John Anderson
Born (1957-03-28) March 28, 1957
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Right wing
Shot Left
Played for Toronto Maple Leafs
Quebec Nordiques
Hartford Whalers
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 11th overall, 1977
Toronto Maple Leafs
WHA Draft 14th overall, 1977
Quebec Nordiques
Playing career 19771994

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.

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

Chicago Wolves banner honoring Anderson's coaching history with the franchise

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]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GPGAPtsPIM GPGAPtsPIM
1972–73 Markham Waxers MetJHL
1973–74 Markham Waxers OPJHL
1973–74 Toronto Marlboros OHA 382222446
1974–75 Toronto Marlboros OMJHL 70496411331 2216143014
1974–75 Toronto Marlboros M-Cup 446102
1975–76 Toronto Marlboros OMJHL 3926255119 1074117
1976–77 Toronto Marlboros OMJHL64576211942 63580
1977–78 Dallas Black Hawks CHL 522223456 13118192
1977–78 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 171232 20000
1978–79 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL7115112610 60220
1979–80 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 7425285322 31120
1980–81 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 7517264331 20000
1981–82 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 6931265730
1982–83 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 8031498024 42460
1983–84 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 7337316822
1984–85 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 7532316327
1985–86 Quebec Nordiques NHL 6521284926
1985–86 Hartford Whalers NHL 14817252 1058130
1986–87 Hartford Whalers NHL 7631447519 61230
1987–88 Hartford Whalers NHL 6317324920
1988–89 Hartford Whalers NHL 6216244028 40112
1989–90 Binghamton Whalers AHL 31120
1989–90 HC Milano Saima ITA 9791618
1989–90 EHC Chur CHE-2 32020
1990–91 Fort Wayne Komets IHL 6340438324 13030
1991–92 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 6841549524 40440
1992–93 San Diego Gulls IHL 6534468018 1156114
1993–94 San Diego Gulls IHL 7224244832 41128
NHL totals 814282349631263 37918272

International

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1977 Canada WJC 7 10 5 15 6
1983 Canada WC 6 2 2 4 6
1985 Canada WC 9 5 2 7 18
Senior totals 15 7 4 11 24

NHL coaching statistics

TeamYearRegular seasonPost season
GWLOTLPtsDivision rankResult
ATL2008–09 8235416764th in SoutheastMissed playoffs
ATL2009–10 82353413832nd in SoutheastMissed playoffs
Total164707519

References

  1. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  2. "John Anderson". hockeydb.com. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  3. Wendland, Jeff (January 11, 2017). "Making a difference: Cornfield built the Mallards into a winner on and off the ice". The Dispatch/The Rock Island Argus. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Kuc, Chris (June 2, 2016). "AHL's Chicago Wolves part ways with coach John Anderson". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  5. Lungen, Paul (November 13, 2008). "Bench Bosses Named for World Jewish Tournament". The Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved August 11, 2018. 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. "Atlanta Thrashers Hire John Anderson as New Head Coach". The Hockey News. The Canadian Press. June 20, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  7. "Thrashers fire John Anderson". The Globe and Mail. April 14, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  8. "Coyotes add Anderson as assistant coach". Sportsnet. July 12, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  9. "Wild Hire John Anderson To Fill Out Boudreau's Staff". minnesota.cbslocal.com. June 8, 2016. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  10. "AHL Hall of Famer John Anderson Joins Condors as Assistant Coach". OurSports Central. February 16, 2022.
  11. "AHL Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2019". AHL. October 4, 2018.
  12. Duhatschek, Eric (May 31, 2005). "Anderson's name lives on, with a little sizzle". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
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