Kings’ Justin Williams reflects on franchise’s resurgence

Justin Williams joined the Kings for the final 12 games of the 2008-09 season. The difference in the team -- in terms of makeup, culture and confidence -- in those four-plus years might make it seem more like 40 years.

And throw in one Stanley Cup championship.

The right wing has appeared in 47 playoff games with the Kings, including 38 the last two seasons.

“When I got here, there were a lot of different guys on this team,” Williams said Wednesday on the eve of training camp’s official start. “You weren’t quite sure who was going to step up, who was going to stay … who the starting goalie was going to be.

“Now things are pretty settled. You know what you’re going to get out of your teammates every night.… There’s not going to be a lot of ‘ifs.’

“We know what we’re capable of. And I think that’s big coming into the season, having a solid base -- we have guys that are signed for a long time now.”

If there is the thought that complacency could be an issue going forward, a review of the Kings’ playoff run in the spring suggests otherwise.

“There are a lot of positives to take from the season we had,” said Williams, who had six goals and nine points in 18 playoff games in the spring. “We didn’t have that romp through the playoffs that we had the year previous.

“We had to grind it out. It was good to know guys were just as hungry to win again. We could have easily lost those two series that we won.”

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