Ronald Henry Anderson (born January 21, 1950) is a Canadian former 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 ...

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He who played 28 games in 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 ...

with 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) ...

during the 1974–75 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1968 to 1978, was mainly spent in 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 Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

. After his career he coached at the American collegiate level, and later joined NHL management.

Playing career

Anderson played collegiate hockey for two years at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

where he registered 87 points in 62 games for the Terriers. Anderson's scoring touch with BU didn't go unnoticed by the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

who signed him as a free agent in 1972. He would play 2 seasons with their AHL affiliate the

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

in 1972–73 and 1973–74. The NHL expanded by two teams in 1974–75, adding teams in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

and Washington, D.C. The expansion Washington Capitals selected him 34th from the Boston Bruins in the 1974 NHL Expansion Draft. He played 28 games during their inaugural season, tallying 9 goals and 7 assists for 16 points. He also spent time that year with the

Richmond Robins The Richmond Robins were a professional ice hockey team based in Richmond, Virginia. They were a member of the American Hockey League for five seasons from 1971–72 AHL season, 1971–72 to 1975–76 AHL season, 1975–76. Their cross-state rivals ...

, the AHL affiliate of the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

. After one more season in the minors Anderson headed to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and won a 2nd league title with

Villacher SV EC Grand Immo VSV are an ice hockey team in the ICE Hockey League. They play their home games at Stadthalle (Villach), Stadthalle (capacity approximately 4500 spectators) in Villach, Austria. The team colors are blue and white. Their mascot is an ...

followed by one more season on

Wiener EV Wiener Eislaufverein (Wiener EV, WEV; Vienna Ice Skating Club) is an ice-sports club located in Vienna, Austria. They were founded in 1867 and the club’s greatest successes have been in ice hockey, figure skating, and speed skating. The club a ...

before retiring as a player in 1978.

Coaching

Anderson continued his hockey career, turning almost immediately to coaching when he became a mid-season replacement for the Welland Steelers. In 1980–81 he joined the staff at Merrimack as an assistant and was picked as the replacement for

Bruce Parker Bruce Rodney Wingate Parker, (born 20 July 1941) is a British journalist and television presenter whose career spanned the mid-1960s to 2003, when he retired. Career Strongly committed to regional broadcasting, he was responsible in the mid-1 ...

on the eve of the Warriors' return to Division I. After finishing as

runner-up {{Short pages monitor