Not sure what hugging trees has to do with any of this, but hockey will always be a high impact game with the potential for injury. I don't believe I, or anyone else, is petitioning for these aspects to change.
Fighting does not need to be part of the game for the sport to still be entertaining, exciting, and yes, violent.
Only about a quarter of NHL games have a fighting major.
http://www.hockeyfights.com/stats/
The trend is heading down. Is there anyone out there pushing for more fights? Maybe you, but I mean normal people.
It probably will not take a fatality for the rules to change. If what has happened to Joey V this year were to happen to one of the league's marque players (think Crosby, 7 career fights; Ovechkin, 3 career fights), mainstream news outlets would be talking about it, and the GMs would receive pressure to change like never before.