Back in late December, Sean recapped a 4-1 win over the Predators and made a small reference towards the end:
What in the blue hell was up with the green men in the stands? That is some funny stuff right there.
As someone who's been told by bartenders that I remind them of Charlie from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, I loved the concept right off the bat.
Of course it got better after that night. Naturally the Preds saw them (Scatchard may still have nightmares in fact). The KB sure noticed. So did the Sun. Puck Daddy mentioned them against both Nashville and Buffalo. Eventually the Canucks marketing team couldn't ignore them. And now opposition marketing teams can't either.
So little did we know that the Nashville win would be the start of the Green Men movement which you can now follow via Facebook, Twitter and their Web site. They just fine tuned their stylish antics at the Olympics and also landed a gig modeling active wear for Agoo Apparel (I know I know, I'm kicking myself for not thinking of this too).
We fired off some questions to the Green Men - who you likely know by now are named Force and Sully - prior to the Olympic break and they were cool enough to get back to us. After the jump we explore when their concept started, their pregame rituals and what teams they really want to see parade to the box next to them. Enjoy!
NM: First and foremost, is one of you Pierre McGuire? Be honest.
Force: No, neither of us are Pierre McGuire. I could see how you could make that mistake seeing how we are both quite bald. We did however ask McGuire to be the third Greenman, but he turned us down... then started yelling something about McGuire's monsters
NM: What was your eureka moment? When did the Green Men idea come into its own and did you have any hesitations?
Sully: After watching an episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", which is where the Greenman originates from, we both looked at each other and I do believe we actually yelled "Eureka" at the same time. It was a little weird, but we knew it was fate. We knew we had to become Greenmen and go to a Canucks game. As for hesitations, there was a few... I mean we aren't really wearing anything so that was a concern... and the first game we went to, it was about -5, so as we walked from our car to GM Place, it was quite tempting to bail out. I'm sure glad we didn't though!
NM: Do you have any pregame rituals?
Force: Well, both Sully and I are very concerned about making sure we stretch properly, I mean, we can't be pulling hamstrings in mid routine. We both have our pregame meals. For me it is a bowl of Kraft Dinner, a slice of watermelon (No Seeds) and a glass of A&W Rootbeer. Sully usually enjoys a strawberry poptart, campbell's chunky chicken soup and a glass of Ice Tea. I personally like a game day nap... I have to make sure I'm rested up for the big game!
NM: Aside from Scatchard covering the camera, what's the best player reaction you've had from a guy in the box?
Sully: For some reason, the Nashville Predators have a real problem with us. Patric Hornqvist took a hooking penalty the second time we went to a game against the Predators. He gets to the box and we start to bug him and he complains to the scorekeeper and the penalty box gate keeper that we were bugging him. He was trying to tattletale on us! It obviously didn't work though... The Canucks scored on the PP. It is strange but everytime a penalized player even glances at us, the Canucks score, so we do our best to make sure they look. Another good player reaction was Shea Weber. He didn't say anything, but he spent the entire two minutes trying not to look at us and he had a constant grin on his face. It was pretty funny
NM: Do you have a list of players/teams you'd like to see parade to the box when you're at a game?
Force: Ideally we want to mess with teams within the Canucks division. Calgary and Edmonton especially. The Canucks crowds are awesome when we play those teams, and we would love to be there next time they play. As for players we would love to bug... I think that the so called "personalities" of the NHL would be fun to annoy... Guys like Sheldon Souray, Dion Phaneuf, Derek Boogaard would react to us. Or how about Sean Avery! He would be awesome to harass!
NM: What are your thoughts on Vancouver's season so far, from Auger to laser pointers and everything in between?
Force: We are at the three quarter mark for the season and we both have been pretty impressed with how the Canucks have played. To sit in first in their division is pretty impressive especially because most "experts" had them pegged hovering around the 7,8,9th spots of the conference. And considering our injury depleted blueline we have done pretty well. I'm glad that Henrik Sedin finally proved he didn't need his brother to perform. Hopefully the NHL will finally start to take notice of the twins. We are also impressed that even with a new contract in hand, Alexandre Burrows continues to perform at a high level. He is perhaps, the best bargin in the league.
Looking at some of the negative things that have surronded the Canucks... I thought the league definitely swept the Toronto Maple Leaf tampering incident underneath the rug. We might come off sounding like we have a westcoast bias against the Leafs, but if any other team had of tampered like they did, it would have been a much bigger incident. The Auger fiasco has been talked to death, but a quick thought on that.... we think we were somehow involved in that. We were at that game, we were distracting him and he took it out on the Canucks. So we apologize to Burrows and the Canucks, but ever since that incident we have been getting favorable reffing so there you go.
The last little note.... the green laser was NOT us. That rumor floated around the internet right after it happened, but not only were we not at the game, but it was on the wrong side of the ice. What we do is harmless fun, the person with the laser was doing something that was potentially dangerous. The guy is a goof who we don't want at the games!
NM: Unless things go horribly awry, are you planning any changes to your craft once the post season starts?
Sully: No plans to change our craft. We look forward to supporting our Canucks down the home stretch and playoff time. I'm sure we will think up some new and innovative moves. We have to keep it original, especially in a long seven game series. If the players in the penalty box get bored of our routine, we are not doing are job and helping the Canucks win. The Greenmen are drooling over a potential matchup against the Flames in the first round. Can you imagine the Greenmen harassing the Flames for three or four games over two weeks. They will go crazy. I'm smiling just at the thought.