Things got a bit ugly sweater-wise in Buffalo for a long time. Now with Terry Pegula in charge and owning the team, the Sabres throwback look is as apropos as it gets. Pegula-mania didn’t just save the Sabres from failure, it also saved everyone from seeing things get a bit too modernized with how the Sabres look on the ice.
Best: When the Sabres came to be in 1970, they arrived on the scene with a logo that became legendary in Buffalo and around the NHL for hockey fans all over. With the round logo with a charging buffalo and crisscrossing swords (sabers if you will) and a set of home and road jerseys that were perfect, it was the home whites from the mid-80s until the mid-90s that grabbed your attention the most.
With the blue and gold shoulder yoke with the Sabres logo on the shoulders on top of the big logo on the front, when you saw the Sabres at home, it was a thing of beauty, especially with Pat Lafontaine and Alexander Mogilny doing their thing. No offense to the French Connection line of the 70s, of course.
Worst: If you didn’t think I was going to use this to pick on the “Buffaslug” uniforms that came about after the 2004-2005 lockout, you’re crazy. Buffalo wanted to get back to wearing blue and gold again after their era of going red and black with the “snarling goat” buffalo head logo but wanted to do so with a modern design. Bad move.
The Sabres new logo was too silly and really easy to make fun of. The “Buffaslug” was born and while it looked more like a hairpiece for Barney Rubble, the uniforms were equally stupidly designed with waves of color streaking through it and the number on the upper front right side of the jersey. Call it what you will, but most of all it was a comedy of errors that stuck around for just four seasons before they went full on for the modernized throwback look thanks to massive outrage from the fans in Buffalo and across the league.
Dark Ages: The Sabres were another team to go all in on changing to black and while they saw their biggest success with the black and red re-design from 1996-2006 ultimately making the Stanley Cup finals in 1999 on the back of Dominik Hasek, it was a design that never really felt right. Sure selling merch in black and red was good for a short while in the 1990s, it was a look that never really fit the team. Sometimes following fashion trends isn’t the greatest idea around.
Assessment: The Sabres modernized throwbacks to their original look was a pleasant relief after the Buffaslug years. There’s nothing to really get worked up about with their new duds. Sure the number on the front of the jersey still looks awkward and the gray patches underneath the arms make it look like the players have a major sweating problem, but the overall look of the team is perfect.
The old logo with added gray highlights elsewhere on an old style yet modern jersey looks fantastic. With Terry Pegula owning the team now, the turn-back-the-clock style makes even more sense now as he’s perhaps the biggest Sabres fan around. Things work out for a reason sometimes.
