RALEIGH, N.C. _ Justin Williams has done and accomplished nearly everything in hockey since breaking into the NHL in 2000.
Williams has won three Stanley Cups. He has been a Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoffs MVP. He has rebounded from horrible injuries to have great seasons. A year ago, he was a team captain for the first time with the Carolina Hurricanes, leading them to the playoffs and making them a part of so many NHL discussions.
Williams also has earned one of the best nicknames in sports: Mr. Game 7, for his ability to perform in the clutch, in the Stanley Cup playoffs, on the biggest of stages. How cool is that?
But Williams now faces a first: at age 38, he's jumping into an NHL season. He'll do that with the Hurricanes, signing a contract for the remainder of the 2019-20 season, joining a team with so many familiar faces but also some new ones.
"I'm thankful to have the opportunity to do what I love to do," he said Wednesday.
It will be a challenge. Another one, a different one. One he said he relishes.
"Absolutely it's exciting," Williams said. "I'm thrilled with the opportunity. My adrenaline just gets more and more upbeat every day. I'll be excited to get back in the dressing room and see the guys and compete, right?
"You only have a thin window, if you have an opportunity to play against the world's best and I'm going to have that opportunity this year again. That's not something I take for granted. It's something you've got to work for and there's only so much time in your lifetime you get the ability to do that."
Williams was the Canes captain last season, wearing the "C" for the first time. When he made the decision to go into semi-retirement before this season, saying he would "step away" from hockey, Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour named Jordan Staal captain and Jaccob Slavin and Jordan Martinook as alternate captains.
Williams may not have a letter but again will be a part of the leadership group. He's earned that. He has that degree of respect,
"There's so much he brings to this dressing room," forward Warren Foegele said Tuesday after the Canes' 5-4 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers. "He works so hard on the ice and it'll be great to add more depth to our lineup for sure."
Williams said he will start anew Thursday when the Canes practice at PNC Arena. He said no one has set a firm date for being in the lineup for his first game back and noted that after Wednesday's press conference he wanted the focus to be solely on the team and not his return.
It will be up to Brind'Amour to decide where to place Williams, a right winger. With 12 healthy forwards, Williams would have to displace someone in the lineup and possibly take away ice time from someone else once up to speed.
That last thing he wants is for his return to be disruptive. Just do what he can do to help the team win. Be his crafty self, be productive.
When the announcement was made Tuesday after the Flyers game that Williams would sign a one-year deal, it all seemed simple enough. He'll receive $700,000 in salary, then as much as $1.3 million in bonuses based on how well he and the team plays, in the regular season and _ the Canes hope _ in the playoffs again.
Retirement was always an option, Williams said. He said he considered it at 31, that there's always the "what's next for me" question to be answered.
"A lot goes into it," he said. "There's family decisions. Kids getting older. It's not just hockey, you know. There's things more important that hockey and that's family."
At one point after last season, Williams asked his kids _ son Jaxon and daughter, Jade _ if they wanted him home more. Their answer: no, why?
"They always loved that Daddy's a professional athlete and playing for the Carolina Hurricanes," he said.
Williams said he has had an "ongoing dialogue" the past few months with team owner Tom Dundon and Don Waddell, the team's president and general manager. He attended only a handful of games at PNC Arena but said he watched the Fox Sports Carolinas telecasts.
"I was just a fan," he said. "Just cheering them on."
But Williams didn't just sit, watch, help coach his son's youth hockey team, help with the kids' homework and be the typical at-home dad. He skated. He trained.
"I knew I had to do something," he said. "I couldn't come right off the couch and hop into an NHL dressing room and I think I can do that. I'm no dummy."
There will be good times the next few months and there likely will be tough times. Williams is, after all, 38. He has played 1,244 regular-season games. This isn't like returning from an injury. Age always takes a toll.
"You strive to compete, you strive to be the best, be the last team standing," he said. "There's only so many opportunities you get to do that."
Williams noted that several Canes players texted him Tuesday night after the announcement.
"It makes you feel wanted," he said. "That's great, but I feel at this time I want them more and I'm happy to be coming back."
