One of the things I liked about games on ESPN were the sort of overhead view, from right about the glass behind the goalie. You really got a good sense of how the play was developing. Of course I'd been watching the game for 20 years or so by that point and it's hard for me to NOT understand what is happening on the ice, just from the way the players move.
They need to have some creative directors come in and help design a good way to present the sport on TV to get around it's inherent limitations for newbies.
I've never watched a game on HDTV, but from what I'm told it is much better than regular TV. I still think you'd have to love the game enough to watch it in the first place to appreciate the difference (and I surely do).