The Business of Fandom: The Green Men of Vancouver

photo from the Official Green Men website

By Lisa Ovens

If the Canucks/Predators series isn’t floating your boat, there have been a few off-ice stories that might be of interest.

Well known, green spandex wearing, Vancouver hockey fans, the Green Men have a new adjective to tag onto their press releases, and that adjective is "controversial". The Green Men have appeared in the news three times this last week, and unfortunately it wasn't all about the fun and games the Green Men are known for.

Earlier this week, a Honda dealership found itself in the sites of NHL legal counsel after it was discovered the Vancouver Canucks stick and rink logo and the words “Go Canucks Go” were emblazoned prominently on the front window. The Green Men were also mentioned in the article as another auto dealer in the same group had enlisted the super fans to appear at a fundraising promotion, bringing up a potential issue with Green Men associations. (Vancouver Sun story here)

Also this week: Green Men were initially blamed for affecting the early morning commute at the Massey Tunnel (already a traffic jam to begin with) as two spandex clad fans “entertained” from the road side. It was discovered these two were imposter Green Men enlisted by some attention seeking pub in the suburbs.

Saturday it was rumored the Nashville Predators lodged a complaint against the Green Men (a rumor the Preds have denied, see story here). The Green Men, who attended Saturday night’s game, did divulge they received notice indirectly from the National Hockey League that they could no longer touch the penalty box glass when attending games. The penalty box camera angle had been adjusted to cut out most of the view of the Green Men, and even a security guard was seen sitting in the box, next to the glass separating the box from the Green Men.

So if you are the Green Men, you might ask yourself “is this all worth it?” Well, apparently it would be as the duo is working at monetizing their celebrity. They have a line of “Green Men” gear. Below is the Green Men Jersey, selling at $64.99 (with $9.99 going to charity). Plus they have logo’d T-shirts going for $30.00. You can book the Green Men for personal appearances. Their site also displays a banner ad for a company that sells the very spandex suits the duo wear.

for more green men gear, click here!

On April 26th, 2011, The Green Men tweeted “Heading to the game in style... Royal Limo giving us a lift, some Batchelor Plan girls along for the ride. See you soon Vancouver!”

So it’s not just the Vancouver Canucks and the NHL looking out for their business and their partners, it appears the Green Men have a stake of their own/ business relationships to nurture.

In the beginning, it was all very much innocent and organic with the Green Men. Coming alive one night at mid- winter regular season game vs. the Nashville Predators a few seasons ago, giving fans at the game and at home something to laugh about. Now they are testing the entrepreneurial waters, enjoying some trappings of their celebrity, and taking shots from the NHL and HNIC analyst, Glen Healy along the way.

After such a news worthy week, many fans are now speaking out in support of the Green Men. Though there are the critics out there as well. Personally, I am going to side with the people who own Rogers Arena as they have every right to dictate what is acceptable behaviour for the guests in their building. And those owners are also part of the National Hockey League, and ultimately it is their hockey show that comes first and foremost.

I know if I were sitting behind the Green Men, paying those steep club seat prices, their schtick would get pretty old, pretty fast, and I'd want them to get out of my view of the ice. Simple as that.

The Green Men have collected 82,000 “likes” on their facebook fanpage and have 7,700 followers on twitter.

Green Men Official Website

Game Two, Blackhawks Still Seeing Blue

Canucks 4 Blackhawks 3

Canucks lead the series 2-0

By Lisa Ovens

Who is Ben Smith? He’s one Blackhawk player that helped lift the Blackhawks right back into Game Two on Friday night. But it wasn’t quite enough. Once again the Canucks overpowered the Hawks through the first and third periods, throwing big hits, winning foot races, and most of all remaining composed each time the Hawks gained some ground on the scoreboard. The second period and Luongo…not so much.

But for Canuck fans, this was a good enough win, because we’ve lost these game twos in the past two playoff series. It's nice to kick the habit.


85 Hits last night, so the commentators need to come up with a description other than bone crushing when describing hits. Let’s see…bone rattlers, thump rumblers, skeleton scramblers, which one do you like? “That was a thump, rumblin’ hit, Jim!” “Edler just thump rumbled him, big time.”

Now we are heading to the Mad House next for Games Three and Four. Chicago fans must be just itching to see their boys come home so they can inject them with some Windy City love, support, and lotsa noise! Looking forward, It will be interesting so see Raffe Torres return to play after serving a four game suspension. I am expecting big, playoff things out of this guy, and I sure hope he delivers.

Foe me, One not so known tradition that has come out of the Blackhawk/Canuck "annual conference"? Turning on the Team 1040 radio station and listening to the hockey pundits talk about their favourite food and restaurants in Chicago. This is a given. I always get super hungry when the Canucks are in Chicago! So, over the next few days, the fridge will be stocked with healthy snack options, just in case.

Where Have the Green Men Been?

And speaking of traditions or what qualifies as a tradition, there are Canuck fans out there that feel The Green Men are a Canuck tradition. I think I have to disagree with that one. Do any Canuck fans remember "The Clapper" ? Whatever happened to him? The Green Men will one day reside in the "Where are they now file", and for some hockey fans, the sooner that happens the better.

The lycra clad boys were noticeably absent from Games One and Two. Aparently one of them has a "lower body injury" according to a Province Newspaper interview. Also, according to their twitter feed, the subject of sky high Canuck playoff tickets came up in a tweet... "just trying to come up with the $. Tickets are crazy expensive" 

The Green Men occupy two River Rock Club seats when they are working the penalized players in the box. I can tell you how much lower bowl season seats not in the Club are: (two seats per game, one game cost listed) Quarter Final $350, Semi Final $420 Conference Final $475 Stanley Cup Final $700.  Now add some more onto those prices to arrive at The Club.

Yes, The Green Men and/or their sponsors require plenty of green to do what they do as they try and get inside the opposition's head.

Great Moments in Sandwich: Mike Babcock Makes a Sandwich

by Lisa Ovens

Who would of thought the subject of sandwiches would come up twice at this blog? Actually it would be three times including my review of the Tim Horton’s breakfast sandwich in the old school Lisa’s Lounge. Okay...if you really must...here is the link to Old School Lisa’s Lounge and the column with the breakfast sandwich review. It fits in right now because Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and that was my 2007 Valentine's column post.

The other Great Moments in Sandwich occurred earlier this season, with the recipe for Sidney Crosby’s favourite sandwich involving Dempster’s bread (there was also a contest to meet Sidney in on that). As far as I know, I didn't win the contest to meet Sid in March. Now you have to wonder how Crosby will be feeling at that point in time due to the effects of his first concussion. They say its a mild one, which is a good thing, but it still doesn't solve the problems surrounding head injuries...

"The 43 concussions sustained since the exhibition season began in September puts the league on a pace for about 77 for the regular season, near the average of 75 in recent seasons and below the 82 last season, according to Dr. Ruben Echemendia, a neuropsychologist who directs the joint N.H.L.-N.H.L. Players’ Association concussion working group". From a NY Times article by Jeff Klein


Before the subject of concussions de-rails this post on sandwiches...on to Babcock's Great Moment in Sandwich...
...because unfortunately for Sid the Kid, Mike Babcock making a sandwich is the crowned KING of Great Moments in Sandwich.

“Okay I got a problem here guys. I got warm toast and no butter, man. This is a major crisis for me. Unbelievable.”

-Mike Babcock



HNIC's Elliotte Friedman's story on the coaching ways of Mike Babcock revealed more than the dedicated and hard working personality of the Red Wing's Stanley Cup winning coach. It showed how Babcock gingerly dries lettuce in a tea towel, and how he reacts when things go horribly wrong in the kitchen...
Watch Elliotte Friedman's HNIC Inside Hockey piece on Mike Babcock here

That aired on Sat. January 8th, 2011prior to the Canucks/ Red Wings tilt at Roger's Arena in Vancouver. The depleted Wings beat Vancouver 2-1 (shoot out victory). It was an exciting game to watch. After seeing so much Mike Babcock in one night, I was reminded of a quote of his...

The effort has got to equal the opportunity

He said that way back in 2003, when the team he was coaching, the Ducks, had lost their third straight game in the Stanley Cup Final. (They would battle back and win the next three, but ultimately fell to the New Jersey Devils in game seven).

If there is one saying the Vancouver Canucks could tattoo on their hands or scribble on their gloves, it would be that, the effort has got to equal the opportunity. Keep saying it boys, over and over, with each shift you take...imagine Babcock's voice, his John Wayne like tones (but a more hyper sounding Duke? No, maybe not like John Wayne.Geez who does he sound like?)  The effort has got to equal the opportunity...

Not a bad quote. A quote we could all remember with each task we do. Just make sure there's butter handy ;o)

Flyers First to Move on, The Hockey News and CDC, NHL War Room and Doughty...

by Lisa Ovens

Get the keys, Pronger, you and the rest of the Fly Bunch are cruising into Round Two. And I actually picked them to win this series! The Philadelphia Flyers put an end to the New Jersey Devils' season Thursday night with a 3-0 shut out.

Bye Bye Devils :o)

The Power of Canucks.com affecting The Hockey News?

The fan message boards on Canucks.com has the biggest membership (59,500 members and over 4,000,000 posts) out of all the NHL teams with the online feature on their websites. Over the last few years, more and more sports media refer to the "CDC" boards during their coverage of hockey. It makes some Canuck fans feel special that the hockey media "hangs of their every reaction and opinion".

Well I just saw this blog post from The Hockey News: THN.com Playoff Blog: 10 reasons to plot a Canucks conspiracy.  It's full of juicy bits, taking shots at Vancouver Canuck fans and the city of Vancouver in general. Is The Hockey News just trying to pad their online stats with the hopes of landing another coveted topic thread on CDC? Or does The Hockey News really think of us as "latte-sipping, beachcombing, socialist Vancouverites" and that our home team should be eliminated in round one?

As of this moment, a new topic featuring THN's Canucks Conspiracy List on CDC has not been created. Will a member of the Canucks community take the bait??

NHL's War Room: Do They Have a Scheduling Problem?


NHL commissioner Gary Bettman's pre-game press conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday night offered a little more insight into Life in the War Room. After being grilled by several members of Vancouver's media about Game Three's dis-allowed goal and Mike Murphy's explanation of said goal, Bettman had this to say...

"I think Mr. Murphy was trying to explain at 1 o'clock in the morning as best he could exactly what was going on and if he wasn't as articulate as those looking to parse his words, so be it. But as I said, I have complete confidence in Mike Murphy, Colie (Colin) Campbell and the entire hockey operations department."

I bolded the time above, because that's how Bettman seemed to emphasize it. Is Bettman's saying it was way passed Murphy's and the other war room cronies' bed time? If they are having trouble speaking then perhaps they are having trouble making decisions, too? How do they combat the Pacific Time Zone? Conspire to have the Sharks and the Canucks eliminated in the first round? Or do they do the logical thing: schedule a LATE shift!!

Here's a video of Mike Murphy giving a tour of the War Room on Fox Sports

BTW, the official name of the War Room is The Roger Neilson Video Room. A nice tribute to the hockey man they called Captain Video. Neilson pioneered the use of video taped games as a learning tool for his players. He also waved a white towel on a hockey stick indicating surrender to horrible officiating during a Canucks playoff game in 1982. I like the irony there.


Drew Doughty Nominated for The Norris

Yes, my Canucks are officially lining up against a Norris Trophy candidate. Howdy Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings has been nominated, along with Mike Green of the Washington Capitals, and Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks. If Doughty wins, he will be the second youngest recipient (Bobby Orr is the youngest).

GM Place (during the Olympics: Gold was won here...now how about some silver cup?)

Game Five Los Angeles Kings vs. Vancouver Canucks goes tonight at 7pm PACIFIC...stay awake War Room Cronies....

Go Canucks GO!!

The Green Men...Use them or Lose them?

                         green men working the box in Round One Kings vs. Canucks

by Lisa Ovens

The two green men are BCIT journalism students, and they are enjoying some huge face time in the media. But will putting “Green men at Canucks games” on their resumes help them score big time media jobs when school’s done?

“We’ll do anything to help the Canucks win. If we can get the Canucks fans fired up before a power play and it translates to the Canucks scoring goals, that’s what we’re here for.”

Quote from the article, Force and Sully on Canucks.com

                                 green men arrive late to their seats

I am on the fence with these two guys. I was at the game in December when they first achieved some exposure taunting Nashville’s Dave Scatchard in the penalty box. I had a good laugh. Anything they’ve done since then hasn't tickled my funny bone like that first time, so if the green men hype comes to a halt I won’t miss them. Maybe I just need to see Force and Sully take their schtick to another level. Perhaps they could add a green baby and a green girlfriend to the show. Come on boys, up the ante for your legions of fans!

And if you would like to give birth to your inner green man, or red man, or purple woman, here’s a place to order your suit....

begreenman.com

Or you could try...

 hello greenman.com

See, it's really easy to be green!