Month: January 2020

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Hurricanes Sign Forward Justin Williams to One-Year Contract

Williams is a three-time Stanley Cup champion, previously winning the title with Carolina in 2006.

Forward Justin Williams is returning to the Hurricanes on a one-year contract, the team confirmed on Tuesday. Williams will earn a base salary of $700,000 in 2019–20, and he can earn an additional $1.3 million in bonuses.

Williams was the Hurricanes’ captain in 2018–19, but decided to take a break from hockey in September to contemplate his future. Williams and the Hurricanes reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2019 before getting swept by the Bruins.

“We’ve been in frequent contact with Justin over the last few months regarding his status,” Hurricanes president and general manager Don Waddell said in a statement. “We’re thrilled that he has decided to return to playing, and we’re confident that adding him to our group will help us both on and off the ice.”

This will mark Williams’ 19th NHL season. The 38-year-old has played for four franchises, spending seven years with the Hurricanes and seven years with the Kings. Williams won the 2006 Stanley Cup in Carolina, and he won the championship in Los Angeles in 2012 and 2014. 

Carolina sits seventh in the Eastern Conference with 52 points. The Hurricanes have not reached the playoffs in back-to-back years since 2000–02. 

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Roy Williams Rips North Carolina: ‘This Is Not a Very Gifted Team’

The Tar Heels are 8–6 this season, losing five of their last seven before Wednesday’s game vs. Pittsburgh.

Roy Williams had some harsh words regarding his program after North Carolina’s 96–83 loss to Georgia Tech on Sunday. Williams said this year’s Tar Heels squad is “the least gifted team I’ve ever coached in the time that I’ve been back here.”

North Carolina fell to 8–6 in 2019–20 with Sunday’s loss. Williams & Co. have dropped five of their last seven games, including losses to Final Four contenders Virginia, Ohio State and Gonzaga.

“We stunk, OK. We were not very good,” Williams said on his radio show Roy Williams Live on Monday. “The crazy thing about it is, our team, and we’ve had some very gifted teams, this is not a very gifted team. It’s just not.”

The Tar Heels lost three players from last year’s roster who were first-round picks in the 2019 NBA draft. Forward Cameron Johnson led North Carolina with 16.9 points per game before being selected No. 11, while point Coby White went No. 7 to the Bulls. North Carolina added five-star point guard Cole Anthony in the class of 2019, but Anthony was ruled out indefinitely with a knee injury on Dec. 15. 

North Carolina will look to earn its first win of ACC play against Pitt on Wednesday. Tip-off from the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. is slated for 7 p.m. ET.