Buffalo Sabres...Will They or Won't They Change?

I got a NHL catalog in the mail and nothing ground breaking inside. I did notice the Sabres put their old logo on their 2010 Draft Day cap. Rumors have been flying around that the Sabres plan to go back to their original logo after the "buff-a-slug"  logo was about as popular as AIDS in the 80's (Actually it was really popular but think like breast cancer awareness today. It was everywhere). But there are some good things that came out of these changes.

1. The Sabres paid attention to the fans. This is so important for owners and the front office people to realize. Yes, they make the decisions and they may refuse to do certain things. And they can do that if they want. But good teams and good owners pay attention to the fans and their wants. Bad owners and management have the "it's my team and I'll do what I want with it." They listened to their fans and they want the old logo. Kudos to them for that.

2. The Sabres re-found their identity. Some times teams think that a redesign will make over their franchise. Aesthetically they sometimes do that. More often they end up screwing around with the past and then come back to their roots. At least a lot of teams are appreciating the history and realize that is what the fans cheer for. They cheer for the soul of the team. Dad's want to take their kids to see the current Yankees in the same uniforms that they saw them as. And I'm sure this is what happened in Buffalo. The team has been around since the 70's. Those fans watched them, rooted for the, and loved them for who they were. But it means more when you do it in the same uniforms that their heroes did it in. Can you imagine the Red Sox having completely altering their look when they finally won the World Series? And how weird it was when the Diamondbacks or Marlins won it? Seriously, didn't you say to yourself "That doesn't look right?" I felt that way when my Pats finally won the Super Bowl. It was awesome and I loved it but I would have really like to have seen Pat Patriot celebrating more then the flying Elvis logo.

3. They learned what doesn't work. When teams do this they learn the hard way (think of the Pistons, Brewers, and Islanders). Actually it wasn't all bad. The first redesign wasn't that awful. The mean snorting buffalo head was kind of cool. I owned the red 3rd jersey for a while before I finally put it on EBay. The one thing it didn't do was represent the team name. It's Sabres not Buffalos or Bisons. Why they couldn't put a couple sabres behind it, I don't know (doesn't look too shabby). I get it, the city name is Buffalo. I wonder why they never tries the old colors with that logo. The change to red, black, and silver was radical and didn't quite go over but why not try that instead of developing the "buff-a-slug". Tie the new into the old.

Anyways, the Sabres are starting to look like the Sabres again. And that's all that matters. It doesn't look like they've completely committed (scroll down on the page) yet, but in time they will.