I come out on the side of posters like btimbit and Jiri here. I have no problem with hard, clean (legal!) hits, but the amount of abuse and injuries that NHL star players suffer is not just ridiculous from a player-safety perspective, it's also bad business.
Guys like Crosby, McDavid and Gaudreau have all recently suffered longer-term injuries due to the actions of other players. If you're trying to market the game, what good is having guys like these on the sidelines? Their injuries go beyond the normal "wear and tear" injuries players get over the course of a season, and if the NHL brass were smart, they'd send stronger messages to players who cross the line, especially against star players.
Partisanship aside, Petterson is a fun player to watch. The NHL is better with him playing than sidelined because of garbage like that.
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