Fire NHL Ban on Vancouver Green Men

This is way less annoying than a vuvuzela.

The NHL may soon by known as the "no hi-jinks league" now that a ban on Vancouver's Green Men forbids the two-man group from heckling penalized opposing players during games. This mean-spirited move should be fired right now.

The Green Men, who are pretty much a neon version of George Costanza's "Bodysuit Man," have been described as family friendly "merry pranksters of the penalty box [who] mock opposing players as they sit in the sin bin with props, pantomimes and acrobatic taunts."

The NHL didn't have the guts to inform the Green Men of the ban (they made the Canucks do it), and the league has not yet commented on the move. But former NHL goalie and "Hockey Night in Canada" broadcaster Glenn Healy expressed real contempt for the Green Men, saying: "We've simply had enough of looking at their rear ends and their crotches when players have to go to the box. It's about the game, it's about the players, it's not about guys doin' handstands. And the league's looked into it and they're going to make amends."

It's called home-ice advantage, Glenn, and there's nothing wrong with it. Or there wasn't until somebody decided there was. This isn't the first time the NHL has made this sort of decision, having banned octopus tossing in Detroit (a tradition since 1952) a few weeks ago. Unlike octopus tossing, which disrupts the game, the Green Men, who are paying customers themselves, are just there to entertain other fans and have some fun. Plus, the players earn more than enough money to put up with this minimal distraction while they're in the penalty box.

At the end of the day, sports is the entertainment business and the Green Men are entertaining in a harmless way. They're also pretty popular - they have over 80,000 Facebook fans, more than some NHL teams. The league is finally starting to recover from the crippling lockout in 2004-2005, but acting like the fun Gestapo isn't going to have fans clamoring for more game tickets. The NHL should lighten up, but until it does, it's fired.