple who love all things retro. We don't hate the goat head because we hate all things 90s. We like one and dislike one for a variety of legitimate reasons.

[BBTV]

There are plenty who are "mindless sheeple[sic] who love all things retro" and "hate all things 90s". Not saying you specifically, but there are many around here.

[IceCap]

There are plenty who are "mindless sheeple[sic] who love all things retro" and "hate all things 90s". Not saying you specifically, but there are many around here.

Yes, there are.

Liking one retro logo and disliking one 90s logo does not make someone one of those people though. Mongo's whole "you just like it because retro is in" is an attempt to deflect the discussion. He is, for whatever reason, unable to accept the fact that most people have formed a different opinion then he has regarding the Sabres and their logos.

[Lights Out]

I was just about to say the same thing as BBTV. I'd say many of the traditionalists here do it to be obstinate and make a show of how "classy" and "above it all" they are or whatever.

I also feel like too many people get blinded by nostalgia and therefore can't objectively judge logos from the past compared to present logos. Case in point - the "iconic" Sabres logo. I'd estimate that if everyone took the nostalgia-blinders off for a second, most would call that logo a poorly-drawn mess. But since there seem to be a lot of Sabres fans on here with fond memories of the team with that logo, that probably explains the love for it on here.

[IceCap]

I was just about to say the same thing as BBTV. I'd say many of the traditionalists here do it to be obstinate and make a show of how "classy" they are or whatever.

As long as we're making broad generalizations about people with different opinions....

I'd say that many of the people who like newer looks do it just out of some sort of contrainian obsession.