NHL captain admits he is contemplating retirement.

NHL captain may be hanging up his skates.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
NHL captain admits he is contemplating retirement.

I must admit I was a little saddened by this news, even though I realize that it may very well be time for him to hang them up.

A recent report from Carolina Hurricanes insider Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News and Observer has revealed that Carolina Hurricanes captain Justin Williams is indeed putting some serious thought into the possibility of calling it a career after his latest playoff run. The move does come as somewhat of a surprise as Williams is coming off a fairly strong season with the Hurricanes. Williams appeared in all 82 games for Carolina this season and recorded 23 goals and 30 assists over that stretch of time for a total of 53 points. Those are good numbers, especially when you consider that Williams is 37 years of age already, but there were signs that Williams was running out of steam during the playoff run. Williams himself admitted that the team had to try and get every last drop out of their gas tanks that they could, but that it had becoming extremely challenging to do so during the series against the Bruins.

"Williams says no decision on his future yet," said Alexander. "Says will be a family decision and whether he feels he can give 100 percent."

There can be no doubt about the fact that this means retirement is officially on the table and that means that we could lose arguably the most clutch player in the history of the National Hockey League. I know that the lore of "Mr. Game 7" has really gained a lot of traction in recent years but I feel that Williams' contributions to the game have been often overlooked by everyone except the most die hard of hockey fans. That being said leading the Carolina Hurricanes, as their captain, to a deep playoff run that included defeating the defending Stanley Cup Champions would be a pretty nice curtain call for what has been an excellent career. 

If this is indeed the end of the line for Justin Williams I have no doubt that he will be leaving with the respect of all his peers, and a great deal of respect from fans like me who have truly enjoyed watching Williams produce magic in the biggest games of his career. 

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