Moving in the same direction and block.
There's nothing there saying you can stop and hit someone.
That's a player skating and slowly down, thus slowing down the opposing player
Everyone knows you can't hit a player who doesn't have the puck that's 100% interference.
NHL let's it go because they let other shit go and sometimes it causes a nice little scrum, or something.
You're making assumptions that aren't supported by the rulebook. Again, the interference rule is saying you have the right to your ice. It additionally says this:
A player is always entitled to use his body position to
lengthen an opponent’s path to the puck, provided
his stick is not utilized (to make himself “bigger” and
therefore considerably lengthening the distance his
opponent must travel to get where he is going); his
free hand is not used and he does not take
advantage of his body position to deliver an
otherwise illegal check.
That section of the interference rule is specifically saying that you can't take advantage of your body position to "deliver an otherwise illegal check." There is no reason to have the word "illegal" in the rule if you aren't allowed to deliver a check.
You can deliver a check to protect the ice you're on. Because you have ultimate right to that ice (again, unless you're setting a pick).
Correct me if I'm wrong but it really does seem like you're allowed to the ice at your own feet at virtually any time, even if you're doing things that are unexpected and perhaps even go against the flow of the game.
It seems like he's trying to set up and read for a bounce but even if he were just refusing to play the puck out of some kind of general protest or outstandingly poor strategy he's still allowed to be there. You'd have to prove that the act of him stopping involves intentionally interfering with the player coming in behind him which seems like a tough ask to call a penalty there, even if you can infer that he should know somebody is coming.
players who are irresponsible with this "currency" won't last long in the league but the spirit of this seems to protect players' rights and subsequent safety in 50/50 battles and insulate against bad actors cutting corners to draw penalties. Ultimately this is a physical sport and nobody should be dissuaded from literally standing their ground, whether that contact is expected or not.
Yep. I don't think people generally actually read the rules they talk about. The only time a player doesn't have the ultimate right to the space they occupy is in when they're in the opponent's crease.