Quote:
Originally Posted by Vulcan
To me being clutch isn't about having stats that are comparable or better in post season as compared to regular season. It's about the guy who can score the big goal, win the big faceoff or hit the big home run when the game is on the line.
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Except this relies heavily on small sample sizes and things out of a player's control.
How many chances does a player get to win the big faceoff in a playoff run? Maybe 10 maximum? If each faceoff is essentially a 50/50 chance to win or loss (which is fair seeing how both teams likely have good centres taking it) there's a still very good chance that one player is going to 7 or 8 of them and be considered clutch. That's just how probability works.
Scoring the big goal has as much to do with the defense and goaltending as it does the player itself. You could put the same perfect shot on net from the same spot a hundred times, but your clutchness is all dependent on if the goalie makes a great save or not.
And baseball is the worst for clutchness because the hitter is completely at the mercy of the pitcher. If the pitcher goes out there and hits his spots and picks the corners every pitch there's almost nothing a hitter can do except get lucky.
Clutchness is a product of sports media who needs a good narrative and the perfect narrative is always the star player clutching up and "willing his team to victory".