That being said...
With all of the suspensions and injuries resulting from boarding/checking from behind in recent years, I fully believe that the guy being hit needs to take on some of this responsibility. Every one of these guys in the NHL knows the game they play, playing for twenty years prior to making it to the the show tends to do this.
My biggest complaint is on plays that typically occur when a defensive player is flowing behind his net with a fore checker in pursuit. The guy will check over his shoulder to see where the pressure is and then, even after seeing it, inexplicably try to turn toward the boards to change direction. The speed of today's game leaves the pursuer no where to go except into the back of the guy with the puck. 99% of the time the guy with the puck goes into the boards head first, and the opponent goes to the box or locker room for an extended period.
While it will never happen for in game situations, I would like to see the actions of the guy being hit taken into account on the call. The change is happening when it comes to suspensions, hits where the blame is equally shared tend to lead to lesser suspensions. This certainly helps, especially since the game is too fast for officials to determine what happened, they have to err on the side of caution and make the call for five even if its not entirely the fault of the guy throwing the check.
There are plenty of situations where the checker is the one to blame, just type in a search for hit from behind, you'll find hundreds of examples. But, there is no excuse for why plays like the above mentioned need to happen. The player puts their own safety in jeopardy in order to give their team an advantage. All it takes is two more strides and a pass or chip off the glass and play continues without any issues. I have a hard time feeling bad for you if you line yourself up to be hit on purpose and end up being hurt as a result. Be smart, help avoid the danger, make the smart play and clean up the game.
