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TORONTO — Maybe, just maybe, the success enjoyed by coach Bruce Boudreau with the Washington Capitals this season will finally open a door for John Anderson.
Anderson, 51, is the head coach of the Chicago Wolves of the AHL, and he is on the verge of returning to the Calder Cup final for the third time in seven seasons. It would also be his sixth final in 11 years if his two IHL titles and a runner-up finish were included.
The Wolves lead the Toronto Marlies 3-1 in the Western Conference final after a 6-1 loss at the Ricoh Coliseum last night. The fifth game is scheduled for Friday night.
Boudreau and Anderson, whose son, Spencer, is playing for the Kitchener Rangers in the Memorial Cup, are friends. Until Boudreau made the jump to the NHL this season, they had followed similar career paths. They were junior teammates. They played together in the minor leagues before being promoted to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the late 1970s.
After their playing careers were over, they began coaching in the deep depths of the minor leagues. Boudreau won an ECHL championship with the Mississippi Sea Wolves and the 2005-06 Calder Cup with the Hershey Bears.
Anderson has more championship trophies on his mantel. There was the Colonial Hockey League title with the Quad City Mallards, two championships with the Wolves when they played in the IHL and another one in 2001-02 after the club moved to the AHL.
“I've gotten to the point where I don't worry about it,” Anderson said when asked whether he is bitter that no NHL club has taken a chance on him. “I was concerned about it after we won our third championship [in Chicago six years ago] and didn't get a sniff.
“Sure I would still love a chance in the NHL. But I love Chicago. I love working for a franchise that cares about winning.”
How close has Anderson, who enjoyed a productive 12-season NHL career with the Leafs, Hartford Whalers and Quebec Nordiques, come in the past to stepping back into the NHL as a head coach?
Ten summers ago, Anderson had an interview for the vacant Anaheim Ducks position, but lost out to Craig Hartsburg. He also was up for an assistant coaching job with the Leafs that everyone thought he had. But a high-powered general manager placed a telephone call to Toronto to put in a good word for Keith Acton, and the next thing Anderson knew, he was back riding the buses in the minors.
“That's what makes the world go around, it's not just hockey, it is in all businesses,” Anderson said.
Unfortunately, he appears not to have an influential supporter in the NHL. His backers are his current and former players.
“I think he'd do very well in the NHL,” said Wolves forward Jason Krog, a former NHL player with the New York Islanders, Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers and New York Rangers.
“He is so fair. I can't speak for everyone on our team, but I think most of the guys would say he treats everyone in a fair manner. He's also fun to play for. He has his systems, like any coach, but he also wants us to be creative once we get in the offensive zone.”
What Anderson needs at this point in his career is a break – for a general manager to take a chance on the passionate hockey man who played four years in the minors after his NHL playing career was over. The vacancies are there. The San Jose Sharks, Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, Thrashers and Leafs are all looking for a new head coach.
“I liked to play and I like to win,” Anderson said.
“I still believe that I could have played some role for some team in the NHL in those final four years as a player.
“I have had such a great time [in the minors]. My paycheques were smaller. But hockey is hockey and the guys were and have been great to be around.”
