Hockey will always be a marginalized sport because it's basically just organized violence.   The NHL is stuck between a rock and a hard place because they know that half the fans won't keep going to the games if they don't see blood on the ice.   But that millions of other people, including me, think that hockey is disgusting caveman spectacle (apologies to cavemen) because of all the blood on the ice.

Without the fighting, hockey has the potential to be fast, graceful, and exciting, but without the fighting the NHL has no franchise and they know it so they're afraid to ban it.