Russell Vincent "Russ" Anderson (born February 12, 1955) is an American former 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 ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

who played 519 games in 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 ...

between 1976 and 1985. Anderson was a member of the United States National team at the 1977

Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the I ...

Early life

He played high school hockey for

Washburn High School Washburn High School, or simply Washburn, is a four-year public high school serving grades 9–12 in the Tangletown neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. By enrollment, Washburn is the second-largest high school in Minneapolis ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

where he was also a standout football player. After getting a scholarship to play college football for the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Anderson found himself injured with a torn Achilles tendon. Thinking his athletic career was over,

Herb Brooks Herbert Paul Brooks (August 5, 1937 – August 11, 2003) was an American ice hockey player and coach (ice hockey), coach. His most notable achievement came in Ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics, 1980 as head coach of the gold medal-winning Un ...

came to the training room and told Anderson to try out for the Gopher hockey team. Russ Anderson made the team and ended up winning an NCAA Championship in 1976.

Playing career

Russ Anderson, nicknamed "Andy" played hockey in the

NHL 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 ...

from 1976 until 1985. He played for the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its 25-year existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1 ...

, and

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. ...

. He was also a member of the United States National team at the 1977

Personal life

While playing with the Penguins, Anderson married

Miss America 1977 Miss America 1977, the 50th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 11, 1976, on NBC Network. The winner was Miss Minnesota, Dorothy Benham. Before the finals, Benham and second runner up ...

Dorothy Benham Dorothy Kathleen Benham (born December 11, 1955) is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Edina, Minnesota who was Miss America 1977 and Miss Minnesota 1976. Early life Benham was born to Archie and Mary Dorothy Tuomi Benham. She atten ...

. The couple had four children together. Anderson and Benham were married for several years before divorcing. He now is remarried to Diane Anderson and they reside in Connecticut.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Transactions

* On June 3, 1975 the

selected Russ Anderson in the second-round (No.31 overall) in the 1975 NHL draft. * On December 29, 1981 the

traded Russ Anderson and a 1983 eighth-round pick (No.143-Chris Duperron) to the

in exchange for

Rick MacLeish Richard George MacLeish (January 3, 1950 – May 30, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Philadelphia Flyers, Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Detroit ...

. * On June 1, 1983 the

released Russ Anderson. * On September 2, 1983 the

signed free agent Russ Anderson to a multi-year contract.

References

External links

* 1955 births Living people American men's ice hockey defensemen Hartford Whalers captains Hartford Whalers players Hershey Bears players Ice hockey people from Minneapolis Los Angeles Kings players Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players New Haven Nighthawks players Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks Pittsburgh Penguins players Winnipeg Jets (WHA) draft picks NCAA men's ice hockey national champions Washburn High School (Minnesota) alumni {{US-icehockey-defenceman-stub