If you told Jason Williams three years ago that he would play in the NHL some day, the London, Ontario, native surely would have thought you were joking.

Williams, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound center, spent his first two years of major junior hockey toiling in obscurity, scoring only 12 goals and 47 points in 115 games for the Ontario Hockey League's Peterborough Petes. When draft day rolled around in June of 1998, Williams name wasn't called.

Now, after two breakout seasons in the OHL and an impressive performance in the American Hockey League, the 20-year-old is among the Red Wings' top prospects.

As a 15-year-old, Williams was cut by his Junior B team in St. Thomas, Ontario. Unable to find a team at the Junior B or C levels, he wound up playing for Mt. Bridges in Junior D, which Petes general manager Jeff Twohey refered to as a "last option for kids."

After proving he was better than the competion with 62 points in 38 games, Williams was selected by Peterborough with the 29th overall selection in the 1996 OHL draft.

Williams lept from the lowest level of junior hockey to highest in a single year.

"It's like a kid playing small-town high school football going to Notre Dame or Michigan State," Twohey said.

Williams did not adjust easily to the higher level of play, registering just 12 points over 60 games in his debut season while playing mostly on the fourth line.

"I hardly touched the ice," he recalled. "The coach was playing the older guys, and the younger guys hardly got a chance."

That was not the case the following season. Williams played more in 1997-98, but he was limited to just 55 games after tearing ligaments in his ankle during a midseason pickup baskebtall game.

Though he registered 27 assists and 35 points in limited action, it wasn't enough to be noticed. Draft day came and went. Williams' name wasn't called.

In his third season with Peterborough, Williams began displaying a true offensive touch by leading the team in scoring with 26-48-74 in 68 games.

That summer, Twohey sent a letter to every NHL team. Williams sent highlight tapes to 22 of them. Once again, draft day came and went without his name being called.

That September, Williams was invited to San Jose's training camp as an unsigned free agent. After a week, he was back in Peterborough for a fourth season.

He spent the 1999-2000 campaign proving that his numbers from the previous season were no fluke. Williams again led Peterborough with 73 points on a team-high 36 goals and 37 assists in 66 games and was named an OHL All-Star.

Sure enough, Williams was passed over one final time in the June NHL draft.

"Once you get overlooked, people tend to move on," said Twohey.

Some people do, but not all. Just an hour after the draft, the Vancouver Canucks called to gauge Williams' interest in attending camp later that summer. Jack Ridgeway, Williams' Toronto-based agent, had told his client to wait at least a week after the draft to see if any other teams showed interest. The Canucks called back a week later, demanding a decision.

Williams declined.

"I knew that other teams were interested," he said.

He was right. Williams ended up with invitations to several NHL training camps and chose Detroit, mostly because of the organization's needs at forward.

In training camp, Williams thrived among such superstars as Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov and Brendan Shanahan. He played every position except goalie and was the club's second-leading scorer in the preseason, with 3-4-7 in seven games. Though he played well enough, Williams was caught in the usual numbers game and was the last player sent to the minors.

After a slow start in Cincinnati of the AHL, Williams turned up his game was promoted to Detroit in November. He had three assists in five games while centering a line between Shanahan and Martin Lapointe before being sent back down.

Since rejoining Cincinnati, Williams has shown what an offensive force he can be. He ranks fifth among AHL rookies in scoring with 50 points (15 goals, 35 assists) in 59 games through March 7 and is among the top candidates for the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award, presented annually to the league's outstanding rookie.

Josh Goldfine writes for SportsTicker.