Sports franchises can be defined by their logos. They communicate identity and ideals; they represent everything from a team's character to its geographical roots; and, over time, they can become enduring symbols, shared on jerseys and hats and championship banners through the generations.

Back in 2005, Kristopher Bazen understood the gravity of his task. A graphic designer for Reebok, he was asked to invent a new logo for the Buffalo Sabres.

Bazen wanted to create something that conveyed speed and power, with a look that pushed the limits of logo design in the NHL. He wanted to make something that would become iconic for the franchise.

Instead, he helped create one of the most hated logos in professional sports history.

Bazen is the creator of the "Buffaslug," a furry horned cashew nut that spawned everything from ridicule to widespread — and eventually successful — fan protests asking for 'Death To the Slug.'

"It felt like [crap]," he recalled, reminiscing about the backlash.

Bazen, 32, was part of a collaborative effort between Reebok, the Sabres and the NHL that created the Slug. Ultimately, it was the team's call; but Bazen had a significant enough role in its inception that it stung badly when Buffalo's new logo earned a consistent place on "worst uniforms of all-time" lists.

He hasn't spoken much about his history with the infamous Sabres logo. He'd occasionally field questions on sports logo message boards like Chris Creamer's popular website, and popped up last year to defend the design after some other concepts were leaked, gaining coverage on the NHL logo site Icethetics. It was on Creamer's message board this week, however, where Bazen "came out" as the man behind the Slug this week.

He published a page of logo concepts on his personal blog, showing the evolution of the symbol from buffalo to Buffaslug.

The Internet is filled with designers who bemoan the quality of logos and jerseys; Bazen said one reason he decided to speak up about his work on the Buffaslug was to show "how the sausage is made" in creating a logo -- speaking as the man who fathered the Buffaslug.

"I wanted to show that we exhausted those options, and they decided to go in another direction. It wasn't due to a lack of effort," he said.

THE SLOW CRAWL TO SCORN

Bazen grew up in Canton, Ohio, spending the majority of his formative years drawing everything from Bart Simpson to Michael Jordan. "I'd always been a sports logo designer. I was the kid in the classroom that was drawing from the [NBA] Skybox cards," he said.

It was in middle school when he started to learn there was money in art: He'd draw note-perfect recreations of Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Hornets logos, and then "sell" those works for items in other students' lunches. Eventually, he made a career out of graphic design.

In 2005, Bazen was around 25 years old and working for Reebok, which had just partnered with the NHL in revamping the League's hockey sweaters to make them tighter, faster and more water resistant. The Sabres saw this as an opportune time to change the look of their colors and logo from the red and black sweaters they were currently wearing. One goal was to move back to the traditional blue and gold of their more beloved jerseys. Another was to rethink their logo for modern times.

"We wanted to create something that would be iconic and a little more forward thinking. Reebok wanted to push the envelope somehow. I give them credit, because they tried to be innovative. The Sabres also wanted to go in a new direction, based on what they decided on," Bazen said.