Sweet you're gonna stay on that ledge of "as long as it's in the context of the game it's legal"
So when McSorley knocked out Brashear(right?) with a stick to the side of the head, that was perfectly fine?
Spearing, Butt-ending, slashing, cross checking, contact to the knee, contact to the head, slew-footing are really just guidelines.
You can injure a guy severely with any of the above infractions.