I'd actually never really thought of it that way. They wouldn't even need to have authentic arenas, or equipment. I'd imagine not dealing with licensing issues would enable them to sell it as a pretty reduced cost. Though it may just be something that's easier for them to work on "in addition" to the work they do with the rest of the game.
I still think HUT will be biggest problem for everyone wanting a realistic/enjoyable experience with any other facet of the game. It's hard to argue with numbers, and HUT brings in the $70 purchase price, plus all of the money after, facebook activity, twitter shares, all of that marketing. Things like Be a GM and other modes just don't really bring the same level of income. Which is why i would love for someone else to step in and challenge EA in the hockey market. The door couldn't get much more open. Plenty of people are ready to get something better, so now it's up to EA to right the ship, or continue to have those non-HUT people stay away, or better still, for someone to sweep in with a new perspective and steal away those sales.
That said, i wonder how much copyright issue there would be. The skill-stick is pretty unique, and i would hate to imagine that you couldn't use something similar. I remember MLB2K was a worse baseball game in just about every way, except for the pitching interface, which was amazing in regards to what The Show offered. To throw certain pitches, you used unique movement of the right stick. A fastball might just be hold down then up, a change up would be up then down, a curve would require a rotation of 270 degrees, and then flicking the stick to the side. All of it was compounded with the fact that you were trying to time it, so if you rushed it, or had a tired pitcher, it all became more difficult. It was an awesome and organic way to make pitching more difficult without resorting to forcing the player to make sacrifices. You could go for the complete game with your starter, but as he got tired, the timing of the pitch meter required more effort to get it right.
Anyhow, i think that was copyrighted (similar to the "swiping" of touch screens on phones, which was absurd in the age of
everything having a damn touchscreen.) and if the idea of shooting and (hopefully, if EA smarts up) playing defense and using the sticks to have dynamic movements that have higher or lower error rates based on your input along with player ratings not be something being something another company couldn't do and had to find a way to make hockey fun with just the face buttons. I don't know that i could switch back.