When the 4 Nations Face-Off was initially announced as a midseason tournament featuring Canada, the United States, Finland, and Sweden, many didn’t feel all too confident on the idea that the Philadelphia Flyers would have many players participating.
However after a fantastic start to their respective seasons, the Flyers will be sending 3 players, 2 of which will represent the always-difficult to make Team Canada and another has been a mainstay for his native Finland.
Rasmus Ristolainen was always expected to represent Finland with how shallow their back-end is compared to other nations, however, that shouldn’t take away from his resurgent 2024-25 campaign.
After averaging a career-low 16:41 ATOI last year in 31 games, the hulking Finn has topped 20:40 ATOI this year with 7 points, a +1 rating, 33 shots on goal, 45 blocked shots and 47 hits in 25 contests. His play this season has stabilized what has always been a shaky top-4 on the blueline.
Joining Ristolainen on defense for Finland are Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell of the Dallas Stars, Jani Hakanpää of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Niko Mikkola of the Florida Panthers, and Olli Määttä and Juuso Välimäki of the Utah Hockey Club.
As for Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim, both players were considered long-shots at best, especially Sanheim, who wasn’t on many radars over the summer and heading into the season.
Injuries and inconsistent play to certain offseason “locks” opened the door for their selection but they kept the door wide open with their play this year.
Konecny leads the Flyers in goals (13), assists (17), points (30), maintains an even rating (2nd among forwards, 5th on team), and has averaged 21:06 TOI (1st among forwards, 2nd on team behind Sanheim). He also has 5 power play goals and 1 shorthanded tally.
If that wasn’t enough, Konecny sits 13th league-wide in goals and 14th in points, and amongst his Canadian peers he’s fourth in goals behind Sam Reinhart’s 18, Brayden Point’s 16, and Connor McMichael’s 14 goals and seventh in points behind Nathan MacKinnon’s 36, Reinhart’s and Dylan Strome’s 34, Cale Makar’s 32, and Connor McDavid’s and Mitch Marner’s 31.
As for Sanheim, he took the onus upon himself when Cam York was sidelined at the beginning stages of the season and hasn’t looked back. On the year, Sanheim has 5 goals and 15 points, holds a +2 rating, averages 25:30 TOI, and has accrued 59 blocked shots to 19 hits in 25 games.
Sanheim paces all Canadian-born players in ATOI and sits fourth in the league behind Zach Werenski (25:58), Seth Jones (25:42), and Roman Josi (25:32). His 5 goals are also three behind the league-leader at his position in Jakob Chychrun (8) and has him tied ninth with players like Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy.
With York on the mend, Sanheim scored 4 goals and 11 points in 13 games, was a +4, and averaged a gaudy 27:02 TOI, including 3 games with over 30 minutes of ice time with 31:07 being his season-high that he achieved against the Colorado Avalanche on the 18th of November.
With York back in the lineup, Sanheim has remained his usual reliable self with 3 assists in 5 games and 25:19 ATOI with the Flyers being 4-0-1 in that stretch as well.
Ristolainen will be representing Finland for the eighth time over his career but for the first time since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. He won gold at the 2014 World Junior Championship and was a mainstay in the junior circuit between 2010-2014.
Konecny has adorned the Maple Leaf four times including winning gold at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in 2014, silver at the IIHF Men’s World Championship in 2017, as well as placing 6th at the 2016 World Juniors.
This will be Sanheim’s fourth time playing for Canada after appearing in the U-18 World Championships in 2014, World Juniors in 2016, and World Championship in 2022 – where he won silver.
Head coach John Tortorella will also be taking part in the midseason tournament as an assistant coach for Team USA. Tortorella will join David Quinn and John Hynes as assistants to Mike Sullivan, who will be the head coach.
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