Williams eager to be 'part of something good' with Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Justin Williams entered the Carolina Hurricanes locker room Monday with an air of summertime casual. In the moments before he met with the media, he took a careful look at his surroundings.
"This is my first time back in this room," he said.
The moment mattered after more than eight years away from the team he won the Stanley Cup for the first time with in 2006.

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"Cosmetic things change, but the memories will always last forever in here," he said.
Those memories, and the chance to make new ones, are why the right wing chose to
sign a two-year, $9 million contract with the Hurricanes on July 1
.
Williams returns after seven seasons with the Los Angeles Kings and the past two with the Washington Capitals. He still has the same combination of poise and determination around the net that has made him a steady complementary scorer during 16 seasons in the NHL.
But it is his playoff reputation that adds value to his second stint with the Hurricanes. He helped the Kings win the Cup in 2012 and 2014, and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the postseason in 2014.
He's one of four players the Hurricanes added during the offseason with a Stanley Cup championship. Goaltender Scott Darling and defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk won it with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015, and center Marcus Kruger was part of the Blackhawks' championship teams in 2013 and 2015.
"When you tell people outside the hockey world that you are going to Carolina, they might be like, 'Oh man. Why?'" Williams said. "But when you talk to NHL players, they know exactly what I'm talking about. It's a fun time, I think, to be a Carolina Hurricane, and I want to be part of something good. … It's time to climb the ladder and get relevant."

Williams, 35, is expected to provide leadership on and off the ice. The Hurricanes haven't had a captain since Eric Staal was traded to the New York Rangers on Feb. 28, 2016. Being a captain of an NHL team for the first time, however, isn't at the front of Williams' mind.
"That's something I don't really want to talk about at all," he said. "I'm coming here to be me. ...
"You take the lessons that you've learned from other players you've played with. That's how you learn. If you talk too much, your message is going to get lost. If you talk once in a while and it's presented upon you and you feel it's right, then that's the time. Whatever best suits me is what I go with."
He is aware that he returns to his former team with an outsized nickname, "Mr. Game 7," that comes with a certain esteem, regardless of his personal humility.
"That gives me a little credibility for what I'm saying, and that's important," he said. "But I'm not too vocal. I like to have fun when fun is presented, and I'm serious when I need to be as well. The trick is managing the two."

Williams will turn 36 three days before Carolina hosts the Minnesota Wild in its season opener Oct. 7. He had 48 points (24 goals, 24 assists) last season and believes he can continue that level of production.
"At my age I know I'm not going to get faster, but I can do everything I can to make sure I don't get slower," he said. "Those are the goals as you get in the later stages of your career. A lot of it is physical, but a lot of it is mental as well. My drive is still there as much as it ever was. The competitiveness of wanting to win and working hard to make sure you have the ability to do that is still there for me."
That bit of awareness and preparation won't apply to many of his teammates for several years, many of whom are at least 10 years younger than he is. But he offered one more bit of wisdom that he surely will pass along before the start the season.
"The margin of error between playoff teams and non-playoff teams is very small," he said. "It's showing up at big moments, it's getting those little goals at the right time. I'm not saying this team is going to win a Stanley Cup right away, but you never know where it's going to go. You can get on a roll, you can start to feel good, then mentally you feel great and anything is possible."