Justin Craig Williams (born October 4, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings, and Washington Capitals.
Williams won the Stanley Cup three times: in 2006 with the Hurricanes and in 2012 and 2014 with the Kings. Nicknamed "Mr. Game seven", Williams played nine game seven playoff games in his NHL career, with his team sporting a 8–1 record in these games. He currently is tied for most goals in these games with Glenn Anderson at seven, and has the outright record for most game seven points, with 15. Williams won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs in 2014 with the Kings.
Williams was born October 4, 1981, in Cobourg, Ontario, to parents Craig and Denise.
Growing up in Cobourg, Williams played minor hockey in nearby Port Hope in the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHMA) before joining the Cobourg Cougars of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League in 1997–98. His favourite players growing up were Sergei Fedorov and Wayne Gretzky.
Williams was drafted in the sixth round, 125th overall, by the Ontario Hockey League (OHL)'s Plymouth Whalers in the 1998 OHL Priority Selection. He was signed as a 16-year-old by the Whalers and split time between the OHL club and their affiliate, the Compuware Jr. A. club of the North American Hockey League (NAHL), during the 1998–99 season. He finished his junior career with two seasons played for Plymouth.
Philadelphia Flyers (2000–2004)
Williams was drafted in the first round, 28th overall, by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2000 NHL entry draft. In four seasons played with the Flyers, Williams struggled to live up to expectations, as he tried to adapt to the varying systems of three separate coaches – Craig Ramsay (2000), Bill Barber (2000–2002) and Ken Hitchcock (2002–2006). Williams was also frequently injured, which simultaneously hampered his development. He broke his left hand in his rookie season (hit by David Tanabe of the Carolina Hurricanes) and had various sprains and strains in his sophomore year. Williams also suffered a left knee injury on January 18, 2003, when he was hit low by the Tampa Bay Lightning's Brad Lukowich. The hit tore Williams' anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL), and, on January 23, 2003, he had surgery to repair the ligaments. Originally projected to miss four to eight months recovering from the injury, Williams made it back into Philadelphia's line-up in just three months.
Carolina Hurricanes (2004–2009)
On January 20, 2004, Williams was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for defenceman Danny Markov. He finished the season with a career-high 33 assists and 44 points in 79 games for the Hurricanes and Flyers. Once the season ended, he represented Team Canada at the 2004 IIHF World Championship and signed a one-year contract extension with the Hurricanes. However, due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he went overseas to play for Luleå HF of the Swedish Elitserien. After recorded 14 goals and 18 assists in 49 games, he returned to the Hurricanes for the 2005-06 season. Before the season began, Williams signed a one-year $1.23 million contract extension with the Hurricanes.
During the 2005–06 season, he set career-highs in games played (82), goals (31), assists (45), points (76) and penalty minutes (60). In game three of the 2006 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Williams hit Montreal Canadiens captain Saku Koivu with an errant high stick, severely injuring his left eye. The injury resulted in Koivu missing the remainder of the series and caused Canadiens fans to boo Williams everytime he touched the puck. Williams scored the final goal of the 2006 Stanley Cup Final, an empty net goal at 18:59 of the third period of game seven. On July 1, 2006, Williams signed a new five-year contract with the Hurricanes worth $3.5 million per season.
In 2006–07, Williams recorded career-highs in goals (33), penalty minutes (73), power play goals (12) and game-winning goals (8). It was Williams' second consecutive season of 82 games played. Williams made his first appearance in an NHL All-Star game at the 2007 NHL All-Star Game in Dallas, recording a goal and an assist. Williams also played for Canada in the 2007 IIHF World Championship, in which he won his second gold medal.
Williams continued his previous season's dominance with nine goals and 21 assists by mid-December before suffering a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee. Williams underwent successful surgery for the torn ligaments on December 26, 2007, and returned on April 1, 2008.
On September 17, 2008, Williams was thought to be sidelined for four-to-six months when he tore his right Achilles tendon in an off-ice, pre-season workout. He missed the first 25 games of the regular season but returned from his injury on December 4, 2008. In his first game back, Williams tallied his first goal since November 23, 2007.
On March 4, 2009, Williams was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Patrick O'Sullivan and the Calgary Flames' second-round draft pick.
On February 28, 2011, Williams signed a new four-year, $14.6 million contract with Los Angeles. He scored 15 points in the 2012 playoffs, helping the Kings win their first Stanley Cup.
During the 2012–13 season, Williams scored 11 goals with 22 assists, as the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings would make another deep playoff run before ultimately falling in five games to the Presidents' Trophy-winning and eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference Finals of the 2013 playoffs.
Williams won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the 2014 playoffs, where he won his third Stanley Cup and second with the Kings. He scored nine goals and 15 assists during the playoffs, including the game-winning goal in game one of the Final against the New York Rangers, and the Kings' first in the 3–2 comeback in game five to win the Cup. Williams also had points in all three game seven matches the Kings had en route to the Final.
Washington Capitals (2015–2017)