LA Kings Call Up Former Black Hawk Mikey Anderson

The Los Angeles Kings recalled former Waterloo Black Hawks defenseman Mikey Anderson. The 20-year-old played 18:59 in his NHL debut against his older brother Joey Anderson of the New Jersey Devils this past Saturday, February 29. The Kings beat the Devils 2-1 in overtime.

Anderson became the first former Black Hawk to make his National Hockey League debut this season. He became part of a group which includes nine other Waterloo alumni who have skated in at least one NHL game this winter, including Kings teammate Cal Petersen. Speaking of Petersen, the Waterloo native, had a NHL career high 42 saves in a Kings 4-1 victory over Las Vegas on Sunday afternoon, March 1.

Anderson joined the Black Hawks as a 16-year-old ahead of the 2015/16 United States Hockey League season. That winter, he recorded a goal and 15 assists while playing in 57 Waterloo regular season games. During the playoffs which followed, Anderson broke out for three goals and two assists in nine games. The following year, the Roseville, Minnesota native was the Black Hawks’ highest-scoring defenseman with 34 points (five goals, 29 assists) in 54 appearances.

The Kings chose Anderson during the fourth round of the 2017 NHL Draft with the 103rd overall pick. Last spring, he signed with Los Angeles and has spent this season with their American Hockey League affiliate – the Ontario Reign – playing in 53 games with 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) as a professional hockey rookie.

Between the Black Hawks and the Kings, Anderson won NCAA Division I hockey championships during both of his two seasons at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. His 50 points at the collegiate level (11 goals, 39 assists) were accumulated in just 79 games. Anderson also represented the United States during the 2018 and 2019 IIHF World Junior Championships.

He became the third former Black Hawk to appear in an NHL regular season game for the Kings, joining Petersen and Jason Blake, who debuted with L.A in 1999.