You and many Canadians. Hockey viewership is way down. I say good riddance. There's so many more interesting things to do with your time than watch sports, like go play sports. It's healthy, instead of reading the sports page, and watching games.

But then I matured to realize the macho violence was sabotaging the morality of our society. Hockey could and should be bound to the same anti-violent rules as soccer. If you cross the violence line in soccer you get red carded out of the game. As well, the hockey media announces sound like they belong in the Planet of the Apes movie.

I never thought I'd say this, but I've basically given up on watching sports. I'll watch a couple things here and there (the last thing I watched was the women's soccer team winning Olympic gold) but I'm mostly done. I used to be a hockey fan like you but steadily started getting turned off by it.
First, hockey is just a dirty game with no honor. I like contact sports. I think you should play hard, but not try to cheat or injure another player. I was hoping that as the game evolved things would get better. They did not. Remember when you watched pro wrestling as a kid and the "bad guys" would hit the good guy with a weapon while the referee was oblivious? That's what watching the NHL started to feel like for me. Years ago, there was a player named Marc Savard who was forced to retire because of concussions. He was asked by a reporter what the biggest problem with the NHL was, and he answered, "the players don't respect each other." That, in a nutshell, is the biggest thing that disgusts me.
Your point about Canadian teams unable to win a championship for decades is also key. NHLers don't want to live in Canada. They'd rather move to America and rake in money playing in a city full of casual hockey fans who would never recognize them on the street and ask for an autograph. They don't want the attention and pressure they get from playing in Canada so great players that you can build a team around tend to leave as soon as they get the chance. Consequently, Canadian teams are doomed to never really compete for a championship.
There's just no point in watching anymore.

ever notice how the playoffs almost always go to 7 games? Like it is just impossible to determine a best of 7 winner without a 3 - 3 situation, get real. I guess the ad revenue is really good.

The violence sucks big time and the lack of calls during the playoffs only condones this. Canucks were close to the cup until they were brutalized. Hamhuis broken back...not worth a blood sport AND TOTALLY agree with @milking it. Another point I missed but have noticed. barf.