Anderson driving the bus for Monsters during playoff run

Standing 6-foot-3 and 221 pounds, 22-year-old Josh Anderson doesn’t easily go unnoticed.

That is becoming more and more true as he and the Lake Erie Monsters continue their quest for the franchise’s first-ever Calder Cup, a quest that is in good shape after a 4-1 win in Game 1 on Wednesday night.

“When you’re a guy that’s (Anderson’s) size and has the ability to play physical like he does and you have the puck as much as he does, teams have to pay attention to him,” Monsters head coach Jared Bednar told BlueJackets.com.

“He wouldn’t be a fun guy to play against on most nights when he’s playing the way he can,” Bednar said.

For Anderson, playing the way he can this season has meant becoming a force with and without the puck. The forward played 58 regular season games with Lake Erie and was second on the team in goals (19) and primary points per game (.552) in all situations according to ahl.prospect-stats.com.

He was also a top performer at even strength ranking second among all Monsters in total primary points (23) and primary points per game (.397).

It’s no wonder that Bednar counts on the Burlington, Ontario native as one of the team’s leaders.

“Some of the biggest things are (Anderson’s) play away from the puck and commitment to defend,” Bednar said. “He can set the tone for a game just based on his size and strength and …

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