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Williams Is Not Coming Back

Sorry to hear this, but the longer this went on, the more I thought Justin would retire. I would have loved to have him stay another year if only for his leadership and captaincy. I'm less worried about replacing him with another gifted player, but finding another captain will not be simple or easy.
 
Taking a break as opposed to announcing his retirement, but I’d guess this will become permanent at some point. Again, I don’t think the team is surprised by this and they’ve clearly built the roster as if Willie wasn’t going to play. Like to the point that it was gonna be tough to wedge him in, both in terms of cap room and playing time.

He’ll go down as one of the more memorable Canes, with a Cup win and a successful franchise re-boot on his resume. Plus, he’s Mr Game 7. Best of everything old friend.
 
Interesting way to approach this. Not officially retired but not going to play, at least for now. That leaves the door open to change his mind and come back should he decide to do so. It's not unprecedented for a vet player to restart their career in the 2nd half of the season (Peter Forsberg and more recently Mike Fisher come to mind), but it's not an easy thing to do.
 
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Fisher was really, really not great when he did his bounceback tour with the Preds. He was slow, rusty and just plain old invisible for the most part.

I could see Williams simply being too stubborn to actually call it retirement, but he's also pragmatic. Unless the itch overwhelms him, I think he's done.
 
I think resigning Justin Williams here to get the team back on its feet and provide veteran leadership was one of the best moves this organization has ever made. As sad to see him go as I am, I get it. He's accomplished tons in his career & played a clean game doing it. If he comes back again or not, we're all better off for having him wear the "C" and lead that bunch of jerks.
Well Done Sir!

Now, who is the next Hurricane's captain?

Jim
 
Agreed ... and frankly Bill Peters biggest sin during his time here was taking that one beautiful gift that Francis gave him and taking a dump on it. No letter for Williams was one thing, but parking him a depth role and not allowing him to have an influence on the ice was the worst part. He didn't want the guy, no matter what he had to offer ... ridiculous.
 
Yeah, Peters really did a disservice to the team by not recognizing the leadership qualities in Williams that were so obvious to almost everyone, but especially Brindy. That's why making Willie captain was "the easiest decision" the new coach had to make when he took control of the reins.
 
Putting him on a power play unit was probably a fairly easy decision as well. Great. Now I'm thinking about Bill freaking Peters again. What a toolbag.
 
Yeah, Peters really did a disservice to the team by not recognizing the leadership qualities in Williams that were so obvious to almost everyone, but especially Brindy. That's why making Willie captain was "the easiest decision" the new coach had to make when he took control of the reins.

Peters really blew it indeed with the brain fart decision to snub Williams as captain, it was and still is one of the dumbest decisions ever made by any Canes coach in the history of the org.

I'm still not really convinced that Williams has hung them up for good, if the Canes are in the midst of a playoff berth in March, I could honestly see him calling Rod and Don and asking if there was interest in having him back for a shortened season and one more playoff run. Personally, I would love to see that, but I'm sure many others might see that as a distraction...but I would not rule that out.
 
I'm sure many others might see that as a distraction...but I would not rule that out.
I wouldn't rule it out either, but I'm on record that it would be a bad idea. It's VERY difficult to come in cold in the middle of a season when you haven't been playing and make any kind of difference ... at least not a positive one.
 
And he's rapidly getting to the age when you no longer are getting into better shape, you're just desperately hanging on to where you are.
 
The situation would have to be perfect for Williams to even be able to return. He would have to keep himself in playing shape, the Canes would need to be either in or within immediate striking distance of a playoff spot AND they would need to fill a specific role that Justin Williams could fill (ie 3rd line scorer/PP guy). That opening would only be there if we suffer an injury and/or if other solutions within the org fail.

I'm hopeful that we just flat out have no spot open for him this season. You just know some rumblings will start up if any of our wingers get hurt or if any of our wingers struggle to score, or if the team as a whole comes out flat (is that even possible with Brindy as head coach?). This whole situation might actually be the worst thing for the Canes...a clean definitive retirement might have been better.
 
Or maybe they see what they have in camp and he reconsiders if they need him and he’s not taking a spot from Necas etc.
 
Or maybe they see what they have in camp and he reconsiders if they need him and he’s not taking a spot from Necas etc.
Honestly ... he'd more likely be taking a spot from somebody like Foegele or McGinn than Necas. And I for one would get a bit salty if they got impatient with Foegele just to wring one more partial season out of Williams.
 
Honestly ... he'd more likely be taking a spot from somebody like Foegele or McGinn than Necas. And I for one would get a bit salty if they got impatient with Foegele just to wring one more partial season out of Williams.
Agreed. Wouldn’t surprise me if that played into his decision.
 
The Canes got pretty lucky last year to not really have to deal with any injuries to the forward group, but getting that fortunate two years in a row will be hard to pull off. I could perhaps see a scenario where JWilly could return mid-season if the forward ranks took a hit or two and they possibly would want a playoff push type helper like Williams if he was ready and able to sign and play out a partial season. The physical and mental grind on an 82+ game season has to be hard in your late thirties, but the desire and body may think you could do 30 or 35 games...
 
If JWilli is serious about returning later in the season, he’d better get to the gym and work out on the ice. Can he practice with the canes?
 
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