Photo credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Auston Matthews should silence critics with his gold medal win, and remove doubt that he is a winning player.
It’s perhaps one of the most overrated hockey talking points, and one of the most frequently described wrong ones, that a player is “not a winner” based on postseason success.
There are players who have certain flaws in their game, (defensive IQ, effort level) that may pop up in a more competitive postseason environment, but that’s not very often the case for NHL superstars, despite the narratives.
If you look at the biggest critic of this in the last few seasons, that being Mitch Marner, you can point to his dominance in junior hockey in the postseason and an OHL and CHL MVP.
Former Leaf Joe Thornton had been one of the players most closely attached as a playoff ‘under-performer’ while with San Jose, while even a Conn Smythe and Olympics MVP has still had Connor McDavid considered “underachieving”
Where the idea of being an underachiever in big games has some merit for some players, it’s often used interchangeably alongside players who have games not built for postseason success, hardly a McDavid in his case just not getting it done, despite clearly being great.
Auston Matthews hasn’t avoided the label of a postseason underachiever either. It’s hard for a team like the Leafs and it’s stars to avoid hearing the idea it’s the players not built to win, but the Olympics must prove that this is far from the case.
Auston Matthews winning gold should be proof of ability to be clutch
‘Clutchness’ is a tough word in hockey.
It’s not quantifiable, you don’t have a fancy stat that tells you who has it or not, it comes down often to performances in big moments, and how much of it is luck isn’t that able of being determined.
But when the Hughes brothers say that Auston Matthews is a winner, it’s worth listening to.
The “clutch” gene may be labeled to Jack and Quinn Hughes after both scored game winners for team USA at the Olympics, and they say it was Matthews who led them to a championship, to know that.
For the Americans, Matthews was able to come up in a big moment and prove himself as capable enough to be a leader in a big moment, and while leading for his country.
It was Mitch Marner who had the game winner against Czechia in the quarterfinals to push Canada through in the tournament, and who had the winning assist to Connor McDavid at the 4 Nations.
On that alone, the idea of not being suited for big moments should have been quieted.
It’s one thing to show up in big moments wearing your team’s jersey, representing a city. But wearing a country on their chest, Auston Matthews came through in a big way, and should end the argument that when he’s needed, that he can’t come through and be a winner for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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Auston Matthews’ Olympic gold gives Leafs fans a new answer to their biggest question
Should the Olympics victory change the narrative that Auston Matthews isn’t a winner?