Former Flyers Rod Brind’Amour, Justin Williams leading Hurricanes through wild playoff run

RALEIGH, N.C. – Justin Williams was on the ice yukking it up with former teammates.

Nothing unusual about that in the transient world that now defines professional sports. But factor in that this was a Game 7 of a hotly contested first-round playoff series against the defending Stanley Cup champions, and that just over three minutes remained in regulation time in a tie game -- well, that’s the definition of unusual.

But there was the Carolina Hurricanes captain, play stopped, wearing that Cheshire grin of his, seen after each of his 100 playoff points -- 15 of those in Game 7′s – as he stood a few feet from the Washington Capitals bench. He was sharing a moment with ex-teammates who had spoken so highly of him before the series began, and would do so again later that night after he had once again factored into the outcome of a series’ deciding game.

“I think that was just a sense of relief that eventually, that series was going to be done,” the former Flyer was saying this week as the Hurricanes readied for the start of their Eastern Conference Finals matchup with the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.

“I think that’s what that was. I was smiling, like, 'Oh man, we’ve beaten each other up and it was going to be a hats off to whoever it was that came out on top.’ That was a battle. I think it was just an off-the-cuff, spur-of-the-moment thing.”

The Hurricanes began this season as the NHL’s youngest team, with an average age of 25.7 years – and that’s with the 37-year-old Williams on the roster. They were muddling near the league’s bottom before consecutive victories against the Flyers over New Year’s launched them on a torrid surge.

Only Tampa Bay accumulated more than the 62 points Carolina amassed in 2019, and they followed their gritty series win over the Caps with a second-round sweep of the Islanders.

Williams’ role in that was as obvious as the gray that now dominates his playoff beard.

“There’s nothing like having him here,” said first-year Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour, a former Flyer himself. “Because he’s been in every situation.”

Twice in that Game 7 in Washington, the Hurricanes rallied from two goals down to tie the score, setting up Williams’ latest herculean effort, this time in a second overtime: a faceoff win, a check in the corner to keep the puck in the zone, and finally a lofted centering pass that 25-year-old Brock McGinn tucked into the net for the series winner.

"He is a great teammate; he has the right blend of leadership, have fun, compete,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said during the first-round series. “He really senses the tone of an organization, of a team, where they are at in the games and playoffs, and he provides — and he did provide us with that — leadership. And he is doing the same thing at Carolina now. He’s just a great guy to have on your team.”

He would have still been on MacLellan’s team if the Caps had not gone all-in for the 2016-17 season, forcing some hard cap decisions that basically came down to re-signing either T.J. Oshie or Williams. Oshie was signed in the summer of 2017 to an eight-year, $46 million deal with an annual cap charge of $5.75 million. For Williams, that launched a courtship by right wing/leadership-needy teams that reportedly included the revamping Flyers.

One team it did not include, at least initially, was Carolina, which had not seen the playoffs since 2009 – the season in which it traded Williams to Los Angeles. Adding to that oddity was that the young Hurricanes had tons of cap space, and Williams owned a home in nearby Cary.

"I was like, 'Why are we not getting this guy as a free agent?’ ‘’ said Brind’Amour, who was an assistant to Bill Peters back then.

Brind’Amour had captained the 2006 Stanley Cup champions, with whom the then-24-year-old Williams began his legacy of clutch performances.

"I called Willie and said, 'Would you be interested?’ ‘’ said Brind’Amour. “He was almost going somewhere else. We weren’t in the mix. And I was like, 'What are we doing? I thought that it was a slam dunk. We had no captain here. ... At the time I didn’t think he could play this good. But that wasn’t why we were getting him, in my opinion. We had a void in here. I’ve been here seven years, I saw it every day. I thought, 'Good, we just took care of it.’ ”

One small problem. Peters, the Hurricanes’ head coach, didn’t see it that way. Instead he made veteran centerman Jordan Staal and young defenseman Justin Faulk co-captains.

“It made no sense,” said Brind’Amour. “It was a huge mess-up, in my opinion.”

Peters resigned after last season and took the head job in Calgary. Promoted to replace him, Brind’Amour quickly named Williams his one and only captain.

It made a lot of sense – until you remember what type of captain Brind’Amour had been with Carolina, what kind of player he was there and back in Philly. No smiles, no joking with any opponents, just a searing intensity that could burn through opponents and teammates alike, and sometimes turn his stick to mulch when the puck wasn’t finding the net.

That was the player. The coach, a 48-year-old father of four, including a son drafted in the sixth round by the Edmonton Oilers in 2017, has an understandably different take now.

“I didn’t need to grind as much as I grinded,” he said. “I think it helped me be the player I was. But I just think there were moments when you could have relaxed a little, smelled the coffee a little more.”

That’s Williams in a nutshell. He has actually become more productive as he has advanced into his 30s, scoring 23 goals and 53 points while playing all 82 games this season.

Since 2009, only Boston’s Patrice Bergeron and Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk have better shot-attempt percentages than Williams (57.32). Dismissing the 2012-13 lockout season, he has played at least 80 games in each season since he turned 30.

“I’ve gotten looser and more comfortable as I’ve gotten older and more comfortable with myself and confident in what I do,” he said.

“You have to enjoy it. You need to park whatever it is that you’re going through at the rink – and sometimes you have real [bad] days. You come home and see your family and say all right, life’s not too bad. Let me regroup, come back tomorrow. ... Hockey isn’t everything. But it’s what I do, and it’s what’s important to me. But when you go home and see your family – that’s No.1.”

Hockey isn’t everything. But it’s what I do, and it’s what’s important to me. But when you go home and see your family – that’s No.1.

On the ice, during practice, he is a constant source of noise, laughter, and energy, challenging and congratulating, calling for pucks during designed drills just to emphasize the importance of communication to his younger teammates.

“That’s one thing I’ve been really harping on,” he said. “Really the whole year and including playoffs. You want to stay sharp. In practice sometimes you can be caught going through the motions a little bit. And that’s not something we can get by with here. We know how we have to play, and we know how we have to practice. If you stay sharp in this week between games, calling for pucks – I don’t know, it makes for a smoother practice.”

It appears more fun too. "Listen, practices should be fun. But fun is working hard. When I was on L.A. it was the same.

"Teams I’ve been on, it’s been like that."

Technically, he will be a free agent again this summer. Technically, because Williams has not committed to playing beyond this season. And because as much as leadership-needy teams like the Flyers -- his first NHL team and Brind’Amour’s old one -- could really use him, he will be courted to continue with his current one.

“I feel like I’m very comfortable in the unknown right now,” Williams said. “And whatever happens at the end of this year I’ll be totally fine with it. Whether I play some more, or I don’t.”