Clutch Kings: Curtis Dickson adds another chapter to his clutch-scoring career
Curtis Dickson, Vancouver Warriors (Photo: Jenn Pierce)
The Lax Mag’s Clutch Kings tracks an individual player’s game-tying, go-ahead and game-winning goals, then weighs them based on when they’re scored (first, second, third or fourth quarter, plus OT), but also in what on-floor situation they’re finished (even-strength, power-play or short-handed goals). The Clutch Kings countdown calculates the league’s most money goal scorer all season long, crowning the king at the conclusion of the current NLL campaign. Click here for a more detailed breakdown of Clutch Kings scoring.
This past weekend, Curtis Dickson did this…
Plus, in the Vancouver Warriors’ previous game, he had another late winner in a lowish-scoring affair against Oshawa…
Those two goals, combined with a game-tying and go-ahead goal this year, have moved Dickson from just outside of our Clutch Kings leaderboard to the very tippy top of it.
Should we be surprised?
Sure, only John Tavares (815), John Grant (668) and Gary Gait (635) have scored more than Dickson’s still-running tally of 587 during regular season play, but does that necessarily make him clutch? No, but…
Dane Dobbie and Curtis Dickson (Photo: Jenn Pierce)
Since 2005, the furthest back individual NLL game data is available (publicly at least), no player has scored more game-winning goals during the regular season than Dickson, who scored his 28th and 29th winners in recent weeks.
All-Time GWG Leaders
1. Curtis Dickson (2011-2025) 29
T2. John Grant (2000-2017) 25
T2. Callum Crawford (2006-2025) 25
T4. Dan Dawson (2002-2023) 24
T4. Dane Dobbie (2008-2025) 24
T4. Robert Church (2014-2025) 24
While Dickson’s overall point production has cooled off over his first four games in Vancouver (presently tracking to register 32 fewer points this year versus 2025), his goal-scoring is at about the same pace as it was during last year’s 48-goal season in Calgary. His clutch touch is obviously still there too.
This past weekend’s Vancouver-at-Calgary clash was of course headlined by the recently retired Dane Dobbie’s “Forever a Roughneck” night. Dobbie had been Dickson’s long-time teammate for almost his entire NLL career (Calgary 2011-2020, 2025 and San Diego 2023-2024) but is also a fellow all-time clutch scorer, sitting tied for fourth in the career countdown above. No teammate has assisted on more of Dickson’s goals than Dobbie, with more than half of them happening in the second half of games.
Teammate Total Assists
(Goals by Periods 1-4 + OT)
1. Dane Dobbie (35/40/45/41/0) 161
2. Jeff Shattler (31/30/26/24/0) 111
3. Shawn Evans (16/15/18/24/1) 74
4. Wes Berg (12/25//13/15/1) 66
5. Jesse King (8/14/12/14/1) 49
Source: NLLStats.com
Of those nearly 29 regular season game winners by Dickson, who’s assisted on those game-ending goals the most? Well, it’s Dobbie again, who has assisted on almost a third of all Dickson game winners, and is triple more than any previous teammate of Dickson’s.
GWA on Curtis Dickson GWG
1. Dane Dobbie 9
2. Jeff Shattler 3
3. Wes Berg 3
4. Jon Harnett 3
Several tied at 2
Heading into Week 8, Zach Manns and Alex Simmons lead the league with four game-tying goals, Will Malcom and Tye Kurtz are tops in go-ahead goals with three each, and Austin Shanks took the NLL lead in game winners after scoring his third winner in Saskatchewan’s Week 7 win over Las Vegas. The Rush, who are #1 in the NLL’s standings right now, have seen all their winners come courtesy or Shanks or Manns.
NLL Clutch Kings: Week 8
CKs Rank. Player (NLL Gs Rank) Team, CKs Points (GTG/GAG/GWG)
1. Curtis Dickson (T22) Vancouver, 11.25 (1/1/2)
2. *Owen Hiltz (T43) Toronto, 10.00 (1/2/1)
3. Zach Manns (T1) Saskatchewan, 9.75 (4/1/2)
4. Will Malcom (T9) Colorado, 9.25 (1/3/2)
T5. Cody Jamieson (T29) Halifax, 9.00 (3/1/1)
T5. Austin Shanks (T14) Saskatchewan, 9.00 (1/0/3)
T7. Tanner Cook (T9) Calgary, 8.50 (2/1/1)
T7. Chris Boushy (T52) Toronto, 8.50 (2/1/1)
9. Ethan Walker (T33) Oshawa, 8.00 (2/0/2)
10. Connor Fields (T1) Rochester, 7.50 (2/0/2)
11. Jeff Teat (T4) Ottawa, 7.00 (2/2/0)
T12. Alex Simmons (T4) Oshawa, 6.50 (4/1/0)
T12. Phil Caputo (T74) Philadelphia, 6.50 (1/1/1)
T14. Shayne Jackson (T22) Georgia, 6.00 (1/2/1)
T14. Clarke Petterson (T14) Halifax, 6.00 (0/0/1)
T14. Tye Kurtz (T9) Oshawa, 6.00 (0/3/0)
T14. Larson Sundown (T29) Ottawa, 6.00 (2/0/1)
T14. Tre Leclaire (T14) San Diego, 6.00 (2/0/1)
Scoring System
First 3 Quarters (GTG/GAG/GWG)
Even-Strength Goal: 1.00/1.50/2.00
Power-Play Goal: 0.50/0.75/1.00
Short-Handed Goal: 2.00/3.00/4.00
Fourth Quarter (GTG/GAG/GWG)
Even-Strength Goal: 2.00/3.00/4.00
Power-Play Goal: 1.00/1.50/2.00
Short-Handed Goal: 4.00/6.00/8.00
Overtime (GWG)
Even-Strength Goal: 6.00
Power-Play Goal: 3.00
Short-Handed Goal: 12.00