2023-04-21 19:30:00
Is Tomas Tatar the most choking player in NHL history when he plays in the playoffs?
At 32, Tatar has had another terrific season with the Devils: 20 goals, 28 assists and a +41 differential.
He finished fifth for this last stat in the league, just ahead of Patrice Bergeron and Jason Robertson. It’s not bad.
His ice time this year on average: 14 to 16 min.
In the Devils’ opener, Lindy Ruff sent him on the ice for 16 min 22 s. In game number two, Thursday night, he went down to 11:24. Only once in 82 games this year has Tatar played for less time. He has no points and shows a differential of -2 following two games.
It’s like deja vu.
Tatar was one of CH’s strongest forwards before being dropped from the roster during the team’s incredible playoff run in 2021.
The winger had just had 30 points in 50 regular season games and was the team’s leading scorer the previous season.
Dominique Ducharme had made this decision because of his difficult history in series, in particular, he explained to BPM Sports a few weeks ago.
In Vegas, same thing. Two points in eight games.
In Detroit, a little better, but not up to his seasons. Seven points in 17 games.
In the regular season, since the beginning of his career, Tatar has scored 0.6 points per game.
In the playoffs, the Slovak has three goals in his last 28 games. Twelve points in 42 career games.
It’s insane for a player approaching 500 NHL points in less than 800 games.
How to explain such a performance? Such a difference? What is the Tatar mystery?
Admittedly, Tatar has never been the most physical player. But “cautious” and talented players, it still ends up producing a little. The drop in speed is not as drastic.
Is it anxiety? The impact of pressure?
In fact, it is a bit of all that, believes Dany Bernard, doctor in sports psychology and long responsible for a sports-study hockey program in Quebec.
He himself was a huge Detroit Red Wings fan during Tatar’s debut with the team.
For the Dr Bernard, Tatar’s less physical style of play has always been a factor in playoff hockey, when you’re playing once morest the same team.
And then the pressure starts to take over, according to him. “Success brings success and failure brings failure,” he explains.
“We all experience the pressure at some point, but him, it becomes repetitive.”
The Dr Bernard draws a parallel with the time when he worked with the Quebec Nordiques as an advisor. The team had tried to understand why a player worked in the season, but not in the playoffs. All this to assess its value.
“We noticed that this player made his points in the season when there was often a big gap in the match,” says Dany Bernard.
In other words, this player scored when it was not tight.
Even following so many years, neither Dany Bernard nor Michel Bergeron wanted me to reveal the player’s name yesterday, as the Nordiques family is still very united following almost 30 years.
But I analyzed when Tatar scored their 20 goals this year, and 15 times it was in tight matches. So once more, the mystery remains.
Tatar is not the only one to lose his means in the playoffs. But when you look at the stats of those who are often referred to as notorious “chokers,” it never gets worse.
A name that comes up often is Joe Thornton. He still has 134 points in 187 playoff games.
Daniel Alfredsson? 100 points in 124 matches.
Markus Naslund? 36 points in 52 matches.
Jeremy Roenick? 122 points in 154 matches.
Mats Sundin? 82 points in 91 games.
In short, it is difficult to find a player who transforms as much as Tomas Tatar. Even if some never win, they still find a way to produce. Sometimes less than in season, but not that much.
Besides, the NHL’s worst ever is not a player, in my opinion.
That remains coach Barry Melrose, who pulled off one of the most infamously spectacular feats in hockey history: not making the playoffs with Wayne Gretzky in his prime, Luc Robitaille, Jari Kurri and Rob Blake.
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