Frank Sanders played college hockey at the University of Minnesota, helping them win the Western Conference Hockey Association title in 1969, and captaining the 1970-71 team, also winning the John Mariucci MVP Award that year. After the 1972 Winter Olympics, Sanders played one year of professional hockey with the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the now defunct World Hockey Association. Sanders was a big, tough defenseman, but after one year he quit hockey to pursue a theology degree and later became a pastor at the Spirit of Life Bible Church in Woodbury, Minnesota.