When your dad played over 1100 games in the NHL over the course of 17 seasons and notched 700 points along the way, it can be hard to create a name for yourself as you try to carve out your own career as a professional hockey player. Jake Sanderson is up for the challenge though.

“Growing up, I had no idea my dad was special,” the 17-year-old defenceman said. “I just thought he was a regular dad and he just chose to play hockey like other people choose to be teachers or whatever. People would see my last name and they’d ask if I was his son and I would be like… how do all these people know my dad? Now that I have a better understanding of just how special he was as a hockey player, I understand why so many people asked.”

Now that Sanderson is trying to chart his own course to the NHL as a