Should the Buffalo Sabres bring back the vintage jerseys full-time?
The city of Buffalo has received a lot of attention in 2018 while hosting the World Junior Championship (WJC) and having the Buffalo Sabres meet the New York Rangers during the Bridgestone Winter Classic on New Year’s Day. Now, this Friday night the team will draft a top prospect at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft with the first overall selection.
Considering that Buffalo is on the verge of turning over a new leaf when the Sabres (most likely) draft the top-rated prospect in Rasmus Dahlin with the first pick, the organization may also want to consider a fresh start in another area for the team’s image.
The Buffalo Sabres should officially revert back to their vintage color scheme and design for their home, away and potential alternate jersey during the beginning stages of the Dahlin era.
Buffalo hinted a potential return for a vintage look after the team’s 2018 Winter Classic sweaters turned out to be gems and highly accepted by the hockey community. The Sabres had marketed and promoted the team’s vintage logos from the sweater’s design via outlets such as Twitter — well after celebrating the NHL’s annual outdoor game.
Isn't it beautiful? 😍
Available at the @SabresStore starting at 5pm today.
More on our #WinterClassic jersey: https://t.co/RJwi9MaQvV pic.twitter.com/KfGP5uvGkG
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) November 22, 2017
The Sabres should revert back to the home and away sweater designs that were introduced back in 1983 and worn until the end of the 1996 campaign, but with some modernized modifications.
This hockey jersey enthusiast would like to see the dark-colored home sweater entail more of a lighter royal blue as the base color, and a blue similar to what was used for the 2018 Winter Classic jersey. That same shade of blue could be used on the white road jersey for the shoulder’s yokes and additional stripes located on the arms and belt areas.
Instead of having the primary logo stitched onto the both jerseys’ shoulder patches, the Sabres should use the retro logo that was introduced for the left shoulder patch on the 2018 Winter Classic jersey. Also, the primary crest for both sweaters should be the same one that was used on the 2018 Winter Classic jersey, which has the letters “NY” below the Buffalo and crossed swords.
Our #WinterClassic jersey 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/eoAw5JQ9Po
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) November 22, 2017
As for a potential alternate sweater, the Sabres should keep the same design from the 2018 Winter Classic jersey but switch the primary crest with the modernized shoulder-patch logo. This would also mean that the Sabres would be the lone NHL team to officially have an alternate jersey with a base color of white – meaning the Sabres would be able to wear the third jersey on both home and away ice for all of the league’s fans (granted permission from the NHL to wear white at home).
The sweaters that the Sabres wear now aren’t terrible, but the darker scheme has also represented a dark era for Buffalo’s hockey team. If the Sabres were to revert back to a jersey design such as the one proposed above, it would make their sweaters more vibrant and portray a changing of the guard in Buffalo with the young Dahlin on the rise.
It would also be fitting given that the team has another superstar in the making with Jack Eichel, and to see both Eichel and Dahlin representing the modernized retro-feel sweaters would be an awesome sight for the Hockey World.
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Kyle McKenna covers the NHL for Hooked On Hockey Magazine. He can be reached on Twitter (@KMcKenna_tLT5)
Kyle McKenna
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