Re-Imagining the NHL: Buffalo Sabres

Sabres' Current Jersey (est. 2010)

The Buffalo "Don't Call Us Sabers" Sabres, established in 1970, have had an identity crisis for almost half of their existence.  Does 305c solve the problem?  No.  In all honesty we probably made matters worse...

The Color Scheme: Burgundy, Red, Light Gold & White.

The original (and current) colors of the Buffalo Sabres are blue, yellow and white.  Why?  I'm not quite sure. I haven't found any information on why these colors were chosen, which is a scary thought.  No designer in their right mind would just put something together without intent.  To add to the confusion, in 1996 the Sabres moved to a new arena in Buffalo and decided to re-brand everything.  New logos, new red and black color scheme, no explanation. Ugh, Buffalo, you make my brain hurt.

'96, The Red & Black Era

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.

The Branding: Primary 'Buffalo Head' Logo, Secondary 'B Sabre' Logo.

305cHL Buffalo Sabres Logo Set

Oh, where do I begin with this town? Do they want to be represented by the name of their city, a Buffalo, or by the name of their team, a Sabre?  Do we want the logo to be a pictogram, or should we use something that doesn't cause the viewer to go, 'A Buffalo + Swords = ...Uh... Buffalo Sabres...?' Maybe we could use the awesome Buffaslug! -Ok, ok, Buffalonians... don't kill me. I know you hate your Buffaslug.  Well, now that pictograms and buffaslugs are out of the way, I guess we'll settle on the only other logo that Buffalo has used in their past: the very powerful and intimidating Buffalo Head.

A Buffalo + Swords?

The majority of Buffalo-ites (?), and NHL fans for that matter, would say that the best logo is the pictogram.  Clean, simple and straight to the point.  I would like to agree with this, but I believe that the pictogram only seems to be the best because of the simple jersey design that went with it.  Look at the logos on their own and the clear choice to me is the Buffalo Head.  It is intimidating, strong and embodies all that is Buffalo.

The secondary logo is pretty much a no-brainer, and I believe most Buffalo-ans would agree that the B Sabre should be here to stay.  It is straight to the point and gives you a visual link the sabre which is missing in the primary logo.  As a branding set, these two logos are solid and work very well together.  No more slugs, no more pictograms.

Home & Away Jerseys: Home Primarily Burgundy, Away Primarily White.

You Can't Un-See This

Seeing as we needed to toss everything and start over with this team, it was hard to pull any inspiration from their past.  So, I looked all the way back to 2010 to get some ideas.

The current home and away jerseys are probably the best that the team has ever had.  They are clean yet interesting in their stripe design.  Having three different thicknesses in stripes looks really interesting.  I decided to mimic this but, just like in the 305cHL Bruins, I decided to space the stripes just slightly to make the gold and white stand out.

The color scheme for this team is very original to the NHL. I know that the BC Eagles have a similar color scheme but it would be great to introduce it to the highest level of hockey.  Seeing the Buffalo Head with the clean stripe layout makes me like the logo even more.  I knew that the crazy design of the 1996 Sabres distracted your eye and really did damage to this great logo. Which leads us to the...

Alternate 3rd Jersey: Primarily White.

Miroslav Satan. Great Name.

I just finished saying how bad the design of 1996 was, so let me backtrack and tell you why I basically copied that design for this alternate jersey...

If you look at the 1996 White jersey, you'll see that there is too much going on. That 'V' with the shoulder coloring and the stripes on the arms are just too much.  What I did like about this design was the uniqueness of it.  Plus, look at it on the ice, it just looks interesting.  So I slightly copied the V design, but opened up the angle a bit so that the numbering on the sleeves could go in its rightful place. I took out the sleeve striping because it was way too busy.  This revised '95 look is simple yet dynamic.

Summary:

Overall, Buffalo was a difficult task.  As I mentioned, I don't think that it is the answer for The Sabres but it is a big step in the right direction.  Unique and powerful colors combined with a powerful logo set should make the people of Buffalo very happy.

Final thought: People from Buffalo are Buffalonians.

Mmm... Sacrilicious.

Images of jerseys from Chris Creamer's Sports Logos &  The Hockey Uniform Database.
Jersey Template from Icethetics.