As a youth, Anderson played in the 1969 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Wexford, Toronto. Anderson was drafted in the first round, 11th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1977 NHL Entry Draft. He played 814 career NHL games, scoring 282 goals and 349 assists for 631 points from 1977–78 until 1988–89. Anderson was beginning to establish himself as a regular NHLer during his third season in Toronto when the club made a four-player trade with the Vancouver Canucks that brought winger Rick Vaive and centre Bill Derlago to Toronto. Anderson was paired with the two new acquisitions to form a high scoring line for the Maple Leafs. His best statistical season was the 1982–83 season, when he set career highs with 49 assists and 80 points. Following the 1984-85 season, the fourth year in a row that Anderson had scored 30-or-more goals for the Maple Leafs, he was traded to the Quebec Nordiques for defensemen Brad Maxwell. Anderson continued to be a valued goal scorer with Quebec and had potted 21-goals when he was traded again, this time to the Hartford Whalers. Anderson caught fire in Hartford to end the 1985-86 campaign putting up 25-points in just 14-games following the trade to finish the year with 29 goals and 74 points then added 13 more points in ten playoff games. The following year, his first full year with Hartford, Whalers sniper Sylvain Turgeon battled injuries and Anderson filled in nicely as the top left wing on the team. He hit the 30-goal plateau for the fifth and final time of his career finishing with 31 goals and 75 points, good for the third highest point total on the team. He played two more years in Hartford with diminishing returns then played the last five seasons of his career in the minor leagues, primarily the International Hockey League where he was a solid goal scorer. Anderson scored the winning goal against the New York Rangers on April 4, 1987, to give the Hartford Whalers their only division championship. Anderson was the captain of his junior team, the Toronto Marlboros.
Post-playing career
In 1996–97, Anderson coached the Quad City Mallards to their first of six consecutive 50-win seasons and their first Colonial Hockey League championship in just the franchise's second season. John Anderson is the Chicago Wolves franchise's all-time coaching leader in wins with 371 and holds the club mark for postseason victories as well with 80. John led the Wolves in winning the Turner Cup and Calder Cup four times in his eleven seasons at the team's helm. His team was crowned league champions in 1997–98, 1999–00, 2001–02 and 2007–08. Anderson also helped establish "John Anderson's", a diner best known for its "Banquet Burger", as well as its $4 breakfast special. The original restaurant is located at Victoria Park Ave. and Van Horne Ave. in Toronto, Ontario. There is another location at the corner of Dundas and Erindale Station Road in Mississauga, Ontario. The key items offered at the Mississauga location are the "Big Puck Burger" and "John's New Specialty", which is souvlaki on a sesame-seed bun. The newest location is in Markham at 3780 14th Ave. just east of Warden Ave. This location is owned by the former owners of the original location at V.P and Van Horn. They owned that store for 25 years and opened the Markham location in the beginning of 2013. Anderson coached the American gold medal winning team in the 2007 Jewish World Cup hockey tournament in Israel. On June 20, 2008, Anderson was named as the fourth head coach of the Atlanta Thrashers. On October 10, 2008, Anderson won his first game as an NHL coach 7–4 against his good friend Bruce Boudreau's Washington Capitals. On April 14, 2010, Anderson was released as head coach of the Atlanta Thrashers after 2 seasons with the organization. On July 12, 2011, Anderson became an assistant coach for the Phoenix Coyotes. On July 10, 2013, Anderson was rehired as the head coach of the Chicago Wolves. After leaving the organization in 2016, he joined the Minnesota Wild as an assistant head coach.
