There’s an ongoing healthy debate between Amerks fans and Sabres fans and fans of both teams about whether or not the Sabres logo should appear somewhere on the Amerks jerseys going forward. Â In case you’re wondering, yes there are Amerks fans who are not Sabres fans.
I asked Ted Black about this and he stated that the plan is to put a patch on the jerseys going forward since just about all American Hockey League teams do but he also said it’s something that he’d listen to feedback on.
Updated: Here’s a quick survey about the logo vs no logo, click the link and take less than a minute to answer the two questions:
http://letsgoamerks.logo.sgizmo.com/s3/
/endupdate.
Both sides have valid “arguments” about whether or not it belongs and it appears it will really come down to fan feedback.
Personally, I’m against it. Â Some reasons will be noted below along with other thoughts.
Great point Rory Fitzpatrick!! Â That may sound sarcastic but it’s not. Â No one has complained about Toyota logo’s or even Pepsi logo’s but now that another team is featured some are in an uproar.
Great point as well! Â The Amerks existed long before the Sabres did. Â The Amerks have won more championships than the Sabres have. Â The Amerks crest has stayed the same longer than the Sabres have existed. Don’t try and overtake us.
One of my thoughts about keeping the Buffalo Sabres patch off of the Amerks uniforms is that the City of Rochester needs to take pride in the Amerks and keep them as our own. Â The Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres may refer to us as a suburb of Buffalo but we are not, we are our own city. Â Rochester may be a market for those professional teams but that’s where it ends. Â If someone asks you where you’re from I doubt someone would say, “Rochester, it’s just outside of Buffalo.”
Another reason for keeping the Sabres patch off of the uniforms is that not everyone is a Buffalo Sabres fan. Â There are a lot of people who have been Amerks fans since the first day the Amerks played a game. Â There are a lot of people who’re fans of the Amerks because they love hockey and it’s their home town team. Â These people don’t want the Buffalo Sabres pushed down their throats. Â Yes, the Sabres did buy the Amerks but it’s not like the Amerks were on the verge of collapsing into not existing. Everyone appreciates the new life being poured into the Amerks and that it should equal a winning hockey team and an arena filled with fans.
Just because other American Hockey League teams do it doesn’t mean the Sabres and Amerks should be followers. Â Lead the way and show that the players are playing for the crest on their chest, not the crest and the patch on the shoulder.
The argument for the patch somewhere on the jersey is that the Amerks are a development team for the Buffalo Sabres and also owned by the Sabres so they have every right to promote that. Â Others have also said that the players should be proud of who they aim to play for someday and represent both teams.
Is this really that big of a deal? Â To some lifelong Amerks fans it is. Â Share your thoughts here or put them into the suggestion box for Ted Black once it opens up for the Amerks.
I’m an Amerks fan first, parent-club second kind of person.
We’ve had lots of ugly patches, CountryMax comes to mind… I’m not going to fuss about the parent club’s logo as long as it isn’t overwhelming the Amerks logo or replacing a star on a sleeve.
Heck, goalies end up with parent-club colors on their helmets after a call up all the time and no one dies over that.
I think most would agree. At the end of the day it really isn’t that big of a deal especially when you compare it to those other patches.
Hopefully with the return of the Sabres and what appears to be more pride building in Rochester we’ll see another goalie with an Amerks related paint job on the helmet!
We’ve had lots of ugly patches, CountryMax comes to mind… I’m not going to fuss about the parent club’s logo as long as it isn’t overwhelming the Amerks logo or replacing a star on a sleeve.
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That’s my take, as well.
If they replace the Toyota logo with a Sabres logo, I think that would be the best case.
Replacing the stars on the shoulders, not so much….
If the cost of having better players, better management and better overall stability is a simple patch on a jersey, then so be it. When you consider what the Sabres are doing for the Amerks, Rochester and Western NY overall, it’s really not that big of a deal.
First: Full Disclosure: I am a Sabres Fan.
That said, allow me to point out a few small realities that are being lost amidst this “Tempest in a teacup”:
-With all due respect to the long proud tradition of the Rochester franchise, the Parent team is a PROFESSIONAL team, not semi-pro, not MINOR League. The notion that they may only put their logo “if they existed longer” is utter nonsense.
-Need we be reminded that the Americans weren’t exactly “successful” the last few seasons? Perhaps we dont need to reminded that under its previous affiliation the Amerks alleged that its “NHL Affiliate was Hurting its profits”? (see: http://www.businessinsider.com/a-minor-league-hockey-team-thinks-its-nhl-affiliate-is-draining-profits-2010-11)
-Attendance? Yeah. Enough said.
-“What about the Amerks fans that weren’t Sabres fans?” Well, how on earth did you survive the 29 years that Buffalo stocked your team? AND paid for the privilege?
So, this week, Mr. Pegula, himself a former season ticket holder of the Amerks comes into town and purchases the team, saving it from undoubtedly another year of sagging ticket sales with yet another Far-Far away franchise. He slashes ALL Season ticket prices to $10/Seat as well as promising some infrastructure improvements.
And what does he get in return?
Griping about the possibility of a small logo placement on the jerseys?
Are you kidding me?
Really?
In case you were wondering do you know what else Mr. Pegula could do as its new owner?
How about change the team colors and logos? Did you know that?
Portland wore a former version of the Sabres colors last year.
Yep, all within his authority as owner, in consult with the AHL of course, but if he wanted to drop the logo/colors the AHL couldnt stop him–steer him perhaps, but not stop him.
-How about Move the team? Did you know he could do that too? All he would have to do is cite sagging ticket sales, or just suffer through three years of decreased ticket sales and then he would meet the provisions of the AHL Franchise agreement in order to do so.
That said, Im glad that I feel quite certain he wont do any of those tradition changing things.
But…perhaps its better to thank all of our lucky stars that an owner came into town with improvement and respect for the local team on his mind.
So while we’re on a waiting list to even watch your teams parent club play live, think really hard about griping about that little logo on the shoulder or chest or wherever it might go (and it might not even be there at all), but just consider all of that as you enjoy our future stars today in your $10 seats.
Game on!
A SMALL Sabres logo on the Amerks jersey or helmet wouldn’t bother me. The Sabres could also be creative and put a small Amerks logo on their jersey as well.
Appreciate the discussion.. I’m a life long Sabres fan (former Buffalo resident) so I see both sides. I’ll be at games either way, I renewed my season tickets on Friday morning. I know Pegula and Black will look at it and respond accordingly to fan response.
Although I don’t believe putting a small Sabres logo on the Amerks jersey this season is the offense some feel it is, I’m quite confident Mr. Pegula will not do anything to slight the tradition of the Rochester Americans. Hey, althought I think some of you have gone off the reservation with this, you’re going about it the right way. If you feel that strongly, let him know and I’m sure it won’t happen. It’s like winning Mega Millions and complaining about having to pay the taxes.
I guess I’m ok with it, as long as it stays off the shoulder, I’m a huge Sabres fan, but the Amerks win in the history department
So people are fine with having an car dealership patch, but not their NHL affliate?! C’mon. Is anyone worried that Toyota will try and change the Amerks jerseys and ruin their tradition?
I’m also assuming that the “Only having a patch if the parent team has been around longer” was a backhanded way saying that the Amerks were around longer than the Sabres, which is lame reasoning. Has he heard of an AHL team called the Buffalo Bisons that started in 1940 and only ceased in 1970 because of being awarded an NHL franchise?
The Sabres patch should be on the jersey and should be large. The Americans owe the Sabres for getting people to care about them again.
This is why I hate Rochester. I went to college there and couldn’t leave fast enough. Pure, ridiculous pettiness. Do you people complaining about this have any idea what buffoons you sound like?
Jealously is ugly. Being jealous of Buffalo defies description.
Pathetic.
I don’t think anyone is jealous of Buffalo. It’s more like Rochester has lost it’s identity and everyone thinks this city stinks which it doesn’t. We’re Rochester, not Buffalo, everything doesn’t have to be compared to Buffalo or be like Buffalo.
There’s nothing petty or ridiculous about fans of a sports team being selfish of their teams jersey and the way that it looks. There’s been some great discussion of the topic and in the end everyone will still be at games but there’s nothing wrong with fans raising a concern. Chances are the fans concerned are the ones that’ve been fans of the team than most of the people saying this is petty.
@ Jack Trudeau
Just FYI, The Sabres did not change colors or anything to the Portland Pirates, they replaced the Ducks patch with a Sabres one, that was it. The “former sabres color scheme” you refered to was in place well before the Sabres took over and had nothing to do with the Sabres.