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J Page B2> THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ June 14,2006 durhamregion.com Williams chases Stanley Cup glory BY VINCE VERSACE Staff Writer NORTHUMBERLAND - Bringing the Stanley Cup home to the rolling hills of Northumberland is a vision Cobourg's Justin Williams cannot allow himself to fully enjoy during this year's Stanley Cup final. "As soon as I start to think about that I have to stop," says Williams, a Carolina Hurricanes forward. "We arc only almost there." Carolina won Monday night's game 2- 1 to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven final.; When the Northumberland News caught up with Williams at his Edmonton hotel where Carolina was staying, the Hurricanes were leading the series 2-1. Carolina won the first two games of the series, played in Raleigh, North Carolina, by scores of 5-4 and 5-0 and lost its first game in Edmonton by a 2-1 score. Williams has scored six goals and 11 assists for 17 points in 21 playoff games so far this year. "Evety game is different and not everything everything wept our way that night," says Williams. Williams. "We did not feel our best but we still almost won." Playing at the Rexall Centre, formerly called the Northlands Coliseum during the Edmonton Oilers dynasty which featured superstars such as Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey and Grant Fuhr, has been an amazing experience thus far, says Williams. "It is an exciting experience playing a team like Edmonton which has this history and is a Canadian team in the final," says Williams. "We know people in Canada are pulling for them (Edmonton) but that may not be the case in Cobourg. You kind of develop an us-against-them attitude." Williams says he is savouring every moment of the final and realizes teams and players are not afforded opportunities to play for hockey's ultimate prize every year. Teammate Mark Recchi last played in the Stanley Cup finals in 1991 for the Pittsburgh Penguins, a 15-year drought which ended this year. That streak is a new National Hockey League mark breaking the previous recorded of 14 years set by Dino Ciccarelli. "You do not want to let it slip through your fingers. Nobody knows when you will back here to play for it," notes Wil liams. The Stanley Cup atmospheres between Carolina and Edmonton are comparable with only one big difference when it comes to the national anthems, says Williams. "It was real loud (in Edmonton) with the whole crowd singing O Canada all at the same time. Even in Montreal everyone is extremely loud," he says. Series by series as the Hurricanes have marched to the Stanley Cup finals the team has improved and grown, says Williams. The Hurricanes defeated the Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres before meeting Edmonton. "If someone had told us at the beginning of the year that we would be playing for the Stanley Cup we would have jumped all over that opportunity," says Williams. His family has attended playoff games during Carolina's playoff ran and the off- day dinners and hanging out with them is a welcome respite from the Stanley Cup final craze. "We talk a little about the game and other things. My dad will still tell me things I could do on the ice and I listen. He has seen me play the most than anyone else," says Williams. been a family affair _ Photo by Gregg Forwerck ; ^pstin Williams and his Carolina Hurricanes' teammates are just one awa y from the Stanley Cup after a 3-1 lead in their series with the Edmonton Oilers. The Cobourg resident will be looking to close out the best-of-seven series tonight BY VINCE VERSACE Staff Writer -, . NORTHUMBERLAND - Hand wringing, shouting and feeling like you are skating eveiy inch of the ice as your son plays for the Stanley Cup has been an unbelievable experience for Denise and Craig Williams of Cobourg. "It is a whole family affair with our family and the families of the other players players as well," says Mrs. Williams, mother of Justin Williams, a star forward for the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes are facing off against the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup final and Williams has been a big reason for Carolina's success thus far, notching 6 goals and 11 assists for 17 points in 21 games during the playoffs. Justin's parents travelled to Raleigh, North Carolina for the first two games of the Stanley Cup final which Carolina won by scores of 5-4 and 54). Mrs. Williams Williams says the pre-game tailgating parties parties with the Hurricane fans and player families was an amazing experience "You have 10,000 die hard fans partying partying and getting pumped for the game. Everyone is excited and in town and in the newspaper it is all about the Hurricanes," Hurricanes," says Mrs. Williams. "They hate the stigma that they do not know hockey or do not care for it." During the off day the Mr. Williams played golf with the fathers of players such as Eric Staal, Cam Ward, Kevyn Adams and coach Peter Laviolette and the Williams family spent time together to soak in the Stanley Cup fun, adds Mrs. Williams. 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