STILL don't understand why they just don't hang up a banner. You haven't addressed this.
Once again, WHY put it on the floor in the first place if you can't step on it? BANNER. You still haven't really given a real answer to this, only "it's tradition" which isn't a good answer. WHY IS IT A TRADITION? I know you said you're not sure where this started, which further reinforces how dumb the rule is, but I would imagine you'd have a better answer than "it's a tradition", coming from a hockey fan such as yourself. There has to be some other reason.