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S70 Retrospective (IIHF x2 media)
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It was another season of disappointment for Roderic Banes and the battle-tested Montreal Patriotes. After an impressive regular season, which saw them in the league lead for stretches of the opening half of the season, the Montreal Patriotes finished 4th overall, finishing comfortably first in the North East Division, and eking out a second place finish in the Eastern Conference by virtue of 3 Over Time Losses. As far as individual performance goes, Roderic Banes saw a career high in average ice time in Season 70, finishing with an ATOI of 23:19, almost a full minute more than his previous career high, set in Season 65. Roddy also set a personal record for Takeaways in a single season, with 56. Notching 51 points (10G, 41A) through the season, his second-best season as a defender. Although it seems that age is beginning to catch up with Roddy. He set a new career high in Penalty Minutes, with 48 (his previous career high in a single season was 33), though as such an outlier, and coupled with his career-low in Shooting Percentage, some frustration may have been at play. We will see what the future holds for Roderic Banes as a Powerplay force. That said, however, age is not discouraging Roddy from leaning into the physical side of the game, as he still recorded 126 Blocked Shots, and the highest Hits in a season during his time as a defender, with 77. Though age may slow the veteran over time, his positional play and willingness to sacrifice the body will likely hold up for some seasons to come. His Shooting Percentage this season is especially interesting, as it ended up over a full percentage point below his career low as a defender, and slightly above just HALF his career average. Hopefully, some positive regression to the mean will bring some scoreboard success next season. Still a contributor to the team, Roddy B's 41 Assists were enough for 3rd among the Patriotes in Season 70, and the lead among defenders. He finished 8th overall in assists league-wide, but the lack of goals kept him out of the top 10 in points.

Unfortunately, the Patriotes regular season season success did not translate into playoff success, as they battled back from an early deficit to overcome their longtime rivals the Hamilton Steelhawks, only to fall in a dramatic game 7 to the second-place finisher in the North East: The New England Wolfpack. Frustratingly, Roderic Banes saw enormous personal success during the limited run, finishing with 5 Goals and 7 Assists through 13 games, tying his personal best post-season total in 3 fewer games played, and his best as a defender. Despite exiting in the second round, Roddy still finished high among defenders in the playoffs, sitting 4th in goals, 5th in points, and tied for 10th in assists. All his puck luck seemed to catch up with him post-season, as he finished with a 13.2% Shooting Percentage. Still, the personal milestones feel hollow when laid at the feet of second-round elimination. Does elimination at the hands of the eventual champions lessen the sting? To Roddy, it simply makes it hurt more. Having played on par or better than the Wolfpack through a tightly-contested series, it only strengthens Roddys belief that, had their fates been reversed, Montreal would have been able to go the distance. But we'll never know, and as they say: 'close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.' And so we move on from what may have been to continue discussing what was, and what is.

It's a good time to examine personal milestones, as Roddy B played his 500th career game this season. Will he make it to 1,000? Only time will tell, but if Roddy has his way, he'll play until he can't walk. Currently, in 528 Games Played, Roddy has totaled 146 Goals and 287 Assists for 433 Career Points. Less than a Point per Game, but again, the mid-career transition makes examining his career in totality very difficult. Some milestones and nice, round numbers on the horizon will very likely be reached in Season 71. 150 career goals seems quite do-able, as does 300 assists and 450 points. As a more substantial figure, he is only 60 blocked shots away from 1,000; putting him into the Golden Shinpads territory. After this season, Roddy will only be one full season away from having equal career time as a defender and a forward. Will he play those two seasons? It's quite likely. What the future holds beyond that is still in flux, and lies mainly in the cold, insidious creeping tide of regression. A former Montreal Patriote of legend, Kriss Darzins, played deep into regression, and continued to be a valuable part of the team. It varies from player to player, but Roddy will be a Patriote to the end. Whether it's the end of his career or the end of his usefulness remains to be seen.

Moving on the current events. At the time of writing, Team Latvia is resting at 8th overall, with 6 Wins and 5 Losses (plus one Overtime loss) through completion of the group round robin stage of the tournament. Roderic Banes sits 7th in team scoring, with 7 Assists and 7 Points through the 12 games, with a tie for second on the team  +/- rating of +8. He also leads the team in blocked shots with 38. He is tied for the third in assists among IIHF defenders through the first tournament stage, and tied for 10th in points. His defensive play has really stood out, with an impressive 1.3 GA/60, with 3.6 GF/60. The traditional and advanced stats show he is having the best IIHF showing of his career, thanks to a high PDO, and the story of his SHL play seems to be repeating itself here in the IIHF: personal success and milestones, with team struggles. While he would trade his own personal victories for team victories any day of the week, let's examine his IIHF career so far. Currently, his 7 points has already eclipsed his most productive tournament as a defender, through the completion of the round robin, and his +/- rating this year is his personal best, and so far the only time he has carried a positive rating. With 3 games remaining in the schedule, Latvia has a steep climb to make it into medal contention, but nothing is impossible. With teammates Wing, Marner and Bordeleau only a few years removed from superstardom, Latvia remains a team to not be taken lightly. With a tough matchup against the rolling wagon of Team Canada, elimination is a strong possibility, but the Latvian team is not to be taken lightly, scraping out some close losses against Canada during the round robin.

Diving into some crunchy advanced stats, Roderic Banes showed remarkable consistency compared to his previous season. He saw a 1 point decrease in PDO, from 103 to 101.7. His Goals For dropped off slightly, from 4.3 to 4.1, while his Goals Against saw a small increase from 2.3 to 2.7. His Shots For showed a small increase, from 36.3 to 36.7, but his Shots Against also rose from 25.8 to 28. Over the past 3 seasons, his Corsi For has remained quite consistent, with less than a full percentage point of variation. Given his increased deployment time this season, the slight nature of the changes indicate an evolving game, as Roddy works to his strengths to remain a contributor. And with nearly a full minute additional time per game on the Powerplay, he increased his Powerplay output by 4 points. For now, Roddy seems to be fighting regression well. While his advanced stats showed consistency, they failed to leap off the page when compared to the team as a whole, except in one area: Roddy was the most effective Patriote in Season 70 at limiting shots against, with his 28 SA/60 being the lowest on the team.

All in all, if Roddy can spend less time in the penalty box, and continue to play to his strengths while working on his weaknesses, I believe he can continue to be an all-situations defender for Montreal, showing his value on the second powerplay unit. As the seasons advance, he likely seems only a couple years from becoming more of a role-player. But until his game needs to be sheltered, you can count on Roddy laying it on the line, night after night, putting himself in harms way for the good of the team. Season 71 will be an exciting one, as Montreal seems ravenous to chase another deep playoff run, and Roddy begins to chase down personal milestones and records. Does Roddy have another 50+ point season in him? Will his shooting percentage regress closer to the mean? Is a career-shattering 67 point season as a defender, to bring him to 500 career points, out of the question? Many questions remain, but this season is likely to see him hit the following:
150 Goals
300 Assists
1,000 Blocked Shots
Many exciting milestones ahead to be reached, and many games left to play for Roddy B. Retirement looms a little larger in the rearview mirror each season, but for now, the future is still bright in Montreal. 

With elimination in sight, Latvia must overcome gold medal favourite Team Canada to advance, and the battle is set! Sadly, the Latvian luck seemed to have run out after a gutsy quadruple OT win over Canada in the quarterfinals. Latvia fell to Germany, then to Japan in back-to-back losses to end up in 4th place. A career high IIHF finish for Roddy, but still a disappointment. He himself would end the playoff round at a -4, with 1 Assist in 3 games, and 16 blocked shots. Latvia had a lot of trouble generating offense in their playoff push, and Roddy stood well defensively but didn't prove to be the difference maker this year.

[Image: banes.png]
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