I've never seen any empirical support for the proposition that the
prevalence of helmets and cages INCREASES stick work, only personal opinion.
And my personal opinion is that it doesn't.  Quotes from "old time players"
are to me about as reliable as tales of "the good old days" typically a
nostalgic application of selective memory (like remembering the $1000 car,
but forgetting the $1/hr wage and the 60 hour week).  There were some damn
unethical players then, just as there are now.
 
Nor have I seen empirical evidence that lessening the penalties for fighting
would decrease stickwork, though I think it's safe to say that lessening the
penalties for fighting would result in more fighting.  My opinion is all we
would get is the same amount of stickwork and more fighting.
 
While I admit that anecdotal evidence is not much more valuable than
personal opinion, I will point out that the NHL's ugliest stick swinging
incident occurred in pre-helmet, pre-European days.  One of the combatants,
Ted Green, was a "code" warrior if there ever was one.  The "code" didn't
prevent him from requiring a metal plate to be screwed into his skull.
 
I think things are fine the way they are.  While I grudgingly accept
fighting in the NHL (which as pointed out in the base note is more about
entertainment than hockey), the absence of it is one of the things that I
like about college hockey.
 
Clay
 
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