Glenn Anderson (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #110)
Adjusted Stats
1980-1981 Edm 59 GP 25 goals 19 assists 43 points 0.73 PPG
1981-1982 Edm 82 GP 30 goals 53 assists 82 points 1.01 PPG
1982-1983 Edm 74 GP 39 goals 46 assists 85 points 1.15 PPG
1983-1984 Edm* 82 GP 43 goals 36 assists 79 points 0.96 PPG
1984-1985 Edm* 82 GP 34 goals 32 assists 66 points 0.80 PPG
1985-1986 Edm 74 GP 43 goals 38 assists 81 points 1.10 PPG
1986-1987 Edm* 82 GP 30 goals 33 assists 63 points 0.76 PPG
1987-1988 Edm* 82 GP 32 goals 42 assists 75 points 0.91 PPG
1988-1989 Edm 81 GP 13 goals 40 assists 54 points 0.67 PPG
1989-1990 Edm* 75 GP 29 goals 33 assists 62 points 0.82 PPG
1990-1991 Edm 76 GP 22 goals 28 assists 50 points 0.66 PPG
1991-1992 Tor 74 GP 22 goals 30 assists 52 points 0.70 PPG
1992-1993 Tor 74 GP 18 goals 36 assists 54 points 0.73 PPG
1993-1994 Tor/NYR* 83 GP 19 goals 19 assists 38 points 0.46 PPG
1994-1995 Stl 62 GP 21 goals 25 assists 46 points 0.74 PPG
1995-1996 Edm/Stl 32 GP 6 goals 8 assists 14 points 0.43 PPG
Adjusted Playoff Stats
1980-1981 Edm 9 GP 4 goals 5 assists 8 points 0.94 PPG
1981-1982 Edm 5 GP 2 goals 4 assists 5 points 1.09 PPG
1982-1983 Edm 16 GP 8 goals 8 assists 16 points 0.98 PPG
1983-1984 Edm* 19 GP 5 goals 10 assists 15 points 0.80 PPG
1984-1985 Edm* 18 GP 8 goals 12 assists 20 points 1.08 PPG
1985-1986 Edm 10 GP 7 goals 3 assists 10 points 0.95 PPG
1986-1987 Edm* 21 GP 13 goals 12 assists 24 points 1.15 PPG
1987-1988 Edm* 19 GP 7 goals 12 assists 19 points 0.99 PPG
1988-1989 Edm 7 GP 1 goal 2 assists 3 points 0.37 PPG
1989-1990 Edm* 22 GP 8 goals 10 assists 19 points 0.85 PPG
1990-1991 Edm 18 GP 5 goals 6 assists 11 points 0.62 PPG
1992-1993 Tor 21 GP 6 goals 9 assists 15 points 0.70 PPG
1993-1994 NYR* 23 GP 3 goals 3 assists 6 points 0.26 PPG
1994-1995 Stl 6 GP 1 goal 1 assist 2 points 0.29 PPG
1995-1996 Stl 11 GP 1 goal 4 assists 5 points 0.43 PPG
Career - 1174 GP, 426 goals, 518 assists, 944 points, 0.80 PPG
Career-Highs - 43 goals (85-86); 46 assists (82-83); 85 points (82-83); 1.15 PPG (82-83)
Avg. (16 seasons) - 73 GP, 27 goals, 32 assists, 59 points, 0.80 PPG
Peak Avg. (81-89) - 80 GP, 33 goals, 40 assists, 73 points, 0.92 PPG, 4 Cups
Playoff Career - 225 GP, 79 goals, 101 assists, 178 points, 0.79 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 13 goals (86-87); 12 assists (84-85); 24 points (86-87); 1.15 PPG (86-87)
Accolades - None
All-Star Teams - None
6-time Stanley Cup Champion
Glenn Anderson gets a bit of the Yvan Cournoyer/Jacques Lemaire treatment, in that a very good player moves up the Pyramid because he was so consistently part of Stanley Cup championship teams. Offensively, there isn't much to separate Anderson at right-wing from my cutoff point for the Pyramid (and favourite whipping boy) Dino Ciccarelli. Neither of them won any notable award or were named to a year-end all-star team. The difference is Anderson won six Stanley Cups while Ciccarelli won zero.
His peak numbers throughout the 1980s aren't as impressive after adjustment. There are no 100+ point seasons or 50-goal years left on the resume...in fact, there are just two 40-goal campaigns and three 80-point years when the high-scoring decade that Anderson thrived in is factored in. Perhaps this is why it took Anderson a few years to get into the Hall of Fame.
But even if the numbers aren't incredible, there's no doubt that Glenn Anderson was the premier second-line right-winger of his era. Who knows...if Jari Kurri hadn't been an Oiler, Anderson's numbers might have been off the charts by virtue of him getting a chance to play with Wayne Gretzky. But Kurri earned his spot alongside Gretzky with his excellent two-way play, while Anderson (like his linemate Messier) wasn't exactly known for being superb at both ends of the ice.
It's a measure of how the league has evolved (or devolved) that a common setup for a team now is to have one scoring line, two checking lines and a goon line, while the Oilers of the 1980s had one of the best lines ever (Gretzky-Kurri-Messier/whoever) and then relied on their second-line to be instant offense (Anderson-Messier-whoever). What an exciting team they were, and an exciting era. Anderson benefited from that era, just as Coffey, Kurri and Messier did...but they were also integral contributors to it as well.
Perhaps because Anderson was known as being more mercurial and aloof, he never got much credit for being a key part of the leadership core of the Oilers. Nonetheless, while Messier hogs the glory as "greatest leader in hockey history", Anderson was still a key contributor to the Oilers' Gretzky-less championship in 1990. He went to the Maple Leafs and was a decent second/third-liner on what was probably their best team of the past forty years (the 92-93 Conference final team). And after being traded to the Rangers and reunited with Messier, Anderson earned his sixth Stanley Cup ring with the Rangers, albeit in nowhere near as important a role as Messier had.
Anderson finally got his due and is part of the hall-of-fame now. He's earned it...his 93 playoff goals and 214 points are among the highest of all-time (although anyone who was a key contributor for the Oilers is high on the list...the actual adjusted numbers are 79 goals and 178 points), and he could always be counted on to score key goals for the Oilers on those rare nights when Gretzky, Messier, Coffey or Kurri weren't clicking. Was he ever anywhere near the best player on a great team? No. Instead, he was a provider of instant-offense for one of the most dynamic and successful teams ever assembled.
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