Hurricanes must be responsible off ice before Phase 4, Williams says

Justin Williams said he wants players to understand the importance of being responsible and taking care of themselves away from the rink before traveling to the hub city for the start of Phase 4 of the NHL Return to Play Plan.

The Carolina Hurricanes right wing said Tuesday that players should be called out by teammates when they are not doing what is necessary to ensure their safety before they enter their Phase 4 Secure Zone.

Players will be allowed to live at home or in a hotel and see people outside of the hockey setting until they leave with their teams for one of two hub cities, which have not been announced, on July 26.

"We've addressed this and we'll address it in the next few days as well, certainly at the start of training camp, that you need to tighten up the bubble of people you're hanging out with," Williams said. "You need to make sure your inner circle is pretty darn small because what you do affects everybody else. That's pretty much the basis of what a team is anyway; you're only as strong as your weakest link, but at this point your weakest link can take down your whole team. Guys need to be cognizant of that, and we'll make sure everyone is."

Williams said he and other leaders on the Hurricanes will not be hesitant to let a player know if and when they are not doing what is right away from the ice.

"It's absolutely essential," Williams said. "Is it going to be worth what you're trying to do off the ice? It's hopefully a little over two months that we intend to play hockey. I think you can sacrifice whatever you get to do in extracurriculars to win a Stanley Cup. At the end of the day, you're handing out the Stanley Cup. This isn't just going out and playing exhibition games. This is legit. This is what you play for. It's a unique circumstance, obviously, but at the same time you're going to be able to get the Stanley Cup, and no one will be able to take that away from you. Yeah, [if] I see something, [if] anyone else sees something, we're going to be calling them out, absolutely."

Training camp, which is part of Phase 3 in the Return to Play Plan, will begin July 13.

When Phase 4, the resumption of play, begins Aug. 1, the Hurricanes, who were 38-25-5 (.596 points percentage) before the NHL paused the season on March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus, will be the No. 6 seed from the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers. They will play the New York Rangers (37-28-5, .564), the No. 11 seed, in a best-of-5 series.

The winner will advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the loser will have a chance at the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in the Second Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery.

"One of the things you've got to remember is we're on the same playing field [entering training camp]," Williams said. "The coaches aren't going to come out there and just start killing us. It's going to be a gradual increase in time on the ice. Instead of guys skating three, four times, you might go up to five or six times just to get your hands back, get your feet back, and get more acclimated to your system and then just refresh in your mind as to how the game is played and how we intend to play the game.

"Really, leadership is going to be a huge key for these teams coming back and the best leaders I believe will have [the] best success."

Williams also said he's not concerned about what life will be like for the players during Phase 4, when they will be staying in secure zones that encompass hotels, restaurants, practice facilities and the arena where exhibition, qualifier and postseason games will be played.

Each person in the secure zone will be tested daily for COVID-19 and have symptom screening and temperature checks.

"I don't think it's like Tom Hanks is on an island by himself," Williams said, referring to the film "Cast Away." "We've got 20 guys who we hang around with all the time and I don't ever get bored with those personalities, I'll tell you that much. It's not going to be banging your head off the wall crazy. We will spend a bunch of time together. We'll watch hockey games together. I mean, is it ideal? No.

"But one of the good things with this potential new CBA and this return to play is once we advance to the conference finals, we'll be able to see our families. That's who you worry about spending a lot of time away from. You want to get home. There's no place like home. It's what it is. I don't think it'll be an issue."