The Buffalo Sabres have announced they’ll debut their highly-contentious third jerseys for Sunday’s home date against the Detroit Red Wings.
The jerseys, modeled here by captain Steve Ott, came under fire almost immediately upon their unveiling. The massive reaction forced Sabres president Ted Black to address them in an Oct. 3 radio spot on WGR:
“It’s received a ton of criticism and a lot of attention. I think it had over 4 million mentions on Twitter. I’ve seen it. It’s something that doesn’t offend me. I think people have had a lot of fun with the criticisms of it. Judge for yourself whenever you see it. If you come into the store and you look at it and say I don’t want to buy it or you do buy it, in terms of moving the needles on revenues, it won’t do anything.
“If it doesn’t sell, it won’t really mean anything to our bottom line. It’s a third jersey. If it’s a turd burger I’ll have to put it on a bun and eat it. It’s the way it is.”
Black said at the time the Sabres would wear the jerseys “proudly” 10 times this season, and here are the dates on which they’ll be worn:
Nov. 24 vs. Detroit Red Wings
Nov. 27 vs. Montreal Canadiens
Dec. 5 vs. New York Rangers
Dec. 14 vs. Calgary Flames
Jan. 4 vs. New Jersey Devils
Jan. 14 vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Feb. 5 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
March 16 vs. Montreal Canadiens
April 1 vs. New Jersey Devils
April 8 vs. Detroit Red Wings