Good, constructive post, and it's hard to disagree with you.
I myself very rarely watch hockey via a stream site. If I do it's usually an NHL game. I never have the time nowadays though after becoming a Dad.
And yes, your sentiment regarding the hockey is dead right. Streaming games could and most likely would kill television interest. It just bugs me that to watch something your into, sport, movies, you have to pay extra on top of everything else.
I have and continue to use stream sites for football. I can't and to some extent, refuse, to pay for Sky sports. So it's my only hope of watching games. Also, games are always shown live in other countries, even those that K.O at 3.00 PM on a Saturday afternoon.
The English Premiere league shown not here, but in America, the far East, etc.
Work that one out!