John Anderson gathered his players, his coaches and everyone associated with his team into one big pregame huddle. He told them to hold hands, close their eyes and imagine how they would react when they scored the goal that won the cup.

Picture how you will celebrate, he said. Feel the joy you will experience. Visualize that moment, and realize how winning a championship will stay with you the rest of your life.

Photo courtesy the Chicago Wolves. (ENLARGE)

Former Chicago wolves coach and new Thrashers coach John Anderson.

Getty Images (ENLARGE)

Anderson played for the Leafs.

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Who will be the hero? Who will make it happen?

"The guys went crazy," Howard Cornfield recalled. "I absolutely knew we were going to win."

They were the Quad City Mallards, and they did win that night in Flint, Mich., and Anderson went on winning, from that 1997 Colonial Cup in the CoHL to two Turner Cups in the IHL to two Calder Cups in the AHL.

Now, he's finally chasing the most famous cup in the biggest league. If Lord Stanley's trophy still seems a distant goal for the Thrashers, who have never won a playoff game, think how close it must appear to this man who surely has been picturing his victory celebration, and feeling the joy he will experience, and visualizing that moment, through the 13 seasons it took him to reach the NHL.

Anderson wants to be Atlanta's hero. He wants to make it happen.

Cornfield, the former Quad City general manager, has no doubt Anderson will.

"I know this guy and believe in him," Cornfield said.

There were times when even Anderson might not have shared that belief. Before he signed a contract on Friday to become the Thrashers' coach, he had been passed over by other NHL teams, for a head coaching job and even a couple of jobs as an assistant coach.

"Sometimes you question yourself," Anderson acknowledged, but he said those times are in the past. "I think things happen for a reason. Me being in the minors for 13 years has made me a better coach and a better person. I wasn't in purgatory. I enjoyed it."

Anderson, 51, knows the journey matters, not just the destination. He stresses the importance of making an impact with every step. "Leave footprints" is one of his favorite sayings.

He is all about enjoying the journey, too. For evidence, go to YouTube.com and search for "John Anderson makeover," which features a clothier calling Anderson "a pretty hard fit" and Anderson describing getting a facial as "like putting your face in a car wash."

Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula has steak houses; the Thrashers' new coach created restaurants that sell hamburgers. You can still eat at John Anderson's, though the Toronto-area chain's namesake no longer owns it.

Anderson played eight of his 12 NHL seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and led them in points in 1983. His roommate on the road was current Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau. The 2007-08 NHL coach of the year said Anderson has as impressive a hockey mind as he has met.

"You could put John in a room with all the brains of hockey, and he'd have just as good ideas as anyone," said Boudreau, who also played alongside Anderson in junior hockey, the minor leagues and speaks with him at least every other day.

Boudreau said Anderson's knowledge of hockey is vast but that his knowledge of people is every bit as important.

"He reads people very well," Boudreau said. "He knows how to treat people."

Anderson gave an example of that in a radio interview Friday with WCNN, 680 the Fan. He told of an exhibition game in which he pointed to the stands and asked Thrashers star Ilya Kovalchuck, "Why are all these people here?" "To see a hockey game," Kovalchuk said. "No, they're here to see you," Anderson told him, so go out there and do what only you can do. Kovalchuk carried the puck the length of the ice on his next shift.

Thrashers general manager Don Waddell wanted a coach who could work well with players, especially young ones. He said he has found that man.

"We've talked to a lot of players who've played for John," Waddell said. "There's nothing but positive comments."

Boudreau said Anderson has the skill to relate not just to players such as Kovalchuk but also to the No. 20 man on the roster.

Maybe that's because Anderson can share some of his patience, a trait he learned while waiting for his NHL coaching opportunity. The wait began when his three kids were in elementary school and didn't end until they were 19, 20 and 23.

Boudreau still wears that Quad City championship ring, Cornfield said. He doesn't forget where he has been.

But he also always has in mind where he's heading, and he's not there yet.