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

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) 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. In ice hockey, two o ...

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

who played 519 games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

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, it is the sport's highest profile annu ...

Early life

He played high school hockey for

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

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

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, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

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

Herb Brooks Herbert Paul Brooks Jr. (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-winnin ...

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; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

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. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have play ...

Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 until 1978–79 WHA season, 1979, and in the ...

, and

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

. 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 Dorothy Benham. 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 The 1975 NHL Amateur Draft was the 13th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the NHL office in Montreal, Quebec. The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers made the most noise at the draft, trading Bill Clement, Don McLean, and t ...

. * 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 players 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 {{US-icehockey-defenceman-stub