However, Williams, being younger than the majority of players he played with and against in the WCHL, had unusual skills and size for his age, and was selected for the Saskatoon Blades roster for the 1971-72 season, after his first training camp.
Despite his recognized talent by the Blades coaching staff, Williams put up mediocre statistics in his first two seasons in the WCHL with only 41 points in a 121 games.
In the fall of 1976, Williams attended his first NHL training camp with his draft club, the Detroit Red Wings.
Despite Williams strong training camp showing for a player directly out of major junior hockey, Alex Delvecchio, then coach of the Red Wings, along with his coaching staff, opted to send Williams to the minors for more professional experience to hone is game and develop his readiness to enter the National Hockey League.
[citation needed] The Red Wings, who were playing in one of their most historically dismal seasons with only 16 wins over 80 games, decided to keep Williams up with the team for the remaining 43 games of the regular season, to allow him to gain more NHL experience, as the Red Wings would not make the playoffs.
He played in 35 games for the Firebirds where he scored only 5 goals and contributed 11 assists before being traded to the league leading Maine Mariners.