Reality to Earth . . . Check with management. There's a screw loose somewhere . . .
If you're a hockey fan, there are certain constants you learn to live with in the game. On Hockey Night in Canada, Don Cherry is going to wear a jacket that looks like a Sherwin-Williams factory threw up on a J.C. Penney store. Detroit fans are going to celebrate their team's prowess with a certain piece of seafood. Fans of the New York Rangers are going to continue their tradition of berating a ghost of Islanders past, chanting 'Potvin Sucks' three to five times a game, just because. In Vancouver, you don't want to take a penalty against the home team unless you want to spend time with Sully and Force . . .
Who are Sully and Force? Think Blue Man Group, only in green; two young guys in body-covering Lycra who are posted to seats near-by, getting the fans stirred up and pulling some fairly crazy stunts involving props, including cutouts among other things, one a life-sized Carrie Underwood cutout which was adorned in a Vancouver Canucks jersey when her husband came to town in the playoffs.
Then the space-time continuum bent a hair to the off-side, readers. The Canucks passed on an edict from the NHL for them to tone down their antics. No more touching the glass, 'engaging players verbally' or doing handstands to distract the opposition.
To tell the truth, it's kind of a silly act; but so what? Is it any sillier than the NHL going so far as to try and get the city of Detroit to make it illegal to throw octopi on the ice, a local tradition since 1952 signifying the eight-victory sequence once required to earn a Stanley Cup? I find it amazing the league office considers such things a threat to the game worthy of their immediate attention (Or in the case of the flying octopi, continued attention) while it took a concussion to league poster boy Sidney Crosby for them to consider legislating hits to the head, such as the flying elbow-leads which have been thrown by players and shortening careers for decades.
It's two guys in a green suit. If you don't think it's funny, fine, turn your head and move on. The last thing you want if you're the NHL is your fans thinking you're against their having fun at the game. Just consider what the average hockey fan sees (Or in the case of some small-market franchises being propped up by profitable teams and the league office, isn't getting an audience for) in the course of a year which would go higher on the list of importance.
I'm not saying the NHL needs to hire Ringling Brothers' Barnum and Bailey to generate fan interest, far from it, but they do need to get a clue as to what their problems and failures have been with selling what is, in its essence, an exciting sport (With the exception of games in which The New Jersey Devils run their trap defense). They need the fans to come to the game and have fun there, green Spandex notwithstanding. They need their players to stay healthy, even if it means someone might have to use their one less weapon in their arsenal of marginal talents or be suspended for forgetting the rules. (Speaking of rules, I'll stay away from the refereeing arguments and the impression of 'ice-tilt' many fans get watching the game. It can either raise blood pressure or be an eye of the beholder sort of thing.)
I do have some hope for hockey. The Annual Winter Classic is an interesting nod to the roots of the game, and is attended by crowds upwards of 70,000. The All-Star Game this year showed flashes of life and entertainment. An ex-player who joined the brigade of suits in the NHL offices took on the job of arranging the whole thing, and did a fairly good job . . . Wait . . . Hey, there's a concept. Someone who knows why hockey is considered fun is in a place where he could actually affect league doctrine.
There you go, guys . . . Not a bad idea, is it? See what happens when you keep your eye on the puck?
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