Sabres To Unveil Jerseys Today!

[SDS]

Name and number to be suggested later.

 

Zima Lover

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[Corp000085]

 

Zima Lover

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I prefer The Beast

[Ramius]

By the way, has anyone seen these sleek looking things Reebok hopes to make the uniforms into? I, a while back, looked into this and saw they were going to use them in a Las Vegas minor league game at some point but never saw any photos or information on it at all. What I did read was that it was going to show off players physiques to some extent and be form-fitting somehow, possibly with the equipment built in. For tradionalists, this is going to be tough to swallow.

 

I did make an image I thought might illustrate how this could possibly look:

My concept of Reebok's concept

 

The only way I could see "form-fitting" and "showing off physique" was to put the equipment on the outside, though I still think that keeps it from looking sleek or showing off anything. Bear in mind this illustration is far from accurate in almost every respect, but shows the only way I could see them coming close to accomplishing what they claimed to be attempting.

 

That said, maybe the slug would have a place on this type of thing. Could also explain LQ's remarks about having something no other team has: multiply placed main logos. Perhaps numbers on front and back like football with crests on shoulders and thighs...dunno.

 

Those of you traditionalists like myself that think this is a huge mistake, take heart: Philly wore those ridiculous long pants for two seasons...

 

Please dont let the NHL switch to those God-awful fugly vertically striped socks.

[PTS]

Well, i now officially have somewhere to spend some hard earned entertainment $$... I'll be getting myself a brand new blue and gold jersey. Name and number to be suggested later.

Can't go wrong with #11. That's what I'm gonna do. You don't have to worry about that #11 being traded away!

[LabattBlue]

Hey Quinny, what about this...

 

 

Since the logo has been compared to a toupee, what about painting the entire helmet with the logo and you can claim these are truly throwbacks to the days when players didn't wear helmets! :lol:

 

Have I already said that the new logo SUCKS! :P

[PASabreFan]

As far as the logo looking different or better on the final uniform itself, I am reminded of the late great Johnnie Cochran's closing arguments before the OJ Simpson jury. Responding to the prosecution's suggestion that OJ had worn a black knit cap to disguise himself on the night of the murder, Cochran put on a black knit cap and said to the jury, "Now, I'm still Johnnie Cochran, aren't I?" All of the visual distractions might help the logo's cause a bit, but it's still a slug. (Caught Channel 7's sportscast tonight and Ginger Geoffrey mentioned that some fans are calling the logo a slug, bringing a huge snort from Susan Banks.)

 

One more time, I don't understand the "wait and see" argument. We have seen that the slug has been trademarked. That's the logo. We don't like it a web page, and we won't like it on a T-shirt, a mug, a poster or at center ice.

 

The arrogance of Larry Quinn is something to behold. "I hope they end up with 30,000 signatures," he said of the petition. Kind of sounds like George Bush egging on the insurgents in Iraq with his "bring it on" comment. LQ should be careful what he wishes for.

 

Oh well, in the end, all the fans can do now is reject the slug and buy the throwback. I will admit something. I have never owned a "sweater" in my entire life. Just about everything else with a Sabre logo on it, yes. But I will get a sweater with the original logo. Hey... what if this was LQ's plan all along? Paging Dave B, conspiracy theorist.

[Bmwolf21]

LQ now on Shred and Regan, typing fast....

 

1. using original logo 15 home games, we knew this, for third jersey, permanent part of uniform.

 

2. the slug/combover is the logo. LQ laughed at this. he thinks people have so much passion good and bad (lately bad) for the sabres...doesn't think you can look at a logo (which was revealed in the worst possible way, claimed hacking), missing word marks, secondary marks, it will be a completely different view of the logo, he thinks people will like it.

 

3. slug is primary mark, NOTHING WILL BE ADDED TO THE PRIMARY CREST. logo is used on the pants as well, secondary mark includes the sabre (the B i presume).

 

7. LQ likes the slug nickname, he has had a laugh out of it, felt it was important to come out with it today, people were questioning the integrity of the organization. he wanted to put an end to it.

 

8. he says they have NO product yet, not until early september.

 

9. this process has been a long one. logoondemand is the website where distributors can log in and get the logo. logo on demand page was an OLD one...it was an EARLY version that was leaked. It doesn't have all of the markings. He claims this website was hacked...

 

11. briere: doable? not long term LQ says. long term, how do you pay somebody that kind of money? they believe in team approach, that is why they won't have salaries go nuts. he gave Tampa Bay having 3 players at 22 mil as an example

 

12. cap was articifically set at 39 mil cuz no one would realize how attendance would be in the league, they actually got an increase in revenue and they were surprised, which is why the cap raised. next year he says projections won't swing as high next year. thinks salaries will balance out.

 

13. scouting department leaving, why so much of an upheaval? some was planned, and some wasn't....it's a function of success. we were the model franchise, be successful, people will get better jobs. all were amicable splits.

 

#'s 2, 3 and 7 really got under my skin. Basically, LQ is saying F-U to the fans - "like it or not, I like it, so screw you."

 

#9 - Of course, Larry - the website was hacked, and its an old logo. I mostly want to call BS on this but part of me wants to cling to some hope that the logo is indeed different from the slug we have seen.

 

How can a man make so much sense in his other points (11-13) and be so freaking clueless about what the fans want?

 

I guess the only silver lining here (aside from the jersey striping?) is that the with any luck, the rest of the Sabres consumers will see this logo and uniform for what it is - a desparate money grab, rather than restoring the team's traditions and heritage, and will boycott said slug accordingly.

 

Oh, and Larry - if this slug is part of the final logo, then people - fans - YOUR CUSTOMERS - have every damn right to question the integrity of the franchise, or at the very least, the judgement of its upper management.

[Strow]

By the way, has anyone seen these sleek looking things Reebok hopes to make the uniforms into? I, a while back, looked into this and saw they were going to use them in a Las Vegas minor league game at some point but never saw any photos or information on it at all. What I did read was that it was going to show off players physiques to some extent and be form-fitting somehow, possibly with the equipment built in. For tradionalists, this is going to be tough to swallow.

 

I did make an image I thought might illustrate how this could possibly look:

My concept of Reebok's concept

 

The only way I could see "form-fitting" and "showing off physique" was to put the equipment on the outside, though I still think that keeps it from looking sleek or showing off anything. Bear in mind this illustration is far from accurate in almost every respect, but shows the only way I could see them coming close to accomplishing what they claimed to be attempting.

 

That said, maybe the slug would have a place on this type of thing. Could also explain LQ's remarks about having something no other team has: multiply placed main logos. Perhaps numbers on front and back like football with crests on shoulders and thighs...dunno.

 

Those of you traditionalists like myself that think this is a huge mistake, take heart: Philly wore those ridiculous long pants for two seasons...

 

I believe that these reebok jerseys and equipment where on display at the olympics and the players said they where terrible. The "form-fitting" jersey where almost unwearable I saw someplace. ALso they had those aweful strips up and down the shin pad and pants. If the NHL goes with those it will be a joke.

 

 

NEVER BUY THE SLUG!!!!!

[frisky]

Better break out them CooperAlls.

 

Yay for the original jerserys at least for 15 games. I liked the white ones better than the "away" or now home blue ones though.

 

I have my poo ready to fling at LQ when we see the "final" package. He said that if we still don't like it when we see the whole thing we can blame him.

[Taro T]

As far as the logo looking different or better on the final uniform itself, I am reminded of the late great Johnnie Cochran's closing arguments before the OJ Simpson jury. Responding to the prosecution's suggestion that OJ had worn a black knit cap to disguise himself on the night of the murder, Cochran put on a black knit cap and said to the jury, "Now, I'm still Johnnie Cochran, aren't I?" All of the visual distractions might help the logo's cause a bit, but it's still a slug. (Caught Channel 7's sportscast tonight and Ginger Geoffrey mentioned that some fans are calling the logo a slug, bringing a huge snort from Susan Banks.)

 

One more time, I don't understand the "wait and see" argument. We have seen that the slug has been trademarked. That's the logo. We don't like it a web page, and we won't like it on a T-shirt, a mug, a poster or at center ice.

 

The arrogance of Larry Quinn is something to behold. "I hope they end up with 30,000 signatures," he said of the petition. Kind of sounds like George Bush egging on the insurgents in Iraq with his "bring it on" comment. LQ should be careful what he wishes for.

 

Oh well, in the end, all the fans can do now is reject the slug and buy the throwback. I will admit something. I have never owned a "sweater" in my entire life. Just about everything else with a Sabre logo on it, yes. But I will get a sweater with the original logo. Hey... what if this was LQ's plan all along? Paging Dave B, conspiracy theorist.

I actually wasn't that ticked about the radio interview nor the press conference (primarily because I figured that the phantom ferret's a done deal for next season). I thought given the situation (trying to control damage at a point where it appears that the league won't let the Sabres get out of their commitments), he did about the best that he could. He tried to spin the criticism as a good thing ("hey, at least the fans are passionate"), I didn't really expect to hear him say "holy cow, we didn't see that reaction coming". (Although, it sure does look like a "holy cow, we didn't see that coming".)

 

That said, I still think that if people boycott the phantom ferret, banana slug, sluggalo, barney rubble hairpiece, whatever you prefer to call the thing, then it will be gone far sooner than management planned. After all, this is the same league that had a VP say "the playoffs are different" and didn't fine Gretzky and suspend Shane Doan even though the rulebook CLEARLY called for such; I can't honestly believe that if the junk with the new logo doesn't sell and the throwback stuff does, that the league will want to lose money for another year or two just so it can follow the rules to the letter on something that DOESN'T matter. Not when they don't follow rules and procedures on stuff that DOES matter.

 

As for Larry not being able to find a sluggalo to show people, that probably was easier to say than "well due to contractual obligations with reebok and nhl enterprises marketing channels, we aren't allowed to show them until x date" (apparently sometime during the week before the Bills home opener). Or IF people are correct that the Sabres are trying to get some tweaks made to it, then he probably DOESN'T have the official unis. (Either that, or the ones Pominville and Gaustad modeled were missing an NHL patch or Reebok logo or something small to make his statement "true". Just like he was being truthful when he said the slug logo on the photoshopped Celsius designs wasn't the logo (or whatever it was that he actually said to the Snooze reporter)).

 

I found it kind of strange that including Larry's personal b&g sweater they could only find 2 or 4 (or however many) in all of HSBC arena. Don't they store the game worns there? Oh well, I guess the criminals must have absconded with them. :P

 

I've pretty much come to the sad conclusion that this wasn't a grand conspiracy, although I personally prefer to think of the guys running the show as being geniuses rather than what this debacle was starting to make them look like. :( :(

 

Either that or I just had the target of the conspiracy wrong. I thought it was aimed at the entire fan base, not you specifically. :o

 

I still think that when all the dust clears, this will end up being a good thing for the Sabres. They will have a very easy time increasing merchandise sales in '07-'08 over '06-'07 levels AND if they play their cards right, they can fix this debacle and show the fan base that they really did listen to it (whether they do or don't). The press conference today shows that they HEAR the fans, now they get an opportunity to show that they LISTEN as well.

 

PS - You need to update your avatar caption.

[PASabreFan]

I'm a little confused -- nothing new there. Did I hear Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman say the throwback jerseys would be royal blue this year, then catch up down the road to match the darker blue in the new uniform? I don't understand why they wouldn't match right away.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

After listening to the press conference it is definitely clear that there is cover up going on here. It's very exciting that the original Sabres jersey will be the 3rd jersey, but I find it fishy that there are "future" plans to match the original jersey to the new colors. LQ's excuse was that the manufacturers didn't have enough time to produce the originals in the new midnight blue. Of course they didn't, since mgmt. made the decision last week to use the originals for 15 games to quiet the public outcry. The "slug" logo is definitely delayed to allow for some tweaks to improve it from the leaked version. It's all about spinning it the right way to please the fans.

 

Personally, I've always thought that the blue originals were hideous looking. The white jersey is definitely a classic, but the new NHL push for the home darks wouldn't allow for that.

 

I have not been a big fan of the leaked logo, but I am intrigued to see the total package. It may sound like I'm buying into LQ's PR spin, but who knows until you see the boys get out there.

 

In the end, as I've read many times here, the logo is important, but I don't care if they wear their wives' sunday dresses as long as they bring home the CUP!

[Goodfella25]

Blah blah blah Larry Quinn is such a clown. The news conference basically did nothing except allow this stooge to dance around the UNDENIABLE truth which is that the majority of Sabres fans (and even fans of other teams) hate the stupid logo. I saw a subsequent interview with him on both channel 7 and channel 2, and each time the reporter asked him straight out about the signatures at fixthelogo.com and all the negative feedback, and all that idiot could do is say "oh we're thrilled that people care so much about the jersey." And then he complained about the logo being leaked again. Please! I could smell the sh*t through the TV screen. He sounded just like a politician.

 

So now not only do we have to avoid buying the jersey with the hideous skunk-bison hybrid on it, but we can't even buy the thirds because the colors are going to change yet again. It looks like chaos down at the alphabet soup arena.

[JonathanH]

I would like to chime into this debate, I keep on hearing "tradition" What tradition? We have ZERO championships, been to 2 Cups in almost 40 years. Wow, thats a tradition of nothing. The team seemed more successful in the Black and Red, so do colors mean anything? We are inventing something that isn't there. Of course we are treated with disdain. People only come when the team is winning. We get outnumbered in our own building by leaf fans every time. This is the first time in my life I can remember people talking hockey in July right before Bills camp.

 

The Leafs have tradition, the Canadians have tradition, the Red Wings have tradition.

 

I say leave the old uni's at the Aud, thats where they belong. I enjoy blue and gold, too bad they couldnt bring back the old white one, because the Blue one is UGLY.

 

Will I buy a new one, who knows I'm waiting for the finished product.

 

Instead of signing a petiton thats the equivilent of saving a TV showpetition. Bitch and complain that our schools are getting worse, and people can't feel safe in their neighborhood. Those are more worth while efforts.

[Buffalo Tendencies]

I would like to chime into this debate, I keep on hearing "tradition" What tradition? We have ZERO championships, been to 2 Cups in almost 40 years. Wow, thats a tradition of nothing. The team seemed more successful in the Black and Red, so do colors mean anything? We are inventing something that isn't there. Of course we are treated with disdain. People only come when the team is winning. We get outnumbered in our own building by leaf fans every time. This is the first time in my life I can remember people talking hockey in July right before Bills camp.

 

The Leafs have tradition, the Canadians have tradition, the Red Wings have tradition.

 

I say leave the old uni's at the Aud, thats where they belong. I enjoy blue and gold, too bad they couldnt bring back the old white one, because the Blue one is UGLY.

 

Will I buy a new one, who knows I'm waiting for the finished product.

 

Instead of signing a petiton thats the equivilent of saving a TV showpetition. Bitch and complain that our schools are getting worse, and people can't feel safe in their neighborhood. Those are more worth while efforts.

 

Ohhh come on Jonathan......... This is a Sabres message board, not Dr. Phils. Since I am feeling nice I will give you some advice... MOVE!!!

[slugspirit]

Some of these posts are getting ridiculous. I just small a small image of the wordmark with the slug, and it looks decent. I would go as far as saying it's something I wouldn't mind representing our team. The final version of the logo is actually a bit different. The head is up a little bit more than in the version we've seen and it's "trail" is longer and straighter (less of a curve) getting rid of a bit of the slug look that we're common with. It's placement in the wordmark makes you forget that your looking at just the head of a bison.

[humanot]

I'm a little confused -- nothing new there. Did I hear Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman say the throwback jerseys would be royal blue this year, then catch up down the road to match the darker blue in the new uniform? I don't understand why they wouldn't match right away.

 

 

The reason behind this is bureacracy ... The NHL would allow a team to wear a VINTAGE jersey, as its already in place with approvals, and merchandise production guidelines, etc. ... but they have a rule stating that a team cannot unveil a 3rd jersey until they have worn their new home and away jerseys for at least 2 years (this is to basically give them the right amount of time to vet everything properly and also to discourage teams from coming out with a new jersey every week to match trends.

 

So basically, 2 years after wearing their allowed vintage, they will change to a new 3rd, which will simply match the old in every way .. just with color changes.

[zow2]

There is a mob mentality about the logo on all message boards. The slug for some reason just doesn't offend me like it does for thousands of other people. Personally i hate the old blue uniform. It's boring and lifeless. I'm ok with them using the retro uni's for 15 times because it gives us a taste of the past. I'm happy they will have something more modern in the blue and gold for our regular uni's. I just think these message boards and petitions have gotten out of hand. The Sabres gave us so much joy and all people focus on is perceived negative stuff. We are lucky the team is still here.

[ddaryl]

There is a mob mentality about the logo on all message boards. The slug for some reason just doesn't offend me like it does for thousands of other people. Personally i hate the old blue uniform. It's boring and lifeless. I'm ok with them using the retro uni's for 15 times because it gives us a taste of the past. I'm happy they will have something more modern in the blue and gold for our regular uni's. I just think these message boards and petitions have gotten out of hand. The Sabres gave us so much joy and all people focus on is perceived negative stuff. We are lucky the team is still here.

 

 

LMFAO

 

The mob mentality is based upon the FACT that the new logo is ugly and hideous, and only someone completely devoid of any taste would like it.

 

 

Sorry if you like the slug then you buy the jersey, I'm stayin gpissed off.

 

I won't spend a single dime on the Sabres if they force feed this god forsaken slug to its fans.

 

Quinn better get his head out of his ass ASAP, or he will feel the rath of Sabre fans. 30,000 plus fans are not going ot all of sudden decide ot like somethng that is making them see red.

[scottnc]

I just small a small image of the wordmark with the slug, and it looks decent.

 

And where exactly did you find this "small image"? And why wouldn't you share it with the rest of us?

[Kevbeau]

I don't own ANY Sabres merchandise with red/black/buffalo head colors or logos, so it shouldn't be too difficult to keep my boycott running. Thankfully you can still find stuff with the classic logo.

 

One part of me can't fathom how they could mess this up. If a no-brainer ever walked up and slapped someone in the face, this was it. But on the other hand this has MBA written all over it, so I can see how it became such a cluster f***.

[SDS]

I enjoy blue and gold, too bad they couldnt bring back the old white one, because the Blue one is UGLY.

 

 

you do have a point here... I think those that wanted to change the uniforms 10 years ago were talking specifically about the dark blues, not the white. I do think the whites look great and the blues are bad.

 

Just our luck that we have to wear darks at home now... :angry:

[Quickdraw]

you do have a point here... I think those that wanted to change the uniforms 10 years ago were talking specifically about the dark blues, not the white. I do think the whites look great and the blues are bad.

 

Just our luck that we have to wear darks at home now... :angry:

 

 

Oh come on. Give me a break. You have just convinced me that Buffalo fans will complain no matter what. Listen, I'm all for complaining about the slug, because I think it's horrible, but the Sabrse organization just gave us what we have been asking for for 15 home games! And now THAT'S not good enough, because it's the blue, and not the white?

 

Seriously, I'm done with this jersey BS. It is what it is, and if the jersey looks good I'm buying one.

[Corp000085]

Can't go wrong with #11. That's what I'm gonna do. You don't have to worry about that #11 being traded away!

 

I was thinking either 11 or 16... can't get 7. martin's a family friend, and that would be weird. Maybe i'll get 39 if he decided to retire for good in the next few weeks. If not, i'll wait a couple years, since he retires 3x as much as bill parcells.

[BetweenThePipes00]

 

you do have a point here... I think those that wanted to change the uniforms 10 years ago were talking specifically about the dark blues, not the white. I do think the whites look great and the blues are bad.

 

Just our luck that we have to wear darks at home now... :angry:

 

I used to feel this way, but for some reason I have come around to really liking the blue ones. I remember as a kid thinking they looked bad on TV, but when I went to a game in Montreal they looked outstanding in person. Maybe with better technology they will look better than they used to on TV. I also think part of it might be that the white ones never really totally disappeared, seemed like you could always get one if you looked hard enough. Only in the last year or so have the blue ones popped back up.

 

I don't know, I'm just glad they are giving a nod to tradition and I am anxious (not excited, but not dreading) to see what the new unis will look like if they are truly a bit different from what we have seen.

 

As for those saying there is no tradition, it is about more than championships. In fact, this is the perfect time to recall those early days because this is the first time since that the community seems to be truly embracing this franchise. I don't mean to talk down to the youngsters, but it was just different. The Sabres OWNED the city. The Bills were an afterthought. You could walk up any Sunday and buy a ticket to a Bills game and they were only on TV on the road. I didn't see a Sabres game in person until i was 12 years old despite constant begging because there were no tickets to be had. We would PACK the Aud for the free open practice every year because it was our only shot. The players didn't make much more money than most of the fans, and there was a real connection. They were not hockey stars playing in Buffalo, they were Buffalonians. That ship sailed a long time ago, I know, but for whatever reason guys still DO love playing in Buffalo, and there is still more of a connection than other cities with other athletes. That kind of connection is what this franchise needs now because without it, without the community taking ownership and feeling like they are a part of it, it might be taken away. So if you wonder what we are grasping for when there were no championships, that's it. It's the feeling like this is OUR team and they feel the same pride about playing for Buffalo that we feel rooting for Buffalo. That feeling gradually faded away in the red and black. They became just another hockey team. That began to change this past season, and as far as I am concerned this team earned the right to wear the blue and gold.