Williams looking for 30 goals

There’s no debate as to what the storyline with Justin Williams is this season. He must stay healthy. We all know it, management knows it, the coaches know it and Williams knows it. When healthy, Williams is a strong two-way contributor, but health has been the issue.

Williams has missed 116 games of out of a possible 246 in the past three seasons due to injury. Last season, his first full season with the Kings, he got off to a great start but suffered a broken ankle on Dec. 26 and missed 33 games. Williams returned late in the season but clearly wasn’t himself and became a healthy scratch in the playoffs.

Now back, healthy and entering the final season of his contract, Williams couldn’t possibly have more motivation. He is starting training camp on the Kings’ second line, on the right side with center Jarret Stoll and left winger Scott Parse.

“He’s going to fit in very well,” coach Terry Murray said. “I have him on the line with Stoll. That’s a line where I’m looking for offense also. I consider them a scoring line. Justin Williams has put in a lot of hard work in the offseason. He looks great, he feels great. Mentally, he’s right on where I’d like him to be, coming into the training camp. He’s hungry to prove to us that he’s back after his serious injury last year. I like the fit where it is right now, and we’ll see how it goes in the training camp.”

Here’s what Williams said today, following his first training-camp session…

Question: With the way things went last season, do you try to learn from it, or just try to forget it?

WILLIAMS: “Probably a little bit of both. Every year you play, you always learn something new. It doesn’t matter how old you are. In my 10th year, I’m trying to pick up as much as I can along the way. But also, I just want to forget it. I want to remember the start, I want to remember how I felt early. I don’t want to remember how it ended. Clean slate, fresh start, work my butt off and, from the first day of camp, I’m going to push forward until the end of the season.”

Question: Is there anything, in particular, that you worked on this summer?

WILLIAMS: “It remains to be seen, but I worked on getting my speed back, getting the step back that I feel I lost throughout the last couple years with the surgeries. So I really worked hard at getting my step back, my stride back and my quickness, and overall fitness. That was the main focus.”

Question: It looks like you’ll be on a line with Stoll and Parse…

WILLIAMS: “It appears that way. Sometimes it’s a jumble and sometimes it stays together. It probably depends on how we do. Usually, ultimately, that’s what it is. If we play together the whole year, that would be great. That means we’re doing something real special. Parse is a shooter. I think we work real hard together. It’s a line that can be very tenacious. We want to fill the net as much as we can this year.”

Question: Terry talks about improving 5-on-5 scoring. You guys didn’t get Ilya Kovalchuk, a 50-goal scorer, so is it just up to everyone to raise their games a little?

WILLIAMS: “Kovalchuk pots 50 but takes away 10 from every other guy, you know what I mean? We’ve got some guys who are on the verge of taking that next step. I’m a player who wants to take a step back in the right direction. I don’t see 30 (goals) as being out of my sights at all. We’ll see. Playing 82 games plus playoffs, playing all of them, is something that I’m putting a huge focus on.”

Question: You worked hard to come back last season from the injury, and you achieved your goal, but looking back, were you where you needed to be, physically? Was that maybe a little too ambitious?

WILLIAMS: “I don’t think you can tell any athlete that he’s not 100 percent. You believe it in your head, that you’re 100 percent, and you feel that you can come back. Missing almost three months, maybe it was a little ambitious, but there’s no way you’re going to hold out a player when he feels that he’s ready to go. Missing an extended period of time, where the games get harder and harder, and jumping back into it, is tough. Training camp is very important for me this year, and I want to get off to a good start again.”