Along these lines, I have a friend who is an avid ice hockey fan. For you non-North Americans, ice hockey is a supposed sport that is really an excuse for grown men 9and women) to go out on skates and beat the living hell out of one another. Cf. "rugby"

As the world's most complete non-sportsman, I felt compelled to speak up in defence of ice hockey. While the few NHL games I've seen broadcast here in NZ fit your description, there is a real sport lurking under the thuggery, and when played well, as by some teams at Winter Olympics, it can be a thing of real grace and beauty, as can NZ's national sport, the other victim of your crude generalisation. Also, as an interesting aside, Coca-cola runs an ad in NZ showing rugby being played on an ice hockey rink.
On the matter of words, am I correct in thinking that ice hockey uses the term "goaltender" rather than "goalkeeper"?