Local artist Edjres Wajed designs Sabres logo with Black history message

Local artist Edreys Wajed is recognizing the Buffalo Sabres' place in Black history with a new design for a great cause.

Wajed, a Buffalo native, was inspired by Val James, the NHL's first Black American player and created a new logo for a shirt that is being sold to benefit Breaking Barriers, an initiative that "is aimed at accelerating positive outcomes for boys and young men of color across the cradle-to-career continuum."
"You can't aspire to something if you haven't seen it,"
Wajed told the Sabres website.
"That's what breaking barriers is. Are they exposed to opportunities, are they exposed to alternate paths? And that's important for a child to be exposed to certain things and to be able to make a decision.
"The courage it took for the first African-American hockey player to play in a predominantly white league and then also the courage of the Sabres to take that step as well, I think that's rich."

Wajed reimagined Buffalo's logo to incorporate the colors of the Buffalo Braves, a former NBA team that shared Buffalo Memorial Auditorium with the Sabres in the 1970s.
He replaced the Sabres' crossed swords with swords of war, or Akofena, which is a symbol of courage, valor and heroism, and is West African in origin.
The "1981" inside the logo represents the year the Sabres signed James. He was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1977 but never played in any regulation games. He played seven games for the Sabres during the 1981-82 season, and his debut marked the first time a Black American played in the NHL. James' No. 26 is also featured in the logo.
Underneath the logo, it reads, "the first african american to play in the NHL was a Buffalo Sabre."
"Going from 2021 and throwing the thread all the way back joining these pieces together so that people understand it was and is a part of the Sabres that you cheer on today" Wajed said. "So when you rock the blue and the gold, that's part of it."
The t-shirt can be purchased at
ShopOneBuffalo
or as part of a Sabres
Game Night To Go pack.