In hockey no one, and I mean no one, ever complains about the birth year system. Occasionally, you will hear someone say "Oh, my Johnny has a bad hockey birthday", but it is never in the form of a complaint - more like an "Oh well". None of these parents advocate for a different system. I have also never heard a parent say "oh look, that team probably has a lot of january or february kids". No one says this, because its stupid. If all kids are born within the same 12 month window, its as fair as it can ever be, and everyone accepts that.
The big reason/difference is that in Hockey the end of the rainbow is the NHL draft and it is age based were as the pot of gold in lacrosse is the verbal commitment to a roster spot and admissions and that is grade based. I am not saying this is good or bad, just that it is what it is.
