Originally Posted by
PaulFLUS
Hockey is a rough game anyway even without intentional hitting. I think the hitting and rough stick play adds another dimension to the game. If a player thinks he's going to be hit or stick checked it can change the way they handle to puck and cause them to lose advantage. On the other hand, if you foul another player then you go on the penalty kill which is another skillset as is the power play. Generally the PP works against a team so they want to stay out of the box. So they have to balance how much force they use. Then there's the aspect of drawing penalties to gain the advantage. It's another series strategic layering. I don't like the rough play for the sake of it necessarily but more because of how it affects the play of the game.