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

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player and

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

. Anderson played 7 games with the

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 ...

of the

National Hockey League 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 ...

(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 team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...

. He was born in Pembroke,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

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 Nor ...

career with the

Springfield Indians The Springfield Indians were a minor professional ice hockey franchise, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The Indians were founding members of the American Hockey League. They were in existen ...

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 The Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award is given each year to the player in the American Hockey League determined to be the most outstanding rookie. The award is based on voting by the media and the players. It was named after Dudley "Red" Garrett ...

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 and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

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 The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its curr ...

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 The Willie Marshall Award is given to the American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hocke ...

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 Ice hockey people from Ontario Los Angeles Kings players Shawinigan-Falls Cataracts (QSHL) players Sportspeople from Pembroke, Ontario Springfield Kings players Springfield Indians players Trois-Rivières Lions (1955–1960) players Washington Capitals coaches Windsor Spitfires players