A bright spot in a dismal Philadelphia Flyers season, Travis Sanheim isn’t ready to hang up his skates for summer just yet.
On Monday, Hockey Canada announced that the 26-year-old will be donning the Maple Leaf in Finland for the 2022 IIHF World Championship.
The tournament runs from May 13-29, and Canada enters as the defending champion after capturing gold in a mostly fan-free setting in Latvia in 2021.
Coached by Claude Julien this year, Canada will play its preliminary-round games in Group A, in the 8,200-seat Helsinki Ice Hall. The Canadians’ round-robin opponents will be Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark, France, Italy, and Kazakhstan.
Group B games will be played in the brand-new 13,000-seat Nokia Arena in nearby Tampere. The eight teams competing in that group are Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, USA, Latvia, Norway, Great Britain and Austria.
The IIHF has banned Russia and Belarus from participating in the tournament due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. That’s potentially a lost opportunity for goaltender Ivan Fedotov, newly signed by the Flyers after backstopping the Russian team to silver at February’s Winter Olympics in Beijing.
This tournament will be the first World Championship for Sanheim, a native of Elkhorn, Manitoba. But it’s his third international tournament in Finland. In 2014, he won a bronze medal at the World Under-18 Championship. Two years later, Canada suffered a quarterfinal loss at the 2016 World Junior Championship to the host team that boasted future stars like Sebastian Aho, Patrik Laine, Mikko Rantanen and Roope Hintz.
Fellow Flyer Travis Konecny was Sanheim’s teammate on both of those Canadian squads.
Sanheim’s Strong Season
Despite the Flyers’ many woes in 2021-22, Sanheim turned in arguably the best campaign of his pro career.
Paired primarily with Rasmus Ristolainen, his career-high plus-nine rating led all Flyers players — a phenomenal number on a club that had a total goal differential of minus-87 for the season.
Sanheim’s 31 points also led all Flyers defensemen this season. They all came at even strength, and the total was just four points less than his career-best of 35 points from 2018-19.
Sanheim also set career highs in ice time (22:58 per game), blocked shots (142), hits (64), and takeaways (23). And on a roster where injuries were the top talking point for much of the season, he suited up for 80 of 82 games. His two-game absence came in January, while he was in Covid protocol.
In honor of his impressive campaign, local sportswriters and sportscasters voted Sanheim as the recipient of his first Barry Ashbee Trophy as the Flyers’ best defensemen. His teammates also voted for him to receive the Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy as this year’s most improved player.
He also received the Lindbergh award in the 2018-19 season.
“I think Sanny is the first ever two-time winner of that award, which is pretty cool, but what a year from him,” said Joel Farabee, the 2021 recipient.
“If you’re looking at positives here, I think Sanny’s definitely someone you would name. A guy that brought it every night. I know you guys see the game and watch how he’s grown as a player. But I really felt like there were some games where he was just dominating out there. Hopefully, he can keep that up. He’s a great player, and he’s a really important part of this team.”
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In His Own Words
At his year-end interview, Sanheim outlined what he thought he did well this season. “I thought my play with the puck, poise, being able to make that next play and not just throwing it away or putting your teammates in a bad position to make a mistake,” he listed.
“Something that I wanted to work on throughout the offseason was putting those guys in better spots. I think it allowed me to create more offensively because of those plays that I was making, extending plays and allowing guys to have a bit more space and time to do something with the puck. That was a big step.
“I thought even my play with the puck when I was skating, skating empty ice and being able to jump offensively was another step.
“I thought defensively I was harder to play against. Maybe part of that was because I was playing with Risto, the physicality he brings and kind of drags you into the fight a little bit. I credit him with helping me on that end and being harder to play against. Maybe not physical, but I definitely thought I had a bit more of an edge this season.”
What Lies Ahead
As a restricted free agent, Sanheim filed for arbitration last summer. A hearing was held before he came to terms with the Flyers on a two-year deal that carries a cap hit of $4.675 million. He’s set to become an unrestricted free agent at age 27 at the end of the 2022-23 season. With one year remaining on his deal, he could sign a contract extension anytime after free agency opens — this year, on July 13.
“I’m not satisfied with my game and feel like there’s still more steps to be taken,” he said at the end of the season. “We want to create a winning culture here and a winning environment. I have to be a big part of taking that next step.”
Sanheim is also now serving as the Flyers’ team representative with the NHL Players’ Association.
“Still learning, obviously new to it and lots going on with the pandemic, a short season and even this season with Covid,” he said. “Just a lot of moving pieces.
“It’s been good for me. I usually want to stay up to date with what’s going on around the league. To be able to be the rep on the team means a lot to me. It allows me to kind of start having a voice with this team. Like I said before, there’s still steps that need to be taken from my end and improving on that. Something I’m going to improve upon.”
For now: more hockey. Sanheim and the rest of Team Canada will open their tournament against Germany this Friday at 1 p.m. ET.
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