Yes. Also a coach and player. Though this has nothing to do with my hockey background.
Like I said earlier, your position is bizarre. The refs are either missing legit calls against Kadri or they're missing embellishment calls. Neither reflects well on the official. Why not hold them to a higher standard? One where they perform the duties they are paid to?
Well then as an official you surely realize that perfection is unattainable.
If the standard is that everything is to be called, games would go on forever. Every slash. Every hook. Every interference. Every 3 step charge. Every chirp (to player or ref) earns an unsportsmanlike misconduct.
Refs let things go. They are also paid to ensure games are entertaining. What's a penalty in the 1st period isn't one in the 3rd. And what's a penalty early in the season may not be one later on if the memo from GM says so.
Babcock is singling out individual plays in a 60 minute game. Which is clearly biased to his team's benefit. And this, to a biased crowd, resonates.
Honestly, you could remove Babcock and the Leafs and insert any team name into it and their fan base would rally around it.
A ref used discretion to let a call go against a player who has developed a reputation for embellishment. Even if the player played honourably, refs let call go all the time based on what I said above.
There's a story there?