Green Men: Thanks For The Memories, Guys

While the Vancouver Canucks are not high on my list of NHL teams for whom I have fond associations, I was deeply saddened to learn this past fall that their most famous supporters, the Green Men, are calling it quits and hanging up their Zentai suits after the conclusion of the 2014-15 ’Nucks season.

For those who have somehow missed them, the dynamic duo known as Force (Adam Forsyth) and Sully (Ryan Sullivan) have entertained Canucks fans and taunted opposing players with their colorful and creative antics at Canucks games in Rogers Arena since 2009. The two men are clothed in head-to-foot green spandex without eye or mouth holes, have performed acrobatics such as handstands, and used everything from handwritten signs and cardboard cutouts of players and other people to waffles, mostly to taunt opposing players who are sitting in the Sin Bin.

This take on the Montreal Canadiens’ acumen with personnel was one of my all-time favorites:

The inaugural event was supposed to involve not hockey but a Seattle Seahawks football game. The two had ordered bright green Zentai spandex suits that they were to wear at the game, but Sully’s suit did not arrive in time, so they did not go. When the suit came the next day they went to a Canucks game instead that night. From that day forth they were known as the Green Men. Force wears the day-glo green suit, while Sully wears the darker, emerald one.

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Then one day Sully was gifted two tickets to a Canucks game next to the opposing team’s penalty box, and a legend was born. Sully worked at that time for a roofing company, and the owner had season tickets next to the penalty box. Following their rise to fame, the owner gifted them the seats for a long run, but they have since had to pay their own way.

The duo said that the idea for the Green Men, which was to be just a one-time thing, came from an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, in which the Charlie Kelly character wore a similar suit in a third-season episode.

On September 19, 2012, the Green Men were inducted into ESPN’s Hall of Fans.

In 2011, the Canucks informed the Green Men that they would no longer be permitted to perform handstands, touch the glass, or verbally engage opposing players. That year the Canucks made it to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Boston Bruins, and in an interview with Jim Morris, Sully and Force said the roofing company sold them the two tickets it owned for Game One in Vancouver at face value—around $1400 for the pair of them. The two were making appearances at local events for a small fee, including attending a bar mitzvah, in hopes of scraping together enough money to afford more games in the Final.

During the ’Nucks run to the Stanley Cup Final in a game against the Nashville Predators, Force and Sully held up a cardboard cutout of country singer Carrie Underwood wearing a Canucks jersey when her husband, Predators forward Mike Fisher, was in the penalty box.

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When the Preds’ Shane O’Brien—an ex-Canuck—went in the box, the Green Men lampooned his public image as a partyer by pretending to shake a martini.

While the Bruins won the Cup in seven games in a hard-fought series, the Green Men were gracious in defeat, tweeting: “Dear rioters: You’re a disgrace to our city. Congratulations on the win Boston. We’re not all like this on the west coast.”

In one of their most amusing pranks ever, they threw bunches of frozen waffles up in the air in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs when forward Tim Brent was in the box in reference to Leafs fans who had thrown waffles onto the ice at Air Canada Centre in a game around that time.

The fact that their faces are entirely covered and don’t show through the spandex is a brilliant touch and accentuates the inanity of their taunts, as if they can’t be accessed, and any objections or challenges to their antics won’t be recognized anyway.

Without sidelines, end zones, and other open spaces lending itself to the prominent mascots, cheerleaders, and other team-support activities ubiquitous to football, the NHL rink has been a rather sterile environment in that respect. The color, animation, and creativity infused into games by the Green Men is as thought-provoking as it is entertaining, and their immense popularity with fans should be an inspiration for other teams to embrace such creative outlets in the name of team support.

Regardless, they will be dearly missed.

Both Forsyth and Sullivan have now been trained in journalism and are embarking on their new careers. Something tells me they won’t have any problem sniffing out a good story after being one for seven years.

To close, here is a delightful compilation of some of their best moments, courtesy of David Pasztor:

Let us know your thoughts, Blues fans!

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