The Carolina Hurricanes will have one captain this season. And after months of who that person would be seeming like a foregone conclusion, it’s now official. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour announced Thursday that forward Justin Williams will serve as the team’s captain. Forward Jordan Staal and defenseman Justin Faulk will serve as alternates.
Williams, 36, returned to Carolina as a free agent during the 2017 offseason after stints with the Los Angeles Kings and Washington Capitals. He previously spent parts of five seasons with the Hurricanes from 2004-2009, and was a member of the 2006 Stanley Cup Championship team.
“I feel very comfortable in it,” Williams said. “A year here now; I’m on my second tour around. I know a lot of the players even though there’s been a lot of turnaround. And in turn they know me and I feel that’s a big thing and that’s a comfort thing that they know what they’re getting out of me.”
For Brind’Amour, naming Williams captain was a no-brainer, and a choice he knew he wanted to make shortly after he was named head coach in May.
“Big surprise, right,” Brind’Amour said. “I think leadership’s a big, big, part of any success of a team. When you talk about the best forms of leadership are earned, I don’t think there’s anybody in here that could disagree that he’s earned the right to be the leader of this hockey club. Like I said back in May, it’s pretty much the easiest decision I’ve ever had to make. He checks off all the lists of things that would make a good leader.”
Williams, who is a veteran of 1,162 NHL regular-season games and has 289 goals and 733 points in his career, has earned a penchant for being a clutch performer and leader. He knows he needs to just keep doing what’s allowed him to have such a successful career in order to be a good captain.
“I think one of the most important things that I’ll take into this is not to change myself or be anybody that I’m not,” Williams said. “Leadership comes naturally and it comes from years of watching other great leaders. And that’s what I’ve done. My current coach now is one of them. I’ll be taking things from his leadership and instilling them into mine. I’m very humbled, and it’s something that I’m very proud of. It’s something I don’t take lightly.”
Williams has also made a name for himself in the playoffs. He has won three Stanley Cups, including the aforementioned one with the Hurricanes. and has earned the nickname ‘Mr. Game 7’ for his playoff performances. Williams has 36 goals in 140 playoff games, including the empty net clincher in the Canes’ game seven win over the Edmonton Oilers in 2006.
No one knows what Williams brings to the table better than Brind’Amour, who played with him during those five seasons and captained the 2006 team.
“That’s all part of it,” Brind’Amour said. “We know what Justin Williams brings every night. He brings that in the playoffs too. To me, that’s where he leads the most. We’ve got to get there, but we will. And when we do, he’s the kind of guy everyone’s going to be looking to. If that happens, and you make the playoffs, you’ve got a pretty young team in there. And they’re going to be looking at him and how he responds to everything. Super important to have a guy that’s been through it all.”
The Canes had a bizarre leadership situation last year, with Faulk and Staal serving as co-captains. Everyone agreed that having one player wear the C will work much better.
“I don’t know if we maybe thought the best situation was co-captains anyway,” Faulk said. “I don’t know if many people did. That’s obviously a weird situation with how things normally work in the NHL. … Now I can think we can say it’s better to have one guy and a couple assistants and go from there. That way there’s a clear message and there’s no one wondering who’s voice carries what.”
Williams is now “The Guy”, the number one voice in the room and the man tasked with leading a young group that will include a pair of top rookie forwards in Andrei Svechnikov and Martin Necas to Carolina’s first playoff appearance since 2009.
“We have some veterans, but actually [Staal] just turned 30, so he’s my only other guy that’s in his 30s here,” Williams said. “So we’re a young team, but we’ve got some guys who’ve been around a long time. We’re going to let the play do the speaking for itself. No one’s going to come here and be like, ‘This is what we’re going to do; this is what we expect. We’re just going to lay it all out there. But we’re really excited about the direction of this team, and I think the fans and the community and everybody should be as well.”
