I have no doubt that fatigue increases likelihood of injury, but fatigue does not equal injury.
Fatigue is not something that can be easily measured from a game to game basis just due to the physical conditioning of different players. Some of those guys could have been fatigued after the first period while others might not have been at all throughout the game. Both scenarios are equally likely. Sure, the fatigue levels increase, but by how much is highly variable. This is one of the largest reasons that I stated later that using injury becomes too much of a blanket statement. Using fatigue almost epitomizes that idea because of all the other confounding variables that induce both mental or physical fatigue, like high levels of stress or insufficient sleep. That doesn't mean it's not a valid reason, I just feel that the outcome of injury is a risk for every game. So to use it to justify ending it after 80 minutes with a shootout instead of something like spreading the games over a longer period of time is not that convincing.
Also, while I don't think this was your intention, don't insinuate that I don't care for player safety. I'm not suggesting goalies play with their masks off or that spearing should be allowed. I don't want these guys to struggle later in life because of a game. Saying that, I don't think playing longer in one game was going to cause such an injury of that magnitude. I'd even wager that an injury of that scale would happen earlier in the game because of the amount of energy and vigor each team would have compared to the end.
Definitely wasn't my intention to insinuate that you don't care for player safety. Just a general point, which is probably applicable to many people who watched the game. I wouldn't necessarily expect a random hockey fan tuning in to watch to care more about the safety of someone they don't know and will never meet over their enjoyment of the game, so I'm not judging anyone who falls into that category. I'm just trying to point out that the parties involved and governing body
do have that vested interest, and it's one that I think should be taken into account when formulating policies.
I'm well aware that fatigue levels are highly variable. Nobody it trying to say that an injury was guaranteed should the game have continued without shootouts. The people who set the policy are simply trying to determine what's the best balance point between ending the game "ideally" (subjective, obviously) and protecting the parties involved from increasing/unusual levels of risk. I doubt the line they ultimately decided on was an arbitrary one.
Hockey is a fast game that relies on balance and reflexes. If your legs stop responding the way you are used to, you could easily go headfirst into the boards when pushed normally from behind, or slide into the boards at high speed if you can't hold your edge, or take a full hit that you might otherwise dodge.
Sure, those things can happen anyway, but I can tell you from personal experience that they're a lot more likely to happen when your legs are burnt out, which can easily happen in a 2+ OT game regardless of what your fatigue level was coming in.
I pulled up to stop on a puck once, but executed the stop awkwardly thanks to my jelly legs and ended up unbalanced. A simple shove from behind pitched me headfirst into the boards. Probably had a concussion, though I didn't know it at the time, but it obviously could have been a lot worse. That was during my 3rd game in 24 hours during a tournament (none went to OT), and I was a college athlete at the time, so in pretty good shape. At some point during that 3rd game I hit a wall and my form/execution went to hell, and things got dangerous.
Completely anecdotal, so I'm not trying to "prove" anything. I'm just illustrating that I've been there. I know how it feels to play at that level of fatigue, and (for me, anyway) my injury risks were well beyond my normal standards. I didn't care at the time because I was a kid, but looking back as a much older person, I wish that someone had been looking out for me. Other people will have different perspectives, but that's where I'm coming from.
