27 Facts: Anders Lee

Anders Lee inked a seven-year contract with the New York Islanders on Monday, keeping the captain on Long Island long term.
NewYorkIslanders.com is taking a moment to celebrate Anders, doing a deep dive into number 27. We've taken our 7 Facts format and blown it out into 27 things you may or may not know about the Islanders captain.

1. He's led the Islanders in goals in each of the past three seasons, scoring 34, 40 and 28 respectively.
   2. He scored a career-high 40 in 2017-18, the first Islander to do so since Jason Blake in 2006-07.

3. This past season, Lee had 51 points (28G, 23A) in 82 regular season games and had four points (1G, 3A) in eight playoff games.
   4. In the past three seasons, Lee has a combined total of 102 goals, one of 15 NHLers with 100 goals since 2016-17.
   5. He's our captain. And a great one at that.

6. He goes through mouth guards like candy.

7. His cellies are pretty epic.

8. Even from the bench.

9. He's a hugger. He may be 6-foot-3 and 231-pounds, but that doesn't stop him from showing his affectionate side.

10. He's ultra-athletic. In high school, Lee quarterbacked Edina for two years and was named the 2008 Minnesota Gatorade Football Player of the Year. He was also a finalist for Minnesota's Mr. Football award. As if hockey and football wasn't enough, Lee was also a standout pitcher and third baseman on the Edina baseball team.
    11. His cousin Ryan Connelly, who played football at the University of Madison-Wisconsin, was drafted by the New York Giants in the fifth round (143rd overall) of the 2019 NFL Entry Draft.

12. He and teammate Nick Leddy go back to their teenage years. The Minnesota natives competed against each other for the coveted Minnesota High School State Championship. Both were finalists for the annual 2009 "Mr. Hockey" Award, but Leddy received the honor.
    13. While he received offers to play football and hockey in college, he ultimately opted to play Division I hockey at the University of Notre Dame.
    14. He captained Notre Dame to a CCHA championship in his junior year in 2012-13.

15. He won two bronze medals at the IIHF World Championships in 2015 and 2018. Lee has represented the United States at the 2015, 17 and 18 World Championships. He's as American as apple pie.
    16. He has two adorable Blue Merle Australian Shepherds named Gordie and Howe. Take a guess who they are named after…

17. His birthday is July 3. Lee turned 29 on Wednesday!

18. He has a knack for redirecting shots and scoring in front of the net. He may be the best in the league at it.

19. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have some pretty slick moves.
    !
    20. He has raised over $300K for pediatric cancer through his Kancer Jam charity KanJam tournaments.
    21. Lee announced five scholarships in Fenov Pierre-Louis' name for high school students who helped people affected by cancer.

22. He loves playing at the Coliseum. Good sense of humor too.

23. He's got a degree in Management Consulting from Notre Dame.
    24. Takes Halloween pretty seriously.

25. He wears 27 because 2+7=9. Nine is his favorite number - and his college number - but is retired on Long Island.
    26. His cheat day meal is pizza. Plenty of that on Long Island, which is a good thing because...
    27. The Islanders have got him for another seven years!