If they totally eliminate hitting and fighting - removing the physical play - then you are left with a sterile game devoid of as much emotion. Why not just watch ringette? I am half serious.
Hockey has always been a fairly violent sport. Boxing is violent. MMA is violent. If you don't want to watch any sort of violence, then why would someone tune into watching them?
Hockey has risks. It is up to the league to try and reduce injuries - better and more consistent officiating/disciplinary action, better use of technologies and long-term studies to better implement protective equipment, etc.
With that being said, if you remove actual hitting and fighting, how sterile would the games be? There are a tonne of games that way already. Do I feel bad for when players get hurt? Of course I do, especially if they suffer long-term injuries that cut their careers short, and especially to those that suffer injuries that last beyond their playing careers. However, there is always a choice whether to play hockey or not. There is a choice if an athlete wants to enter Boxing, MMA, American Football, Lacrosse... just like the choice of whether or not someone wants to enter Policing, Firefighting, etc.
You make the rules to try and lessen injuries - especially long-term injuries - but the game is what it is. Changing it as much as what Jiri suggests would change this game into something akin to Ringette. Last I checked, not many people watch it.
So many games are rather boring throughout the season. The games that elicit the most excitement in any arena, or pub, or anywhere else that a number of fans get together? The games that are physical.
I can't speak for everyone, but I would probably start tuning into a lot more international football matches and start following that sport much more. I got really tired of basketball. Boxing became too boring and corrupt. MMA is fine, but over the years I have lost some interest there as well. Hockey is the sport I follow most, but if they change it I know I will start following American football and international football a whole lot more, and hockey a whole lot less. These sterile games are just not very interesting personally, and feel more like a chore, and I end up watching it all 'just in case I miss something'.
Not criticizing here, but if someone feels so strongly about making rather large changes in an existing sport, why not just watch another sport where it fits what you are looking for? Don't get me wrong, nobody should tell you what to watch and not to watch, but from a curiosity standpoint, why watch a sport that has a fairly large component of something you detest? I watched the NBA from when I was a kid right through my 20's.. maybe into my 30's, and eventually I just stopped watching. Just curious here, actually, and not judging.
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