Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, and Rasmus Ristolainen named to 4 Nations Face-Off rosters
Fans will have three Flyers and coach John Tortorella (USA) to root for at the February best-on-best international tournament. Sanheim and Konecny will play for Canada and Ristolainen for Finland.
The worst-kept secret in hockey is now out in the open: The Travii are going international.
Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim have been named to Canada’s squad for February’s 4 Nations Face-Off, the first best-on-best international hockey tournament since the World Cup of Hockey in 2016. Long speculated, the news that Konecny and Sanheim had made the grade became official on Wednesday night, a few hours after it was announced defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen would be playing for Finland.
Although no one would confirm, the Flyers kind of let the cat out of the bag early. Before practice on Monday, the team was spotted celebrating and patting the trio on the back. While untying his skates afterward in the Flyers locker room in Voorhees, Konecny was asked about the team appearing to celebrate some good news.
“I think if you watch our practices, we always are celebrating and having fun,” Konecny said. “No different today.”
Except this time, it was different. Konecy, Sanheim, and Ristolainen will be hitting the ice in the best-on-best tournament with Sweden and the United States rounding things out.
“If I get fortunate enough to represent my country, it’s a huge honor and something that I’ve worked hard to get to,” Sanheim said on Monday, equally reluctant to chat about it before the official word came down Wednesday night.
The Flyers will not have a player on the USA Hockey roster but John Tortorella will be an assistant coach on Mike Sullivan’s staff. Sam Ersson, who was not named to Sweden’s 23-player roster on Wednesday, could still be a possibility if one of the three Swedish goalies named gets injured before February.
“To represent your country, it’s always an honor,” Tortorella said on Wednesday. “My son has been in the military for 12, 13 years, so we keep a close eye, and we have a lot of good friends within the military all over the place. So it’s an honor.”
The tournament marks a full-circle moment for Konecny and Sanheim, who first met playing for Canada in 2014 at the U18 World Championship. The two are now best buddies but according to Sanheim, “we were never friends” back then.
Their friendship has grown over the years as have their games.
Sanheim, who last wore the maple leaf in 2022, winning a silver medal at the World Championship, is having a breakout year. In 25 games, he has five goals and 15 points while averaging the fourth-most minutes in the NHL (25 minutes, 30 seconds). This after setting career highs across the board in 2023-24, a few short months after potentially getting moved by the Flyers.
The 28-year-old defenseman from Manitoba was not on any projected rosters for the tournament up until a few weeks ago.
“I think just how hard I’ve worked the last two seasons and where my games kind of gotten to, it could have been very easy for me to just give in and allow myself to just treat it like any other day and not worry about it,” he said Monday about the adversity of the past few seasons. “Instead, I got motivated and got after it. [I] wanted to be better and wanted to prove people wrong. Very happy with where I’m at today, and I’m just very proud of where my game’s gone.”
Konecny, who hails from Ontario, has been not only one of the best players on the Flyers but one of the best in the NHL. Since Nov. 11, he is tied with guys like Leon Draisaitl and Jack Eichel for the ninth most points in the NHL (14). Across 25 games, he has 30 points (13 goals, 17 assists) while averaging a career-high 21:06 of ice time. Five of his goals are on the power play, already tying his career high.
“I was very caught off guard. I knew for a little bit there had been some speculation that I might be on it, and I never really paid any attention to it because I really didn’t think that there was really that much of a chance,” said Konecny via a Flyers press release. “But for me and Sanny to both make it, it’s such an awesome experience that we get to do together. Playing for your country at any point is something special that you don’t take for granted so I look forward to it.”
Konecny last played for Canada in 2017, winning silver at the World Championship while chipping in eight assists in 10 games. But he’s excited for the chance to play with Sanheim, this time having each other to lean on.
“Yeah, that’d be pretty special,” he said. “From kind of coming up in all the different tournaments and levels and experiencing that stuff together, haven’t always been as close as we are now, so it’s kind of been cool watching that happen. That would definitely be special.”
The only problem for the Canadians is that they’ll have to face Ristolainen, who is also having a standout year for the Flyers after injuries limited him to 31 games last season. He’s played all 25 games this season and has one goal, seven points, and a plus-one rating while averaging 20:40 of ice time.
Ristolainen, who ranks third on the team in hits (47) and blocked shots (45), has become a formidable force on the Flyers’ blue line, especially since being paired with Emil Andrae. They have some of the best numbers among the team’s pairings who have played at least 20 minutes together. According to Natural Stat Trick, in over 75 minutes together at five-on-five, Ristolainen and Andrae have the best Corsi for percentage (57.14), goal differential (six goals for, two against), expected goals for percentage (65.64%), and high-danger chances for percentage (69.7%).
» READ MORE: Q&A: Flyers president Keith Jones talks Matvei Michkov, prospects, the goalie situation, and more
A native of Turku, the now 30-year-old defenseman has represented Finland since he was a teenager. He first played for Leijonat (The Lions) in 2010 at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. In 2014, while serving as an alternate captain, Ristolainen scored “the golden goal” for Finland to beat an undefeated Sweden and win the World Junior Championship.
“It’s going to be huge, Ristolainen said of the 4 Nations via a team release. “Always very honored to represent your country and particularly for this tournament. It’s best against the best which we haven’t had for a while and get to play with a lot of good friends so it will be very exciting.”
So how will Sanheim deal with facing Ristolainen?
“Just being physical with him, getting after him,” Sanheim said with a laugh. “No, I’m just kidding. He’s obviously a tough guy to play against, so I’m obviously going to be fortunate that I play on the other end and don’t wouldn’t have to go up against him more so as a forward. He’s tough to play against and in saying that it’d be a lot of fun to see your teammates on the other side.”
They will all have to see Tortorella too. The Flyers bench boss has served as a head coach (2008 World Championship, 2016 World Cup of Hockey), an associate coach (2005 World Championship), and won silver as an assistant coach at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
So, will he, maybe not give any secrets away about his Flyers?
“Oh no, we’re trying to win,” he said. “We’re trying to kick the [expletive] out of them. If they’re on Canada, we’re trying to beat Canada. And yeah, that’s where, you’re trying to win. It’s your country. There’s no secrets with me.”
Tortorella let out a laugh, “We’ll see where it goes.”