Clutch Kings: Curtis Dickson scoring quantity & quality for reenergized Roughnecks
Curtis Dickson, Calgary Roughnecks (Photo: Caroline Sherman)
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.
Wes Berg, San Diego Seals (Photo: Kalea Vizmanos)
Although Zach Manns failed to score a Clutch Kings goal in the Saskatchewan Rush’s low-scoring win over the Georgia Swarm in Week 15, as we mentioned last week, Manns’ CK lead is so large, it’s unlikely anyone will pass him anytime soon. He remains #1, but…
Wes Berg is most definitely hot on his heels.
Berg scored two of last week’s most significant goals. First a go-ahead goal that would give the San Diego Seals the lead versus the Vancouver Warriors going into half, resulting in a continued momentum swing that would see them outscore their opponents 3-0 in the third.
And then of course, he did this too…
Berg now leads the league in game winners with four, three of which have come in the fourth quarter or later, all of which have come in crazy close contests…
West Berg’s 2025 GWGs
Week 6: January 4
6-5W vs. Ottawa
GWG: 1:38, 3rd quarter
Week 11: February 8
11-10W at Toronto
GWG: 14:11, 4th quarter
Week 12: February 15
14-13W at Buffalo
GWG: 5:02, OT
Week 15: March 7
13-11W vs. Vancouver
GWG: 13:40, 4th quarter
Berg goes from fourth to second on our Week 16 leaderboard below, Manns’ once seemingly insurmountable lead looking less of a year-end lock than we thought it would be just a week back.
Buried under Berg’s late-game heroics was an equally clutch performance by Calgary’s Curtis Dickson. In fact, although it lacked the dying-minutes drama that Berg provided, based on our clutch calculations, Dickson had the bigger score-shifting showcase.
In that game, Dickson netted a sock trick. More importantly, four of those six goals landed on our CK leaderboard, Dickson not only keeping Calgary competitive against the number one ranked Buffalo Bandits (in big, bad, booming Buffalo!), he iced the game too…
A 2nd quarter tying goal that would lead to Calgary’s first, well, lead in the game.
A go-ahead goal with three seconds left on the clock in the 2nd quarter, taking the lead back and killing any Bandits momentum heading into the half.
And if that wasn’t enough, Dickson did it again about 15 minutes later, the Roughnecks retaking the lead (for good this time) and leaving Buffalo’s on-floor defenders and an at-capacity KeyBank Center dejected heading into an all-important fourth frame…
Dickson would score the game winner a few minutes into the fourth, again stopping an attempted momentum swing and comeback by the Bandits, who had pulled within one 30 seconds earlier.
Although there was no social footage shared of that game-icing effort, here’s Dickson’s silly sock-trick satisfying stunner that would prove to be the nail in the coffin as the Roughnecks would end the game on a four-goal run, sending much of Banditland searching for the exits and home early.
That performance appears to be the highest scoring CK game by a single player this season, Dickson going from just outside of our leaderboard to fifth overall.
Before the 2024-25 NLL regular season started, virtually everyone across the league felt the Roughnecks would struggle this season, many discounting the return of Dickson and Dane Dobbie after unsatisfying stints in San Diego.
At this same point in their season last year, the Roughnecks are two wins ahead of 2024’s record, with Dickson and Dobbie arguably the most clutch duo in the league right now (or ever?), even though Dobbie missed his second game of the season this past weekend on the IR.
While he may not have hit that late-game dagger like Berg did, to score a sock trick in a super-competitive game, most of those goals shifting the balance of the scoreboard, in a hellaciously hostile environment, and without your goal-scoring buddy backing you up, to do what Dickson did last Friday was, well, about as clutch as it gets.
Oh, and probably also worth mentioning, Dickson’s winner against the Bandits also moved him into first for the most career game-winning goals ever recorded during the regular season, passing John Grant and Callum Crawford for the all-time lead. Dobbie is just behind him at 24.
All-Time GWG Leaders
Rank. Player (Career) GWGs
1. Curtis Dickson (2011-Active) 26
T2. John Grant (2000-2017) 25
T2. Callum Crawford (2006-Active) 25
T4. Dane Dobbie (2008-Active) 24
T4. Dan Dawson (2002-2023) 24
Note: Game-winning goals can only be confirmed from the 2005 season an onward, the furthest back individual game data is available.
Zach Manns, Saskatchewan Rush
NLL Clutch Kings: Week 16
CKs Rank. Player (NLL Gs Rank) Team, CKs Points (GTG/GAG/GWG)
1. Zach Manns (5) Saskatchewan, 31.50 (8/7/2)
2. Wes Berg (T6) San Diego, 25.50 (5/3/4)
3. Dane Dobbie (4) Calgary, 23.75 (9/1/2)
4. Mitch Jones (T10) Philadelphia, 21.75 (5/5/2)
5. Curtis Dickson (1) Calgary, 21.00 (6/5/1)
6. Clarke Petterson (T32) Halifax, 20.50 (2/4/3)
7. Connor Kelly (T13) Colorado, 19.50 (6/3/1)
8. Connor Fields (3) Rochester, 19.25 (6/4/2)
T9. Lyle Thompson (T6) Georgia, 18.50 (5/6/1)
T9. Chris Boushy (18) Toronto, 18.50 (5/7/0)
T11. Kyle Buchanan (T38) Buffalo, 18.00 (5/2/2)
T11. Andrew Kew (T53) Georgia, 18.00 (4/0/3)
13. Zed Williams (T53) Colorado, 16.50 (2/1/3)
14. Rob Hellyer (T29) San Diego, 16.25 (3/6/1)
T15. Alex Simmons (T6) Albany, 16.00 (6/3/1)
T15. Dhane Smith (28) Buffalo, 16.00 (3/3/2)
T17. Ryan Smith (2) Rochester, 15.25 (5/4/2)
T17. Shayne Jackson (T43) Georgia, 15.25 (1/6/0)
19. Austin Shanks (T32) Saskatchewan, 15.00 (2/2/3)
20. Jacob Dunbar (T21) Ottawa, 14.75 (3/6/2)