Another Celebration For Mr. Game 7

Justin Williams who won three Stanley Cups and a Conn Smythe Trophy while building a reputation as one of the most clutch players in hockey history, is celebrating his 43^rd birthday today.

Williams, born on this date in 1981 in Cobourg, Ont., won the Cup in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes and in 2012 and 2014 with the Los Angeles Kings. He played in nine winner-take-all games during his NHL playoff career, with his teams winning eight times. His performances in these contests earned him the nickname Mr. Game 7.

A first-round selection in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, Williams has hockey in his blood as the grand-nephew of former NHL players Zellio and Jerry Toppazzini. (His paternal grandmother was their sister.) He broke in immediately with the Philadelphia Flyers without a minor league apprenticeship and played four seasons with them before being traded to the Canes. But he appeared in his first Game 7 in a Flyers jersey in 2003, scoring a goal and adding two assists as Philadelphia defeated Toronto 6-1 in the last game of the first round.

Williams struck again twice during the 2006 playoffs. He had another one-goal, three-point performance in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final against Buffalo, then added an empty-net goal to clinch Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final against Edmonton.

Traded to the Kings in 2011, he won his second Cup in 2012 and played in his fourth Game 7 in the 2013 playoffs against San Jose. It was the deciding game of the Western Conference semifinal, and he scored both of his team’s goals in a 2-1 win.

If the rest of the hockey world didn’t already know of Williams’ growing reputation as a clutch performer, he made it crystal clear in the 2014 playoffs, when the Kings played in and won three seventh games and he factored in each of them. He had an assist in a 5-1 triumph over San Jose in the first round, a goal and an assist in a 6-2 victory over Anaheim in the second round, and a goal and an assist as LA beat Chicago 5-4 in overtime to reclaim the Western Conference championship. His assist in that last instance came on the series-winning goal by Alec Martinez.

There was no Game 7 in the Cup final as the Kings got past the Rangers in "only" five games, but Williams contributed some more heroics anyway. He notched a team-best two goals and seven points in the five games, including the OT winner in Game 1 and the first goal in the clinching Game 5. It was only fitting that Williams, with 25 points during that post-season, was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs. He was one of four Kings who played in all of the team's 108 regular season and playoff games in 2013-14.

The Game 7 magic deserted him in 2017 when his Washington Capitals fell to Pittsburgh 2-0 in the deciding game of the East final. But Williams had one last hurrah in 2019 after returning to Carolina. Once again, he drew an assist on the winning goal in sudden death, a 4-3 win over Washington in Game 7 of the first round.

That left Williams with an 8-1 record in Game 7; only Brad Richards, whose teams went 8-0 in winner-take-all games, can claim a better won-lost record. Ray Bourque’s teams also went 8-1 in such games. But although Richards and Bourque performed well in those contests – Richards had two goals and seven points, while Bourque had a goal and eight points – Williams outshone them both, with seven goals and 15 points.

Only Glenn Anderson, who played in 12 seventh games, managed to score seven times when it was all on the line. No one has matched Williams’ 15 points.

Williams, also a two-time world champion with Team Canada in 2004 and 2007, captained the Canes in 2018-19. He retired in 2020 after playing in 1,264 regular season games and 162 more in the playoffs.

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