if hartman rubs silf out in the corner, no one says peep. if he takes the same run at a bottom 6 forward, THEY might go but they might not. if they dont go, then likely no one goes.
If the premise is that players collectively agree that should you be perceived to be taking liberties on the ice that your right to refuse to settle is revoked, then it comes down to " was hit X clean ?" The players dont get to look at screen shots or collectively huddle to decide what the response ( if any ) will be. so they make decisions, some right, some wrong. if its a 50/50 hit on your teamate and you go what are the chances said teamate appreciates your choice ? What if you simply let it be ? so chances are, on a bordeline hits someone is going to interpret it as taking liberties and try to settle accounts.
how this continues to surprise people is beyond me.