Behind the Green

There's no doubt that if you're a Vancouver Canucks fan in the 2011 run to the Stanley Cup Finals, there's one detail that you would like to be different.  You may have also noticed two guys in green body suits near the opponents' penalty box at Canucks home games.  For the first time ever, you get to see the Canucks' run in that year through the eyes of one of the Green Men.

Behind the Green is a fairly short, yet riveting look through the eyes of Ryan Sullivan, who was "Sully" of the Green Men.  The story tells of the duo's beginnings ("Force" is the other half of the Green Men), which began with a chance encounter between the two guys (not in green bodysuits) at a class in BCIT.  A few internships and an aborted mission to dress as the Green Men at a Seattle Seahawks game later, the Green Men were born.  However, even after the initial success at a game against the Nashville Predators, the road wasn't exactly a smooth one for the duo, as they learned the hard way about business dealings and the difficulties in keeping the act from growing stale.  Many trials and tribulations were had, and it almost ended before it had a chance to really hit the ground.  There were the highs (their first appearance in the playoffs in 2010) and the lows (seeing the momentum deflate after that series loss against Chicago), and certainly, there were times when it seemed that fame would be fleeting, if not for an incident involving the Toronto Maple Leafs and waffles being thrown on the ice.  It was the 2011 playoffs that would catapult the Green Men into North American consciousness, as the duo got to travel for some of the road games and encountered numerous interview requests, while relishing every chance to be out of the suits (as Sullivan says in the book, it can get stuffy in the suits and you have a hard time seeing through them).  The book ends with Sullivan's thoughts on the Vancouver riots that happened after game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Behind the Green is one of the best books written about a couple of fans who got the chance to do what so many of us, as hockey fans, have always wanted to do: be there for our team, wherever they may travel and no matter the result.  As you read the book, there are consequences for every action, and not all of them benefited the Green Men.  As a bonus for anyone who aspires to be in the Journalism field, Sullivan offers a few tips on having some level of success, as he (and "Force") both work in the field when he is not prancing around in a green bodysuit.

You will laugh, you will cry, you will cringe at the thought of doing the worm with a cup on, but you will find Behind the Green to be nothing short of exciting, and "Sully" is there to guide us through life in green.

If you'd like a copy of the book, head to the Behind the Green website.