Here at LAKI, we’re in peak offseason mode. The news cycle has died down, and it provides a chance to dissect things a bit more before the action picks up again in a few weeks as teams get ready for a shortened training camp and preseason.
With the benefit of additional time on our hands, we bring you another edition of the LA Kings Insider Show featuring a former member of the team, Justin Williams. The Stanley Cup winner is now a special advisor to Carolina Hurricanes General Manager Eric Tulsky and had his name etched on the league’s championship trophy once more last month.
While it’s always great to catch up with one of the members of LA’s two cup runs that helped provide so many great memories during his time in Southern California, the primary reason for our conversation was to discuss his time playing for new Kings head coach Peter Laviolette. The two were together in Carolina for four seasons and helped bring the first Stanley Cup to Raleigh in 2006 before Williams was traded west to the Kings in March of 2009 (for a pick that ended up being used by the Canes to take current LA defender Brian Dumoulin).
Williams revisited his time playing for Laviolette and shared insight on the success the coach has had motivating his players, in addition to his team’s playing style. It’s also important to note that it’s been over 15 years since they teamed up, and Laviolette has grown as a coach in that time, with many more seasons of experience in the league.
The conversation was also a good time to get his thoughts on the direction the Kings roster has taken, how his former teammate Drew Doughty might fare under a new coaching staff and style, what it was like to be part of a winning management team and the recent retirements of Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Quick.
Williams played seven seasons in LA, which included the championship years in 2012 and 2014, and a total of 73 playoff appearances with the Kings. Overall, the Ontario native who was originally selected by Philadelphia in the first round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, played 19 seasons in the league, accumulating 1264 regular season games and 162 playoff contests.
He’s known as being a player who came through in the most clutch situations for his teams, winning eight of his nine career Game 7s, scoring seven goals and 15 points in those contests. Williams was also the Conn Smythe trophy winner following the Kings’ 2014 title, racking up 25 points in 26 games on nine goals and 16 assists.
Read on below for some highlights taken from our conversation, which can be watched and listened to in full on the Kings YouTube channel as well as all major podcast networks on the LA Kings Insider Audio feed.
On the Kings’ hiring of Laviolette and his experience with the coach
For me, as an outsider and knowing Peter very well, it’s hard to get excited for another team, obviously I have a ton of affinity for the Kings and my history there and all the guys in the organization – even Drew is still playing – so I have a great soft spot for LA and I want to see them do well. I am really excited for this hire. Not just because Lavy is going to LA, my favorite team on the west coast, he’s a good friend and he’s going to have a great showing there. He’s one of the best speakers I know and one of the best motivators I’ve ever had the ability to hear speak. Before games, he can just get you so excited and riled up, not that NHL players should need that, but he just has the ability to get that little extra out of you that maybe you didn’t even know was there and I’m really excited for the hire and to see what he can do there.
On the tone that Laviolette sets to begin the season with training camp
I just remember him as a “go go go”. As a forward, that’s one of the best things you want to hear. You just go, play offense, go after it. He wants you to err on the side of being on your toes as opposed to being on your heels. He’s not a guy that wants to sit back, he wants to forecheck, he wants to pressure, he wants to make other teams make mistakes. As a forward, especially for me playing under him it was fabulous. You can make mistakes, as long as you make them working your tail off, then that’s okay. He’s going to bring a lot of that there, especially early on, you can see the teams that Laviolette’s been to, it doesn’t take him long to establish the way he wants to play and for guys to buy in and follow that. That’s an exciting thing, especially for forwards coming in to play here for Lavy but, he’s got a great system and has obviously learned a lot too through his history.
On LA’s roster construction and older veterans joining Drew Doughty
I think people look at this the wrong way in terms of success. First round, haven’t been able to get out of there in a while, I get it. But are they actually that far away from being a championship team? I don’t know. I don’t think so, because you look at teams that maybe even got to the second round and you’re like well, we feel like we’re closer than they are. It’s kind of the way the playoffs are set up, there’s some really intriguing matchups and some really good teams get kicked out in the first round and that’s just the way it is. And maybe some teams that aren’t as good advance to the second round and did they have a better season? I guess statistically they did but that doesn’t make it different than the fact that the team that lost in the first round could be very close to winning a Stanley Cup.
His thoughts on seeing Matt Greene pitch in on the bench as an assistant coach
He’s got a great personality about him, and he’s just got that “it” thing that you really see from a player, thinking he could be a coach. I’m not surprised that he was there and I think he kind of liked it a little bit when I was talking to him as well. He’s going to be a great asset for whatever role he has and obviously Jarret too, just being there. Having familiar faces around is really important. You look around the league, the prime example would be the Philadelphia Flyers, just bringing back guys who care about the organization. It’s different just bringing in a guy for a job, you’re bringing in guys who actually care about the organization and the job at the same time. Then you start developing a culture. Those guys are obviously huge culture guys. Guys who have been around it a long time and guys who want to see the black and silver succeed.
The Insider Show – Justin Williams
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