Hall of Fame Mailbag: Justin Williams

RALEIGH, NC. - Ahead of his induction into the Carolina Hurricanes Hall of Fame on Monday, franchise legend Justin Williams sat down to answer some of your questions.

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Curious what type of work you have done with shadowing General Manger Don Waddell? Do you see yourself in management one day or player liaison type role (which you seem to do already)? - @CarrieCronin1

Currently, my role is a little bit of everything.

I do some development with [2023 first-round draft pick] Bradly Nadeau and I'll advise Don or Tom if they have any questions. If they want advice from me, opinions on players, that sort of stuff, I'm always happy to help.

I'm somewhat of a liaison between players and management as well, which helps from an internal standpoint.

What sort of stuff do you work on with Nadeau?

I watch all of his games and we'll have a Zoom session once per week to go over his games. I'll share things I think he could have done better, point out things he did well, and just try and get him ready for the next level.

He's having a great year.

How weird was the transition from the NHL to retiring? - @rachelsyd_ / @thefancakes

It's definitely an adjustment, but the more comfortable you can get with moving on to the next stage of your life, or the next stage in the evolution of a retired hockey player, the better off you're going to be.

I feel like I've been able to navigate it fine because of the way I left playing the game. I have no regrets or anything like that.

I'm always going to miss playing the game, I'm going to miss it when I'm 70 years old. Missing it isn't a huge thing that you have to get over, but being involved with the guys and being around the dressing room is something I'll always be involved with. These guys are always trying to get better.

What’s his favorite memory from his first stint in Carolina (cup excluded), and what is his favorite from his second stint? - @FlanTheMan43

Playoff time at PNC Arena in general is something pretty special.

Coming back to the playoffs after not being in the playoffs for 10 years was pretty electric in this area, and that's one of my fonder memories.

What was it like having Rod as a teammate and a coach? - @Mooseamillion

It was pretty easy because he's the same guy. Who he was as a player is who he is as a coach.

When he was our Captain he demanded and showed you what was necessary to succeed. Now, as the coach, he does the same thing. The one difference is that he talks a lot more.

He never used to talk a lot in the dressing room before games. He would talk, but he wasn't as vocal as he has to be now.

He was trying to convey his message and I think if you talk to him now, he wants to talk a lot less. He wants the players to do that and to convey his message throughout the room for him.

His work ethic and his commitment to the Hurricanes is something that has never wavered.

11 or 14? What’s the story behind each number? - @KrisKaniac

To be honest, there aren't really stories behind it.

14, Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia's General Manager, came down to me before my first year and he gave me two options.  One was 14.  I don't even remember what the other one was.  And that was that.

Then, when I got traded to Carolina, I obviously couldn't have 14 because of Kevyn Adams. So, I tried 11.  There's really nothing behind it at all.

When I came back to Raleigh the second time, 14 was what I'd gone on to wear in Los Angeles and Washington, so I thought I'd stick with it.  And, of course, Jordan Staal had 11.

I wish I had more exciting stories for you, but that's that.

Which one of your former teammates was the best chirper on the ice? - Anonymously Submitted

I'll give it to "The Mouth", Ray Whitney.

He had some really good one-liners.  Of course, he would never fight and back it up (laughs), but he had some clever ones.  They didn't always make you mad, they would always make you laugh.  He was so good at that.

Can you re-share the origin story to the Storm Surge? - Anonymously Submitted

When I came back into the fold and we were going to the playoffs, we needed to get a little buzz. A little bit of excitement.

We figured maybe we could start something at the end of games and start to build that connection back between the players and the fans. We wanted to say "we appreciate you guys" and we wanted to show that we would be getting better as a team.

We had to bridge the gap of distance that management had felt occurred over the previous years. We hadn't had success.

So we started by just skating into the boards, something simple, and later on in the year, we wound up having a little committee for it. We'd sit down and eat lunch every day, try to figure out what we were going to do after the next win, and it just became a fun thing to do.

That was obviously a couple of years ago now, but when the team does it after games, you can still see the smiles on people's faces in the crowd. It's really not all that different from the stick salute that a lot of teams will do now, but we just wanted to do a little more.

I think it has helped the team develop a better connection with the fan base, which we obviously all love.

What was it about Raleigh that made you stay after your playing days were done? - @OneTrueZach

I love the people.  I love the weather.  You can still kind of get four seasons.

I love that the golf courses are open year-round.  I like the cost of living.

I like the accessibility of the East Coast too.  I think you can get anywhere quickly.  I can go down to Florida and then I can get up to my home in Canada.

Who are some of the most competitive Canes when it comes to golf? - @DugginsBetsey

Currently, the best golfers are Stefan Noesen and Brady Skjei.

Aho, Teravainen, and Staal are really good golfers too.  They're all really talented.

Ray Whitney and Mike Commodore are some of the guys from the past that are still really great too.  I mean, it's just what we do, right?  Hockey players and golf are synonymous.  It's all we do in the summer.

It's just like a slap shot.  You just wind up, hit the ball, and some of us know where it's going.

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