Anderson returning to Wolves

The Chicago Wolves announced Monday that they have named five-time league champion and Wolves all-time winningest head coach John Anderson as the team’s new bench boss.

The Wolves will host a press conference to introduce Anderson on Tuesday at 11 a.m. CT. The team will live-stream the press conference at youtube.com/chicagowolveshockey.

The team also announced that Dave Allison and Scott Allen will join Anderson’s staff as assistant coaches. Allison served as the Peoria Rivermen’s head coach in 2012-13, while Allen was his assistant.

Anderson returns to the Wolves with four years of National Hockey League experience, which includes two years as head coach of the Atlanta Thrashers from 2008-10. He most recently served as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes from 2011-13.

“Johnny’s record speaks for itself. Six Finals appearances in 11 years in a pretty good success rate,” said Wolves general manager Wendell Young. “The Wolves have not had the type of success we has grown accustomed to since he left. We didn’t realize that so much of our winning tradition was based around Johnny.”

The 56-year-old Anderson captured four league titles in 11 years as the bench boss of the Wolves, which included the 2002 and 2008 Calder Cup championships. He also guided Chicago to the International Hockey League’s Turner Cup in 1998 and 2000, and a trip to the Calder Cup Finals in 2005.

The Toronto native returns as the winningest coach in Wolves history, after amassing 506 victories in 808 regular-season contests and 105 postseason wins during his first stint with the franchise from 1997-2008. He led Chicago to 10 postseason berths in his 11 seasons behind the bench.

In seven AHL seasons, Anderson owns a record of 306-211-43 (.585), good for 13th on the league’s all-time wins list. He is also 63-38 (.624) in 101 career Calder Cup Playoff games coached, ranking third all-time in playoff victories.

Before joining the Wolves, Anderson captured the 1997 Colonial Cup as head coach of the Quad City Mallards of the Colonial Hockey League.

During a 17-year pro playing career, Anderson appeared in 814 games in the NHL and was the AHL’s most valuable player in 1991-92, collecting 95 points in 68 games for the New Haven Nighthawks.