If anyone is looking for a bandwagon to jump on as we head into Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Justin Williams says the Washington Capitals’ doors are wide open.
“If anyone wants to hop on, join on,” the Capitals veteran said during an appearance on Sportsnet’s Starting Lineup Wednesday morning.
Williams has seen his share of post-season hockey, and he knows what it takes to win — he’s got three Stanley Cup rings and a nickname to prove it.
“You’ve got to go into every series expecting a long one. You have to. If you don’t, you’re going to be in a lot of trouble,” said the man they call Mr. Game 7. “I expect seven games every time we come in. We knew [the Maple Leafs] were a great team, we knew they were a great young team.”
So young, in fact, that Williams played hockey with and against one Leafs rookie’s dad early in his career, which led to a pretty cute story.
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Kasperi Kapanen, Raleigh, NC, 2000. #StanleyCup Playoffs.
“I’ve been around a little while and I can just remember, I used to play with Sami Kapanen and obviously his son [Kasperi Kapanen] is on the team now,” Williams, 35, explained. “I used to play ministicks with him after games in Carolina. So for him to score an overtime goal against us, and me just shaking my head. It’s amazing, the cycle that hockey brings.”
With Toronto now in the Capitals’ rearview mirror, Williams discussed his mindset as Washington prepares to take on the Penguins — the defending Stanley Cup champs and a familiar stumbling block in post-seasons past.
Here’s what he said:
On Washington’s “can’t win the big one” reputation:
We know what’s going to be said about us, we know what the perception of our team is. We’re not naive. But the best thing we can do is just shut up and play and let our play do the speaking for ourselves, and that’s certainly what we’re going to do. We’re going to have to go and take it – they’re not going to give it to us, we’re going to have to earn it. And that’s what we plan on doing.
On his role as a leader in the dressing room:
As a leader on a team, you don’t have to say something all the time. It’s just once you sense something or if you’ve been in a situation before where you think a few words will help, that’s when you approach it. If something is going awry that you don’t like, you can address it, because little things become big things. I’m here to obviously find my role and I think I’ve found that here, and help this team along. It’s a great feeling winning and it’s a great feeling winning with a team that you’ve worked hard all year with.
On just how much the team — and Alex Ovechkin — wants to win:
I think from an outsider, you certainly had questions about whether or not he actually wanted it, but in playing with him and hearing him talk and seeing the emotion that he brings just solidifies the fact that he wants a ring on his finger just like everybody else. People have asked me, ‘You want to win this for Ovie?’ Yes, of course I want to win it for Ovie, but that’s not what we’re trying to do here. We’re trying to win it for everybody, and everybody involved wants the same thing but if we’re going to win, Ovie’s going to have to be a huge part of it.
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