Craig Anderson

Craig Anderson (born on May 21, 1981) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender who currently plays for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He has previously played for the Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers and the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL. Craig has also represented the United States internationally.

Guelph Storm
Craig finished the 1998–99 season with the Guelph Storm of the OHL where he served as a backup to Chris Madden.

In 21 games with the Storm, he went 12–5–1 with a 3.10 GAA, helping the Storm reach the playoffs.

In three playoff games for Guelph, Craig went 0–2 with a 4.74 GAA. After the season, he was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the third round (77th overall) in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.

He returned to the Storm for the 1999–2000 season, where he split the goaltending duties with Madden once again.

In 38 games, Craig had a 12–17–5 record with a 3.59 GAA. The Storm reached the playoffs, and in three games, he went 0–1 with a 2.73 GAA and a .931 save percentage.

In 2000–01, he became the starter for the Storm, as he appeared in 59 games, earning a record of 30–19–9 with a 2.63 GAA along with a .918 save percentage to win the OHL Goaltender of the Year award.

In the playoffs, Craig and the Storm struggled, as he went 0–4 with 4.25 GAA as Guelph was swept in the first round.

Then, Craig re-entered the 2001 NHL Entry Draft as he failed to sign a contract with the Calgary Flames, who drafted him in 1999. The Chicago Blackhawks drafted he in the third round (73rd overall).

Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks assigned Craig to the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL for the 2001–02, where he served as a backup to Michael Leighton.

In 28 games with the Admirals, he went 9–13–4 with a 2.86 GAA. He then played in a playoff game for the team, going 0–1 with a 2.86 GAA and .938 save percentage in 21 minutes of work.

Craig spent the majority of the 2002–03 season with the Admirals, going 15–11–4 with a 1.94 GAA in 32 games with Norfolk.

In the playoffs, he went 2–3 with a 2.61 GAA in five games. He also made his NHL debut in 2002–03 with the Chicago Blackhawks.

In his first NHL game on November 30, 2002, Craig stopped all four shots he faced after replacing Jocelyn Thibault in the second period in a 4–1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings.

Then, Craig started his first NHL game the next night, on December 1, 2002 against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, where he made 23 saves in a 3–2 loss.

He finished the year 0–3–2 with the Blackhawks with a 4.00 GAA in six games with Chicago.

Once again, Craig split the 2003–04 season between the Admirals and Blackhawks. In 37 games with Norfolk, Anderson had a 17–20–0 record with a 2.11 GAA, followed by a 2–3 record and a 1.83 GAA in the playoffs.

With the Blackhawks in 2003–04, Craig went 6–14–0 with a 2.84 GAA in 21 games. After losing his first eight decisions with the team, he won his first NHL game, and earned his first NHL shutout as he made 30 saves in a 7–0 Blackhawks victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on January 22, 2004.

With the 2004-05 NHL lockout cancelling the season, Craig spent the entire season with Norfolk, however, injuries limited him to only 15 games where he had a 9–4–1 record and a 1.83 GAA for the Admirals.

In six playoff games, Craig was 2–4 with a 2.36 GAA. He spent the entire 2005–06 in the NHL. However, he found himself claimed on the waiver wire three times.

On January 19, 2006, the Boston Bruins claimed Craig from the Blackhawks. On January 31, 2006, the St. Louis Blues claimed him from the Bruins.

Four days later, on February 3, 2006, the Blackhawks claimed Craig from the Blues. Despite all the movement, Craig did not appear in any games with the Bruins or Blues.

In 29 games with the Blackhawks as the primary backup to Nikolai Khabibulin, he went 6–12–4 with a 3.32 GAA.

On June 24, 2006, the Blackhawks traded Craig to the Florida Panthers for the Panthers sixth round draft pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Florida Panthers
Craig spent most of the 2006–07 season with the Florida Panthers AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans.

In 34 games with Rochester, he went 23–10–1 with a 2.56 GAA, then went 2–4 with a 2.87 GAA in six playoff games.

He also appeared in five NHL games with the Panthers in 2006–07, going 1–1–1 with a 2.21 GAA.

On March 28, 2007, Craig earned his first win as a Panther as he made 33 saves in a 3–2 shootout victory over the Atlanta Thrashers.

In 2007–08, Craig stayed with the Panthers for the entire season, as he was the backup goaltender to Tomas Vokoun.

In 17 games, he went 8–6–1 with a 2.25 GAA and a very impressive .935 save percentage.

On March 2, 2008, Craig set an NHL record for the most saves in a shutout, as he stopped all 53 shots he faced in a 1–0 win over the New York Islanders.

Then, he had 40 saves in his next game which was also a shutout victory, as Florida defeated the Boston Bruins 1–0 in overtime on March 4, 2008 which also set an NHL record for most saves in consecutive shutouts with 93.

However, Craig's record of 53 saves in a single shutout was broken when Mike Smith of the Phoenix Coyotes made a 54-save shutout against the Columbus Blue Jackets on April 3, 2012.

Once again, Craig was the backup to Vokoun in 2008–09, however, he appeared in 31 games due to an injury Vokoun suffered during the season. He went 15–7–5 with a 2.71 GAA as Florida narrowly missed the playoffs.

After the season, Craig became a free agent and on July 1, 2009, he signed a two-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche.

Colorado Avalanche
Craig joined the Colorado Avalanche for the 2009–10 season and won the starting job from Peter Budaj in training camp.

In his first season with the Avalanche, he went 38–25–7 with a 2.64 GAA, .917 save percentage, and seven shutouts, helping the team make a surprising run into the playoffs.

He won his first game with the Avalanche in his first start, a 5–2 Avalanche victory over the San Jose Sharks on October 1, 2009.

In his next start, he recorded his first shutout with the team, stopping all 35 shots in a 3–0 win over the Vancouver Canucks on October 3, 2009.

Craig became the fourth goaltender in team history to win 30 or more games, joining Patrick Roy, David Aebischer and Peter Budaj.

He set the team record for consecutive starts to begin the season as he started the first 15 games. He led the NHL in saves with 2047, and shots against with 2233.

On April 14, 2010, Craig made his NHL playoff debut on April 14, 2010 as he made 25 saves in a 2–1 victory over the San Jose Sharks.

Four nights later, Anderson recorded his first ever post-season shutout, as he stopped all 51 shots fired at him, as Colorado won the game 1–0 in overtime.

The Sharks would eventually defeat the Avalanche in six games as Craig had a 2–4 record with a 2.62 GAA and a .933 save percentage.

Craig struggled to begin the 2010–11 season with the Avalanche and eventually lost his starting job to Peter Budaj.

With Colorado quickly falling out of the playoff race and Craig struggling with a 13–15–3 record and a 3.28 GAA, the club traded him to the Ottawa Senators for Brian Elliott on February 18, 2011.

Ottawa Senators
Craig finished the 2010–11 season with the Ottawa Senators as he went 11–5–1 in 18 games, earning a 2.05 GAA and a .939 save percentage.

In his first game as a Senator, he posted a 47-save performance to shut out the Toronto Maple Leafs on February 19, 2011.

On March 21, 2011, Craig signed a four-year contract extension with the club. During the 2011–12 season, he was among the league leaders for wins with 29 in 56 games before being sidelined in mid-February by a right hand injury sustained in a cooking accident.

The injury prompted the Senators to acquire minor league goalie Ben Bishop from the St. Louis Blues near the trade deadline.

Later in the season, Craig and the Senators faced the Eastern Conference's top seeded New York Rangers and took the series to 7 games before losing 2–1 in the final game. The lockout shortened 2012–13 season started off very well for him.

In Craig's first ten games of the season he posted a record of 6–2–2 with a 1.49 GAA and .950 save percentage, earning consideration as an early Vezina Trophy favorite. He was named the NHL's first star for the month of January 2013.

On February 21, 2013, Craig suffered from a sprained right ankle in a game against the New York Rangers when he was knocked down by Rangers' forward Chris Kreider.

International Play
Craig played for the United States at the 2006 IIHF World Championship held in Riga, Latvia.

In five games, he went 3–2–0 with a 2.36 GAA, however, the USA finished in seventh place.

Once again, Craig represented the USA at the 2008 IIHF World Championship held in Quebec City, Quebec and Halifax, Nova Scotia where he went 0-0-0 with a 5.63 GAA in two appearances as the USA finished in sixth place.

Personal Life
In 1999, Craig graduated from Barrington High School. In the summer of 2010, he married his wife Nicholle and in the summer of 2011, they welcomed a son named Jake.

Craig has instructed many goalie camps since being drafted in 2001. He currently instructs at Craig Anderson's Goalie School in Chicago during summers.