Williams ready to rope in new job with Leafs

Jeremy Williams seems to have the aura and the skill of a natural goal scorer. He is almost scripted for it, a baby-faced young gun with a knack for getting on the scoresheet at first opportunity.

He's certainly become the answer to a hockey trivia question: Name the current Leaf who has scored in his first game over each of the last four seasons.

Novelty aside, Williams is also 24 and approaching a very real crossroads in his career. The time has come for him to shed his prospect tag and take his career to the next level by landing a full-time job in the NHL.

If he succeeds, he'll have a built in, all-Canadian Prairie background story to spice up his biography.

"I grew up on a farm (outside Regina) and my dad kept rodeo stock (horses) ... we had an indoor and outdoor roping arena and I used to do a lot of roping as a kid," said Williams, who has two goals in two games since being recalled from the Marlies, and six in 22 games spread out over four seasons since the Leafs made him their fifth choice, 220th overall, in the 2003 draft.

Williams' parents, Kevin and Joan, kept a large horse farm near Glenavon, Sask., about 160 kilometres outside Regina, that, according to a 2006 census, was a village with a population of 104.

Winter weather dropped to -40 C levels, and while Williams took up hockey, he fed horses, mended miles of fences, and stacked hay bales.

He was a natural at hockey, and at riding and roping. By the time he reached his early teens, he had to make a choice.

"I stopped (rodeo) when I was 13 or 14, because I had to make a choice about one sport or the other," said Williams, whose 13-year-old sister, Hailee, competes in high school rodeo.

"Obviously I chose hockey, and my dad wasn't happy at the time, but I think he's happy now."

Williams ultimately graduated to the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL, and while he started slowly, he was a 41- and 52-goal scorer in his final two seasons.

What began attracting scouts, and eventually the Leafs, was his shooting ability. Williams possesses a quick, NHL-quality release. He has an above-average shot that can be deadly because he can get it off in an instant from almost any angle, and in heavy traffic.

"Every since junior I was known as a shooter and I think having a farm in Saskatchewan had a lot to do with it," Williams said.

"My father made ice all the time, and it was -40 in the winter and me and my brother (Tristan) were outside, just a couple of kids shooting pucks up against the barn all day long."

The Leafs have been giving Williams "looks" over the past four seasons, but have never opened the door to a full-time job. They still want to see him develop his strength (to go up against 6-foot-4 NHL defenceman), and temper his hockey instincts to include a devotion to two-way play.

Still, the Leafs refuse to bridle Williams by placing him on a fourth line and telling him to forget offence in favour of checking. Leafs coach Ron Wilson, who has seen the Marlies a few times this season, realizes Williams shines on offence, and has dropped him on a line with speedster Jason Blake and Dominic Moore, also a gifted skater, who is solid defensively.

"We put Jeremy on a line with guys who are fast and working hard, and you do that so he'll look good, too. He won't get a chance for much offence on a fourth line," Wilson said.

Williams and fellow Marlie Jaime Sifers were recalled early last week after a weekend where Nik Hagman and Luke Schenn were lost to injury.

Both have played extremely well in their two games so far, and Wilson said they have earned a chance at another game or two despite the fact Hagman is expected to return for Tuesday's game against New Jersey.