Buffaslug Designer Talks More About Process

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The designer behind one of the most hated logos in NHL history is once again talking about the process of rebranding the Buffalo Sabres back in 2006 — a rebrand which has since been completely dispensed with.

Kristopher Bazen made news here last year after he asked Sabres creative services director Frank Cravotta to remove some old sketches of the "Buffaslug" from his online portfolio. Bazen said it might've been "misleading" since the design was a "collaborative effort." However, a year later, Bazen has posted more of that early conceptual work on his own website. Here's a look at those designs:

Buffalo Sabres conceptual work (2005) / Kristopher Bazen

There are a lot of neat ideas in there, but I'm not sure any of them would've been an improvement on the original 1970 logo — an updated version of which the Sabres use today.

On this subject, Bazen made the rounds yesterday on some popular hockey websites. He posted the above link on the SportsLogos.net message boards and spent a lot of time talking about the design process. If you have some time to kill, there's some stuff worth reading. Basically, for an artist, he's one thick-skinned human being and he's good at responding to questions. More on the SportsLogos.net blog.

Also yesterday, Puck Daddy had a long in-depth feature about Bazen and his work with the Sabres. I highly recommend taking the time to read this one. Greg Wyshynski leaves no stone unturned and if you like hockey logos, you'll find yourself fascinated by almost every word.

I think the reason Bazen keeps coming up is that despite the fact he is a fantasic logo designer, he's being haunted by what the higher-ups in the Sabres organization ultimately wanted. He doesn't need to defend himself as he's quite talented as you can see in his portfolio. But I like that he's giving us a little insight into how it all works.

Going Green for a Game

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Green is one of the most neglected colors on hockey uniforms. It's a perfectly good color that, far too often, gets overshadowed by the likes of blue and red. But there's at least one day on the calendar when green rules. One week from today is St. Patrick's Day and hockey teams across North America are taking note with green-infused uniforms. Thought I'd take some time today to run down the list of what to expect.

NHL: New Jersey Devils

Devils announce Retro GameSince 2010, it's become an annual tradition for the New Jersey Devils to sport their red and green retro jerseys on or near St. Patty's Day.

The tradition continues for the third year in a row next weekend as the Devils host the Pittsburgh Penguins. Icethetics reader Mike Iannaccone tweeted a photo on Wednesday from the Prudential Center that confirms this.

The Devils wore this sweater for the first time on St. Patrick's Day 2010 — also against the Penguins. (It was actually their first time wearing green since 1992 when it was replaced with black.) The Devils won that game 5-2, but were shut out 3-0 last year when they hosted the Capitals on March 18.

Devils GM Lou Lamoriello has made it known he has no interest in New Jersey wearing an alternate sweater on a regular basis, but if he ever changes his mind, this one is a classic.

ECHL: Trenton Titans

Elsewhere in New Jersey, the ECHL's Trenton Titans will sport the green plaid for Irish Heritage Night when they face the Reading Royals.

But oddly, this Irish Heritage Night will not take place on March 17, but rather a week later on Sat., March 24. The promotion had to wait a week since the Titans will be on the road for St. Patrick's Day. But they wouldn't miss this opportunity.

In fact, when the Titans his the road next week, they'll be in Chicago. That takes us to...

ECHL: Chicago Express

Chicago Express St. Patrick's Day jerseyThe ECHL's Chicago Express, currently embarking on their inaugural season, will celebrate St. Patty's Day with a special jersey as they host the Trenton Titans next Saturday night.

The Express's green-themed sweater is decidedly not plaid. In fact, you might say it's a little more... alcohol-y. If that wasn't a word I just made up, anyway.

The bubbles up and down the front and back of this jersey certainly make it look like the players will be giant green beers skating around. Though you'd be more likely to see that if you already had some green beers in you. That's all I'm saying.

The primary logo is normally navy and powder blue, but the standard colors have been swapped out for green and orange for this event.

For what it's worth, this jersey has all the bad design markers, from the black for black's sake right down to the illegible name and numbers. But they'll get auctioned off for charity after the game, so we'd all sound silly to complain.

While we're in Chicago...

AHL: Chicago Wolves

The AHL's Chicago Wolves will wear their St. Patrick's Day jerseys for three home games over the next two weeks — though not on the actual day itself.

The jerseys are green with WOLVES arranged diagonally across the front in cream. Based on the image below, provided by the team, it looks like there will be a patch on each shoulder — one with a black shamrock and the year, the other with the Wolves' primary logo. As is the norm with these things, they will be auctioned for charity.

You'll note the jersey will be worn for home games on 3/14 vs. the Peoria Rivermen, 3/24 vs. the Hamilton Bulldogs, and 3/25 vs. the Houston Aeros but not on March 17. That's because the Wolves are traveling that night to... yes, Cleveland. Folks, you can't make up segues like this...

AHL: Lake Erie Monsters

The AHL's Lake Erie Monsters will be wearing their St. Patrick's Day colors when they entertain the Chicago Wolves in Cleveland on March 17. Unfortunately, while they've made the announcement on their website, they haven't offered us any pictures of the "shamrock-filled jersey," as they put it.

But, you see, the Monsters may have won St. Patrick's Day simply by doing one thing. They're painting the ice green that night. Yikes. Here's what their press release says:

The Monsters will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day all weekend long, next Friday and Saturday, March 16th and 17th! We're teaming up with The Ohio Lottery to bring you the luck o' the Irish in back-to-back games at The Q.

The team will be wearing one-of-a-kind, shamrock-filled green jerseys both nights (which will be auctioned off at the games). Plus the ice will be painted green as well!

Along with the game against the Wolves, the Monsters will also trot out the St. Patrick's Day jerseys the night before against the Milwaukee Admirals.

Sadly, there's no clever transition to be had here...

AHL: St. John's IceCaps

The AHL's St. John's IceCaps will also sport green threads in honor of St. Patrick's Day. They're the only Canadian team on this list (that I know of).

The IceCaps are in their first season playing in Newfoundland after the Manitoba Moose were uprooted by the relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg. The IceCaps are currently affiliated with the Jets.

The team has been holding drawings to determine which lucky fans will win these green jerseys right off the players' backs after the March 17 game against the Manchester Monarchs. Here's a look at that sweater.

I think that's all I've got for you today. If I've overlooked any St. Patrick's Day jerseys, let me know and I'll make the appropriate updates to this post. 

San Francisco Bulls Unveil Jerseys

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ECHL expansion team San Francisco Bulls unveil uniforms

The ECHL's San Francisco Bulls won't hit the ice for the first time until later this year, but today they unveiled their new uniforms. And somewhat disappointingly, they're an odd amalgam of NHL sweaters.

The jersey itself is essentially the template based on what the Buffalo Sabres wore between 1996 and 2006 — otherwise known as The Goathead Years. I'm assuming they were chosen strictly for the bull horn style stripes on the sleeves. Not a bad call, but not all that original either. (Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.)

The colors being identical to those of the Anaheim Ducks, the Bulls have also borrowed the Ducks' number font. And the nameplate is straight off a Philadelphia Flyers jersey. And if I'm not mistaken, exact same font as well. The socks also look a lot like the Sabres' from the late '90s.

So it's not the most original uniform we've ever seen, but you'll notice the shoulders are bare. Last week, I mentioned that the Bulls agreed to look at some logo designs by Icethetics artists to use as a shoulder patch. Some awesome designs have been submitted and I can't wait to post some of them. And who knows, maybe one of them will be seen on this uniform by the time the team hits the ice.

You might also notice from the above photo that the logo on the jersey doesn't quite match what's on the backdrop. The Bulls went through some brand licensing issues this winter which pigeon-holed them into keeping the original logo that was being used for marketing purposes — or at least something very similar. The logo on the jersey is the newer one.

You can read more about the jerseys on the team's official website.  Feel free to sound off on the San Francisco Bulls uniforms in the comments.

WHL Player Wears Jerseys He Designs

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Taylor Vause, Swift Current BroncosIt's probably a safe bet that most of the jersey concept designers here at Icethetics play hockey at a level no higher than recreation.

But there's always an exception. You should really get to know the captain of the WHL's Swift Current Broncos, Taylor Vause.

Vause emailed me this week to talk about a couple of the specialty sweaters his team has worn recently and subsequently auctioned off to benefit charities. What's interesting about these sweaters? He designed them. 

I'm sure more than a few Icethetics readers can claim they've worn jerseys they've designed for their beer league teams, but how many can say their work has raised nearly $15,000 for charity?

Vause, 20, wrote: "I have followed your site for a very long time [and] have always been a fan of jersey design. ... Over time, you've [written] posts about major junior hockey with regards to special event jerseys. For me, this is very interesting because I play at that level and I'm directly involved with those jerseys."

He's not kidding. Vause tells me he approached the Broncos last season about using a sweater he designed for Broncos Beat Breast Cancer Night on Feb. 4, 2011. As it turned out, the team liked his design — so they used it.

"I scored in that game while wearing the jersey I designed," Vause said. "Quite an awesome experience for me." Unfortunately, it was the Broncos' only goal as they fell 6-1 to the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Broncos Beat Breast Cancer Night / courtesy Taylor Vause

Between the jersey auction and the in-game sale of pink carnations, the Broncos raised $6,400 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. For the record, Vause's jersey sold for $755. That number was second only to the $1,000 one dedicated fan spent on Justin Dowling's jersey.

The story doesn't end there. "I was preparing for my fourth and final season of major junior hockey," Vause said of this year, "and I had already talked to my team's front office about doing another jersey for this season.

"I'm not sure if you know much about the Broncos history," said Vause. "There was a terrible bus accident 25 years ago and four [Broncos] players died. Since then we've always worn a four-leaf clover with the four players' numbers on it. Seeing as it was the 25th anniversary of the crash I thought it would be a great honour to do a Four Broncos memorial jersey."

Broncos Memorial Jersey / courtesy Taylor Vause

Once again, the Broncos used his jersey design. And again, "I scored in this game," said Vause. "Another amazing feeling to score in the jersey that I designed." And to complete the trifecta of history repeating itself a year later, Vause's goal was only one the Broncos scored in the Feb. 11 game, falling 4-1 to the Regina Pats.

Regardless, Vause is quick to point out that it was still a special night. "I was very proud of this jersey because of what it meant to the community," he said. "We did another jersey auction and this time around we raised $8,153.67 for our Education Fund."

You can read more about this jersey and see Vause wearing it in a photo shoot on the Broncos' website. 

"I'm hoping to continue designing jerseys for the Broncos and branch out to other teams in the league as well," Vause said. "Whether that happens or not remains to be seen but jersey design will continue to be a passion of mine either way."

Taylor's story is pretty cool and I appreciate him sharing it with us. He's on Twitter at @wizardofvause if you want to give him a follow. And if you want to check out some of his quirky Photoshop creations, here's a link.

Bay Area's ECHL Club Preps Unveiling

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A big announcement is scheduled in San Francisco for Wed., March 7. No, I'm not talking about the iPad 3. It's the jersey unveiling for the ECHL's newest expansion franchice — the San Francisco Bulls.

The Bulls' new logo (left) was recently leaked on the team's Facebook page after a fan found it on the designer's online portfolio. Last September, we got our first glimpse at the original Bulls logo — which was downright awful.

The new logo is only a slight upgrade, but it's my understanding the team ran into some issues with the league over changing the design too drastically from that original mark. That's a shame, but it's not all bad news — especially if you're among the more creatively inclined.

For logo designers: I've been in contact with the San Francisco Bulls and I'm told they're willing to look at proposals from Icethetics artists for a secondary logo. Any artist whose work is used will, of course, be compensated. So here's what they're looking for:

  • The Bulls "want to do something featuring an intertwined 'SF' akin to the 49ers and Giants for [their] shoulder patch." It goes without saying, but they need something original so don't copy either of those teams' logos.
  • Also, the team owner is fond of the Golden Gate Bridge, particularly as viewed when one is driving across it. You can get an idea from this logo.

If you have a logo design, you'd like to submit, email it to me by clicking the red Gmail icon at the top of the page (beneath the Icethetics logo). I'll forward them on to the team and I'll post the good ones on the Concepts page. 

At this point, no deadline has been set. It's kind of open-ended, but you're probably wise to shoot for the end of the month at the latest. Good luck!