Would you be happier if the rules said "the player who most convincingly acts will win the call"? Then it wouldn't be cheating, but part of the game...
I don't think it's nearly as bad as the American incarnation of hockey, where fistfights are tolerated with a slap on the wrist. Talk about encouraging unsportsmanlike behavior. If you tried that in soccer, you'd at the very least get a red card, if not more.
And the fistfights, from what I gather, are quite well refereed--the gloves come off, one player wins, the referee referees the fight, and then you go back to hockey.
We complain because the NHL is the extreme exception among US sports, rather than the rule. A lot of Americans don't like the fighting in the NHL either.
I don't think it's nearly as bad as the American incarnation of hockey, where fistfights are tolerated with a slap on the wrist. Talk about encouraging unsportsmanlike behavior. If you tried that in soccer, you'd at the very least get a red card, if not more.