John Anderson (ice hockey) explained

John Anderson
Birth Date:28 March 1957
Birth Place:Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height Ft:5
Height In:11
Weight Lb:200
Position:Right wing
Shoots:Left
Played For:Toronto Maple Leafs
Quebec Nordiques
Hartford Whalers
Ntl Team:Canada
Draft:11th overall
Draft Year:1977
Draft Team:Toronto Maple Leafs
Wha Draft:14th overall
Wha Draft Year:1977
Wha Draft Team:Quebec Nordiques
Career Start:1977
Career End:1994

John Murray Anderson (born March 28, 1957) is a Canadian former ice hockey right winger. He was the head coach of the Chicago Wolves of the International Hockey League (IHL) and American Hockey League (AHL) from 1997 to 2008,again from 2013 to 2016. Anderson also serves as interim head coach for the Wolves in 2023. In the National Hockey League (NHL), he is a former head coach of the Atlanta Thrashers and assistant coach of the Phoenix Coyotes and Minnesota Wild. He played 12 seasons in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Quebec Nordiques, and Hartford Whalers.

Playing career

As a youth, Anderson played in the 1969 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Wexford, Toronto.[1] Anderson was the captain of his junior team, the Toronto Marlboros. He attended L'Amoreaux Collegiate Institute in Scarborough while playing Junior Hockey.

Anderson was drafted in the first round, 11th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1977 NHL Entry Draft. He played 814 career NHL games, scoring 282 goals and 349 assists for 631 points from 1977–78 until 1988–89. Anderson was beginning to establish himself during his third season in Toronto when the club made a four-player trade with the Vancouver Canucks that brought winger Rick Vaive and centre Bill Derlago to Toronto. Anderson was paired with the two new acquisitions to form a high scoring line for the Maple Leafs. His best statistical season was the 1982–83 season, when he set career highs with 49 assists and 80 points. Following the 1984–85 season, the fourth year in a row that Anderson had scored 30-or-more goals for the Maple Leafs, he was traded to the Quebec Nordiques for defensemen Brad Maxwell.

Anderson continued to be a valued goal scorer with Quebec and had scored 21 goals when he was traded to the Hartford Whalers. Anderson then ended the 1985–86 season in Hartford with 25 points in 14 games following the trade, finishing the season with 29 goals and 74 points before scoring another 13 points in ten playoff games. The following year, his first full year with Hartford, Whalers sniper Sylvain Turgeon battled injuries and Anderson filled in as the top left wing on the team. He hit the 30-goal plateau for the fifth and final time of his career finishing with 31 goals and 75 points, good for the third highest point total on the team. Anderson scored the winning goal against the New York Rangers on April 4, 1987, to give the Hartford Whalers their only division championship. He played two more years in Hartford before playing the last five seasons of his career in the minor leagues, primarily the International Hockey League, where he was a solid goal scorer.

Post-playing career

Anderson coached the 1995–96 Winston-Salem Mammoths to the Southern Hockey League finals during the league's only season where they lost to the Huntsville Channel Cats.[2] In 1996–97, Anderson coached the Quad City Mallards to their first Colonial Hockey League championship in the franchise's second season.[3]

In 1997, Anderson was hired as the head coach of the Chicago Wolves in the International Hockey League (IHL) and later in the American Hockey League (AHL). He became the Wolves' all-time coaching leader in wins with 371 and for postseason victories with 80. Anderson led the Wolves in winning the Turner Cup and Calder Cup four times in his initial eleven seasons at the team's helm. His team was crowned league champions in 1998, 2000 in the IHL and 2002 and 2008 in the AHL.[4] Anderson coached the American gold medal-winning team in the 2007 Jewish World Cup hockey tournament in Israel.[5]

On June 20, 2008, Anderson was named as the fourth head coach of the Atlanta Thrashers.[6] On October 10, 2008, Anderson won his first game as an NHL coach 7–4 against his good friend Bruce Boudreau's Washington Capitals. On April 14, 2010, Anderson was released as head coach of the Thrashers after two seasons.[7]

On July 12, 2011, Anderson became an assistant coach for the Phoenix Coyotes.[8] On July 10, 2013, Anderson was rehired as the head coach of the Chicago Wolves. After leaving the Wolves in 2016,[4] he joined the Minnesota Wild as an assistant head coach until 2018.[9] In February 2022, he agreed to join the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL as an assistant coach for the remainder of the 2021–22 season.[10]

For his achievements with coaching the Wolves, he was named to the AHL Hall of Fame in 2019.[11]

Anderson also helped establish John Anderson's, a diner best known for its "Banquet Burger", as well as its $4 breakfast special. The original restaurant is located at Victoria Park Ave. and Van Horne Ave. in Toronto, Ontario.[12] [13]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGP PIMGP G A Pts PIM
1972–73Markham WaxersMetJHL
1973–74Markham WaxersOPJHL
1973–74Toronto MarlborosOHA38 22 22 44 6
1974–75Toronto MarlborosOMJHL70 49 64 113 3122 16 14 30 14
1974–75Toronto MarlborosM-Cup4 4 6 10 2
1975–76Toronto MarlborosOMJHL39 26 25 51 1910 7 4 11 7
1976–77Toronto MarlborosOMJHL 64 57 62 119 426 3 5 8 0
1977–78Dallas Black HawksCHL52 22 23 45 613 11 8 19 2
1977–78Toronto Maple LeafsNHL17 1 2 3 22 0 0 0 0
1978–79Toronto Maple LeafsNHL 71 15 11 26 106 0 2 2 0
1979–80Toronto Maple LeafsNHL74 25 28 53 223 1 1 2 0
1980–81Toronto Maple LeafsNHL75 17 26 43 312 0 0 0 0
1981–82Toronto Maple LeafsNHL69 31 26 57 30
1982–83Toronto Maple LeafsNHL80 31 49 80 244 2 4 6 0
1983–84Toronto Maple LeafsNHL73 37 31 68 22
1984–85Toronto Maple LeafsNHL75 32 31 63 27
1985–86Quebec NordiquesNHL65 21 28 49 26
1985–86Hartford WhalersNHL14 8 17 25 210 5 8 13 0
1986–87Hartford WhalersNHL76 31 44 75 196 1 2 3 0
1987–88Hartford WhalersNHL63 17 32 49 20
1988–89Hartford WhalersNHL62 16 24 40 284 0 1 1 2
1989–90Binghamton WhalersAHL3 1 1 2 0
1989–90HC Milano SaimaITA9 7 9 16 18
1989–90EHC ChurCHE-23 2 0 2 0
1990–91Fort Wayne KometsIHL63 40 43 83 241 3 0 3 0
1991–92New Haven NighthawksAHL68 41 54 95 244 0 4 4 0
1992–93San Diego GullsIHL65 34 46 80 1811 5 6 11 4
1993–94San Diego GullsIHL72 24 24 48 324 1 1 2 8
NHL totals814 282 349 631 26337 9 18 27 2

International

YearTeamEvent GPGAPtsPIM
1977CanadaWJC7105156
1983CanadaWC62246
1985CanadaWC952718
Senior totals15741124

NHL coaching statistics

Team Year Post season
G W L OTL Pts Division rank Result
ATL2008–098235416764th in SoutheastMissed playoffs
ATL82353413832nd in SoutheastMissed playoffs
Total 164707519

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA. 2018. Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2019-01-09. March 6, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190306085544/https://www.publicationsports.com/ressources/files/439/Joueurs_Pro.pdf. dead.
  2. Web site: John Anderson . hockeydb.com . November 8, 2022.
  3. Web site: Making a difference: Cornfield built the Mallards into a winner on and off the ice . The Dispatch/The Rock Island Argus . Wendland . Jeff . January 11, 2017 . November 8, 2022.
  4. Web site: AHL's Chicago Wolves part ways with coach John Anderson . Chicago Tribune . Kuc . Chris . June 2, 2016 . November 8, 2022.
  5. News: Lungen . Paul . Bench Bosses Named for World Jewish Tournament . August 11, 2018 . The Canadian Jewish News . November 13, 2008 . The Americans, who promise to be strong again in 2009, were led by former NHLer John Anderson to their gold-medal win in 2007.
  6. Web site: Atlanta Thrashers Hire John Anderson as New Head Coach . The Hockey News . The Canadian Press . August 11, 2018 . June 20, 2008.
  7. News: Thrashers fire John Anderson . August 11, 2018 . The Globe and Mail . April 14, 2010.
  8. Web site: Coyotes add Anderson as assistant coach . Sportsnet . August 11, 2018 . July 12, 2011.
  9. Web site: Wild Hire John Anderson To Fill Out Boudreau's Staff . minnesota.cbslocal.com . August 11, 2018 . June 8, 2016.
  10. Web site: AHL Hall of Famer John Anderson Joins Condors as Assistant Coach . OurSports Central . February 16, 2022.
  11. Web site: AHL Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2019 . AHL . October 4, 2018.
  12. News: Duhatschek . Eric . Anderson's name lives on, with a little sizzle . August 11, 2018 . The Globe and Mail . May 31, 2005.
  13. News: Liu . Karon . May 14, 2019 . You’ve heard of Tim Hortons, but what about John Anderson Hamburgers? . June 20, 2024 . Toronto.com from The Toronto Star . n/a.