James William Anderson (December 1, 1930 – March 10, 2013) was a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player and

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

. Anderson played 7 games with the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL), and was the first head coach of the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

. He was born in Pembroke,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Playing career

Jim Anderson spent the majority of his 16-year

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

career with the

Springfield Indians The Springfield Indians were two separate minor professional ice hockey franchises, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The original Indians were founding members of the American Hockey Leagu ...

franchise of the AHL, and remains the all-time leader in games played, goals and points for the franchise. In his first season with Springfield, Anderson scored 39 goals and was awarded the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as AHL

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

of the year in 1954–55. In the early 1960s, Anderson scored 35 or more goals for Springfield for five straight years, helping lead the team to three consecutive Calder Cup championships, to this day the only AHL franchise to win three straight. In 1960–61, Anderson was named an AHL Second Team All-Star, scoring 81 points (the most of his career) with a league-leading 43 goals. The 40 goals he scored in 1963–64 earned him the Willie Marshall Award as the AHL's leading goal scorer, and also led again to be named a Second Team All-Star. In the 1967–68 season, the National Hockey League expanded to twelve teams, and the new

took over the Springfield franchise as their top minor league affiliate, rebranding them as the Springfield Kings. That season, Anderson finally made his first NHL appearance with the parent Kings, playing in 7 games, and scoring 1 goal and 2 assists. Anderson's AHL career concluded with 426 goals and 821 points in 943 games, at the time in the top five all-time in each category in the AHL. As of the 2015 season, he remains 11th all-time in games played, fifth in goals scored and ninth in points scored.

Coaching career

Anderson was twice Springfield's head coach ( 1969-70 and 1975-76), and was the first head coach in the history of the NHL's

. After being replaced mid-season by George Sullivan, Anderson became a professional scout for the Los Angeles Kings' organization for 19 years. In November 2008, Anderson's career was recognized with induction into the fourth class (2009) of the AHL Hall of Fame. He continued to make his off-season home in the Springfield area, and after retirement was a local skating instructor until shortly before his death.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Jim 1930 births 2013 deaths Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey left wingers Detroit Hettche players Edmonton Flyers (WHL) players Los Angeles Kings players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Shawinigan-Falls Cataracts (QSHL) players Sportspeople from Pembroke, Ontario Ice hockey people from Renfrew County Springfield Kings players Springfield Indians players Trois-Rivières Lions (1955–1960) players Washington Capitals coaches Windsor Spitfires players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen