Ron Anderson (ice hockey, born 1950)

Ronald Henry Anderson (born January 21, 1950) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey right winger who played one season in the National Hockey League for the Washington Capitals and four seasons in the American Hockey League for the Boston Braves, Richmond Robins and New Haven Nighthawks.

Not to be confused with Ron Anderson (ice hockey, born 1945) who played for four NHL teams and a WHA team, and Ron Anderson (ice hockey, born 1948) who played for two WHA teams.
Ron Anderson
Born (1950-01-21) January 21, 1950
Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Right
Played for Washington Capitals
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 1970–1978
Current position
TitleDir. of Player Recruitment
TeamChicago Blackhawks
Playing career
Position(s)Forward
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1978–1979Welland Steelers
1980–1983Merrimack (assistant)
1983–1998Merrimack
1999–2008Chicago Blackhawks (scout)
2008–presentChicago Blackhawks (Dir. of Player Recruitment)
Head coaching record
Overall254–253–24 (college)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1987 ECAC East regular season
1987 ECAC East Tournament
1988 ECAC East Regular Season
1988 ECAC East Tournament
1989 ECAC East Regular Season
1989 ECAC East Tournament

Playing career

Anderson played collegiate hockey for two years at Boston University 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 who signed him as a free agent in 1972. He would play 2 seasons with their AHL affiliate the Boston Braves in 1972–73 and 1973–74. The NHL expanded by two teams in 1974–75, adding teams in Kansas City, Missouri 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 AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers. After one more season in the minors Anderson headed to Europe and won a 2nd league title with Villacher SV followed by one more season on Wiener EV before retiring as a player in 1978.[1]

Coaching

Anderson continued his hockey career, turning almost immediately to coaching when he became a mid-season replacement for the Welland Steelers.[2] In 1980–81 he joined the staff at Merrimack as an assistant and was picked as the replacement for Bruce Parker on the eve of the Warriors' return to Division I.[3] After finishing as runner-up in the last Division II championship for 8 years, Anderson led Merrimack as a concurrent D-I independent and ECAC East member for the next five years as it tried to find a permanent home. Despite the difficulties of not being in a major conference the Warriors steadily improved until they compiled a magnificent 34-win season in 1987–88, the best in the history of the school (as of 2016). Their performance couldn't have come at a better time because the NCAA expanded the playoff and Anderson's team became the first independent squad invited to the postseason since 1960. Not satisfied with simply making the cut, Merrimack dropped the first game to Hockey East champion Northeastern before routing them in the second game to take the opening series 10-8 on aggregate. In the quarterfinals they defeated eventual champion Lake Superior State 4-3 in the first game before their luck ran out and the Warriors were drubbed 5-0 to lose the series.[4]

After another stellar season Merrimack was finally accepted into a major conference, joining Hockey East for the 1989–90 season. Their winning ways, however, didn't continue with their new, full-Division-I schedule. Anderson's team won only 10 games that campaign and would improve only marginally over the next few years. For their first nine seasons in Hockey East the Warriors would come close but never achieve a winning season. Between 1990 and 1997 Anderson was unable to get a single postseason series victory, going 1-9 in the Hockey East tournament. In 1998, however, they shocked the conference by defeating his top-ranked alma mater Boston University twice to reach the semifinals. Before the second round began Anderson was told that his contract would not be renewed[5] and the 7-2 loss to Boston College turned out to be his last game behind the bench.

Management

Anderson accepted a position as an amateur scout for the Chicago Blackhawks in 1999 and served in that capacity for 9 seasons before being named Director of Player Recruitment in 2008.[6] Anderson continues to serve in that capacity as of 2017 and has seen his name etched on the Stanley Cup three times as a result (2010, 2013 and 2015).

Awards and achievements
  • 1972–73 – Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award (AHL Rookie of the year)
  • 1972–73 – AHL Second Team All-Star
  • 2010 Stanley Cup (Chicago Blackhawks)
  • 2013 Stanley Cup (Chicago Blackhawks)
  • 2015 Stanley Cup (Chicago Blackhawks)

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1970–71 Boston University Terriers ECAC 31 20 21 41 17 – – – – –
1971–72 Boston University Terriers ECAC 31 19 27 46 26 – – – – –
1972–73 Boston Braves AHL 73 41 29 70 53 – – – – –
1973–74 Boston Braves AHL 75 24 31 55 28 – – – – –
1974–75 Washington Capitals NHL 28 9 7 16 8 – – – – –
1974–75 Richmond Robins AHL 38 20 19 39 19 – – – – –
1975–76 Richmond Robins AHL 20 2 3 5 6 – – – – –
1975–76 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 17 1 3 4 8 3 0 0 0 0
1976–77 Villacher SV ENL 24 26 14 40 – – – – – –
1977–78 Wiener EV EHL 26 28 8 36 14 – – – – –
NHL totals 28 9 7 16 8 – – – – –

Head coaching record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Merrimack Warriors (ECAC 2) (1983–1984)
1983–84 Merrimack 13–19–010-11-0NCAA Runner-Up
Merrimack: 13–19–010-11-0
Merrimack Warriors (ECAC East) (1984–1989)
1984–85 Merrimack 16–16–313–7–33rdECAC East Quarterfinals
1985–86 Merrimack 19–12–217–5–12ndECAC East Semifinals
1986–87 Merrimack 29–7–025–2–01stECAC East Champion
1987–88 Merrimack 34–6–025–0–01stNCAA Quarterfinals
1988–89 Merrimack 27–7–016–2–01stECAC East Champion
Merrimack: 125–48–596–16–4
Merrimack Warriors (Hockey East) (1989–1998)
1989–90 Merrimack 10–25–13–18–08thHockey East Quarterfinals
1990–91 Merrimack 13–19–17–14–06thHockey East Quarterfinals
1991–92 Merrimack 13–21–04–17–08thHockey East Quarterfinals
1992–93 Merrimack 14–20–28–16–06thHockey East Quarterfinals
1993–94 Merrimack 16–19–2^10–14–2^7thHockey East Quarterfinals
1994–95 Merrimack 14–18–57–12–5–35thHockey East Quarterfinals
1995–96 Merrimack 10–19–54–18–2–09th
1996–97 Merrimack 15–19–211–11–25thHockey East Quarterfinals
1997–98 Merrimack 11–26–14–20–0t-8thHockey East Semifinals
Merrimack: 116–186–1958–140–11
Total:254–253–24

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

^ Maine was required to retroactively forfeit two victories against Merrimack which are reflected here. [7]

Transactions
  • Signed as a free agent by the Boston Bruins, June, 1972.
  • Claimed from the Boston Bruins by the Washington Capitals in the 1974 NHL Expansion Draft, June 12, 1974.
  • Traded by the Washington Capitals with Bob Gryp to the New Haven Nighthawks (AHL) for Rich Nantais and Alain Langlais, February 23, 1976.
gollark: Scientific progress does not generally require subjecting lots of people to your thing for ages.
gollark: If you have to go through 10000 extremely bad systems to get a good one, it may not be worth it.
gollark: 1.5%, actually.
gollark: That would be bad, actually.
gollark: 1/80 or so. Where are you going with this?

References
  1. "Ron Anderson". Elite Prospects. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  2. "Ron Anderson". Hockey DB. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  3. "Merrimack Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  4. "GREATEST MOMENTS Merrimack won its place in 1988 NCAA Hockey Tournament". American Sports Network. July 7, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  5. "COLLEGES: HOCKEY NOTEBOOK -- HOCKEY EAST; Merrimack In a Shocker". NY Times. March 18, 1998. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  6. "Hockey Operations and Scouting". Chicago Blackhawks. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  7. "Merrimack Year-By-Year Results" (PDF). Merrimack Warriors. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
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