It's hard for me to believe, but it was 20 years this week when the Sabres moth-balled their iconic Blue & Gold crossed swords sweater for the gawd awful goat head logo.
I'll never forget the unveiling ceremony that took place at the then Marine Midland Arena. I was working for a Buffalo radio station and we were tasked with partnering with the Sabres to literally fill up the arena with school aged kids who were on Easter break for a week day matinee of an open practice. On that day, the new Black & Red Goat Head branding logo was officially unveiled to the public for the first time.
Today, the Sabres would promote such an historic event via their own in-house jumbotron system, arena signage, radio and TV broadcasts, website and on all of it's social media platforms.
Back in 1996, it was a different game of shinny.
The internet hadn't made it's debut in Buffalo yet. Hockey Twitter wasn't even a thing. Facebook, Vine, Instagram, and Snapchat were not even germs of thoughts yet.
The Sabres had to rely on good old fashioned word of mouth advertising in order to phase out the the vintage logo that the team wore proudly from it's inception in 1970 until that memorable night when captain Pat Lafontaine turned out the lights for the final game at Memorial Auditorium.
I recall it, the team unveiled the new sweater just weeks before the final home game ever at The Aud. The idea behind it was a two-prong concept:
To generate buzz for the new Marine Midland Arena which the team would move into and start playing at in October 2006.
To get the buying public acquainted with the new Black & Red threads.
So, on that afternoon in April '96, fans and media assembled at The Aud to unveil the new logo.
Me and my team worked under guidance of then Sabres President Doug Moss and his team.
Moss wanted this matinee to be big, bold, loud and over the top. He wanted to make a loud, proud statement.
Boy, did he ever.
Clad head to toe in Black & Red to
The din of Bush's "Machine Head" blaring through the PA, the Sabres players stormed the ice at The Aud.
It was a rock concert on ice.
"What we're trying to do is revive interest in Sabres hockey," Doug Moss, team president and chief executive officer told the Associated Press."I said we were in the entertainment business." Moss came to the organization in December 1994 with a plan to ditch the blue and gold threads worn since the team was founded in 1970 and adopt something cooler. The old crest with a stampeding buffalo above crossed sabres has been abandoned for the head of a red-eyed buffalo casting an angry, sidelong glance. On each shoulder, a scarlet "B" is impaled by a sword. Sabres players wearing the new uniforms entered the rink to blaring rock music and a laser light show. The team opened The Aud to the public for a midday unveiling ceremony and got a standing-room-only crowd, including many families with children on spring break
Moss was fired in November 1996, weeks after the new logo debuted at the new building. Weird chain of events. Larry Quinn, who was responsible for guiding the "Crossroads" project from it's inception to the Marine Midland Arena was installed as president of the Sabres.
April 14, 1996. The night that The Aud became the former home of the Buffalo Sabres.
I'll never forget the scene. The Sabres defeated the Hartford Whalers 4-1. The postgame "final skate" ceremony memories still give me chills when I think back on them. Then captain Pat Lafontaine stared the skate with a lap of the ice then passed the puck to Sabres alum Rene Robert who flipped the Don Luce who took a lap and passed the puck the late great Richard Martin who passed the puck to Danny Gare who passed the puck to Craig Ramsay who shared it with Larry Playfair who passed it to then Sabres D Mike Wilson who bumped it to Brad May. Lafontaine took the final victory lap and potted the final goal ever in the Memorial Auditorium.
Moss was a polarizing figure in Sabres history. Those who loved him admired his vision to create new traditions. Those that hated him despised his lack of respect for the vintage Sabres Blue & Gold sweater and the crossed swords logo.
So, where was the goat head logo born? How did it come to be the replacement for the iconic crossed swords logo?
A video has surfaced today online with footage of some of the proposed and rejected Sabres logos from that transitional period in Buffalo Sabres history.
Thanks to /r/hockey for the video.
The above artwork video was taken from Kevin Beam's video that he shot on VHS format at the Buffalo Sabres Season Ticket Holder Open House that was held at Memorial Auditorium on October 7, 1994.
The lockout came after NHL players played without a collective bargaining agreement. The lockout was a subject of dispute as the players sought collective bargaining and owners sought to help franchises that had a weaker market as well as make sure they could cap the rising salaries of players. The lockout caused the 1994–95 season to be shortened to 48 games instead of 84, the shortest season in 53 years.
The Sabres focus grouped it's season ticket holders on the new logo designs during the lockout.
I like taking trips down memory lane.
What are your memories?
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Tim Murray's Mont Blanc pen is running out of ink from signing his draftees and college free agents to their ELCs.
Earlier thi sweek he signed University of Minnesota forward Hudson Fasching and Minnesota State D Casey Nelson to their entry level deals. Last week it ws RPI goalie Jason Kasdorf.
Today, Murray signed power center and Peterborough Petes captain Eric Cornel to his ELC.
NEWS: The Sabres have signed Eric Cornel (@ecornel10) to an entry-level contract. Details: https://t.co/5mnSCJeiAr pic.twitter.com/wV6B3rLKFy
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) March 25, 2016