Buffalo Sabres, fans should cringe if the NHL signs with Nike
By Sion Fawkes
City Edition/Connect Uniform?
Knowing that Nike loves to draw inspiration from the cities themselves, my guess is that they would place the Buffalo Sabres into a uniform with a color scheme they have never worn. Buffalo’s city flag is navy blue and white, with an outer insignia that resembles something the Tampa Bay Lightning would wear.
If Nike were to create a City Edition uniform for the Sabres, odds are they would look more like the Lightning than the Sabres, with Nike claiming they drew inspiration from the city flag colors and the lightning bolt-like outer insignia. Or, they may take something from the Seal of Buffalo, which would be a bit more tolerable.
Buffalo also has many nicknames like the Queen City, which I often refer to it. But, one nickname that jumps out at me is Nickel City. And if you remember correctly, the Bills experimented with nickel gray as an accent color once upon a time. The ill-fated color would probably be right up Nike’s alley.
As for the sweater logo, my projection is that it would comprise either the current logo or even the goathead. Both of which I would be okay with. But, Buffalo is also known as the Queen City of the Lakes or the City of Trees.
So it wouldn’t surprise me if they tried to design the logo as a reflection in the lake with perhaps deciduous trees surrounding the logo’s outer perimeter. And if you think this is a far-fetched idea, I urge you to check out some of their MLB City Connect creations. Nike did this with the wildly unpopular San Francisco Giants set when they tried to emulate fog rising from the Golden Gate Bridge. One of San Francisco’s nicknames happens to be Fog City or City of Fog.
As mentioned, most everything in some of these color schemes have nothing to do with the franchise themselves, like the Boston Red Sox’s powder blue and yellow uniform.