Sanderson to Make CSSHL History

Jake Sanderson will make Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) history next month as he becomes the first ever male CSSHL alumnus to compete at the Olympic Winter Games.

Sanderson will be one of 22 skaters and 3 goalies to represent Team USA at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Men’s hockey will run at the Olympics from February 3-20, 2022 and see 12 teams from around the world compete.

This will be Sanderson’s fourth time representing Team USA, having previously done so at the 2019 U17 Tournament, and 2021 and 2022 World Juniors. Sanderson won gold in 2021 and was captain of the 2022 World Juniors team before the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Whitefish, MT defenseman spent the 2017/18 season with the Edge School U16 Prep team, finishing second among all CSSHL defensemen with 43 points in 23 games.

Sanderson would spend the next two seasons with the US National U17 and U18 teams, captaining both teams each year. Following the conclusion of the 2019/20 season, the Ottawa Senators would draft Sanderson in the first round, fifth overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

In 2020/21 he joined NCAA Division I program University of North Dakota, and was named to the NCAA (NCHC) All-Rookie Team, and NCAA (NCHC) All-Tournament Team while winning an NCAA (NCHC) Championship and NCAA (NCHC) Regular Season Championship (Penrose Cup). This season Sanderson has 22 points in 17 NCAA games.

Team USA will play Canada, China and Germany in Round Robin play.