Isn't it Well Past Labor Day?

by Ryan


The Sabres are in the midst of a five game road trip, but when they come back home they may look a little bit different next month. That's right, we're gonna party like it's 2002-03.

Buffalo will wear their road whites at HSBC Arena for games against Boston (Wednesday, November 7) and Toronto (Friday, November 9), along with Thanksgiving week visits from Ottawa (Wednesday, November 21) and Montreal (Friday, November 23).

Um... why?

“The Buffalo Sabres asked the NHL to wear white jerseys at home for the month of November so that fans could differentiate divisional games from non-divisional opponents,” said Quinn.

Oh. Well that's not insulting at all.

C'mon Larry, we play everyone in the Northeast eight times a year, how can we not have them memorized? I mean, everyone knows we play the North Stars, Whalers, Rockies, and Seals four times a year at home, what's a white jersey going to change?

Seriously, though, I'm a bit confused about the point of all this. I personally prefer the blue unis to the white, and having the away team wear colors doesn't exactly have a purpose in the modern era. I guess it's a novel idea, but one that will end up causing more confusion for the Versus crew than anything else.

If they really wanted to make a difference, wait a year to bring out the throwback third jerseys again and wear them for every divisional home game. That's 16 games worth of use, and everyone will know what the deal is when we take the ice slug-less. It more than justifies bringing back a classic. Oh, and it will sell like crazy. Isn't that what matters, Quinn?

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In somewhat related jersey news, Great Skate had some Winter Classic apparel up a few days ago, including an old school white jersey said to be modeled after the RBK Edge system. The page implied that it would be worn in the Classic, something that many people were hoping the team would do.

A quick check of that today page now shows the jersey was taken down. Either Great Skate is in a lot of trouble for lying, or they are in a lot of trouble for leaking considerable news without a proper press junket. (RBK said there would be no alternate uniforms this year for any team. This would directly contradict that.)

Also in the realm of my own personal speculation, but doesn't the Penguins logo on the shirts remind you of their baby blue era? That would be pretty cool looking...