Flyers’ Sanheim named to Team Canada’s Olympic team

It was a dream come true for Travis Sanheim at 12 noon on Wednesday.
The Flyers defenseman was named to Team Canada’s Men’s Olympic roster for the 2026 Milano Cortina Games in February.
Hockey Canada’s general manager Doug Armstrong made the announcement at a noon press conference.
The Flyers scheduled a 3 p.m. Zoom media news conference at which time Sanheim was expected to provide his reaction to the selection.
Sanheim will be on an eight-man defense corps which includes Los Angeles’ Drew Doughty, Dallas’ Thomas Harley, St. Louis’ Colton Parayko, Colorado’s Cale Makar, Vegas’ Shea Theodore, Colorado’s Devon Toews and Winnipeg’s Josh Morrissey.
The 29-year-old Sanheim put himself in position to be named to Canada’s Olympic roster after he competed for his home country in last February’s 4-Nations Faceoff Tournament, which Canada won.
The Elkhorn, Manitoba native was selected by the Flyers in the first round (17th overall) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
In nine seasons, he has played in 617 NHL games with 57 goals/230 points (tied for fourth on the Flyers’ alltime list behind only Mark Howe, Eric Desjardins and Kimmo Timonen).
This season he has played in all 38 Flyers games with three goals/17 points and a plus-4.
His Flyers teammate on the 4-Nations roster, Travis Konecny, was left off Canada’s Olympic lineup.
In a Dec. 6 interview with FlyingFishHockey.com, Sanheim confirmed playing in the Olympics is something he’s dreamed about since he was a kid.
“It’s definitely a dream,” Sanheim said. “It’s one that you think is pretty farfetched. I think first and foremost you want to make the NHL and that’s your ultimate goal.
“But actually I think the Olympics are kind of on the next level. That’s the best against the best and being able to represent your country. So definitely something that a lot of kids dream about.”
Sanheim was asked how cool would it be to skate in a game for all the marbles. Pittsburgh superstar Sidney Crosby scored the winning goal in overtime for Canada at Vancouver in the 2010 Games and said that rated right up with his three Cup titles.
“Just to be able to play at that level, play against the best players in the world and play with the best players in the world, just that experience alone would be something that’s very valuable,” Sanheim said.
As for comfort level, Sanheim will be competing for his Flyers coach, Rick Tocchet, who will serve as one of Canada head coach Jon Cooper’s assistants and that should make things a bit easier.
Sanheim already played for Tocchet in the 4-Nations Face-off Tournament.
“Having played 4-Nations, you kind of build those relationships up,” Sanheim said of the entire Canada staff for Milano.
Technically, Sanheim will be working directly with Canada assistant and defense boss Peter DeBoer, a coach with plenty of NHL experience.
No doubt DeBoer will want to take advantage of Sanheim’s skating speed, his ability to make quick decisions on the fly plus his top conditioning to log large ice-time minutes.
“It’s an ability to play a 200-foot game, to play against top guys,” Sanheim said. “And yet still contribute offensively, make plays with the puck. That’s something I’ve really worked hard at to get better at. It’s nowhere near perfect but being able to make plays under pressure can really help.”
Tocchet believes Sanheim has the right stuff to make his country’s elite squad.
“I think it’s huge to make the Olympic team,” Tocchet said. “Everyone wants to make money and all that sort of stuff. But when you put on a Canadian jersey or an American jersey or whatever, it is special.”