Philadelphia Flyers defensemen Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen are each bringing home medals from the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, Italy. Sanheim won a silver medal with Team Canada, while Ristolainen collected a bronze medal with Team Finland.
Both players, naturally, were disappointed their respective national teams did not win the gold medal. Finland lost a heartbreaker to Canada in the semifinal. Canada, in turn, lost the gold medal game in overtime to Team USA. That's the nature of team sports, especially in an elite tournament with single-game knockouts in the medal round.
Nevertheless, Sanheim and Ristolainen can both take pride in their individual performances during the tournament as well as the way their teams came together to deliver stellar hockey under intense scrutiny. It should also bring a measure of accomplishment in realizing their lifelong dreams of not just playing in the Olympics but shining on the world's biggest stage for the sport.
In Sanheim's case, the player started out the tournament as a healthy scratch. Thereafter, with each passing game, his role on Team Canada steadily grew. The same thing happened at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament (won by Team Canada) last year. The Olympics however, are on a level even above last year's mini-tournament.
For Ristolainen, the Olympics marked his first international play since the World Cup of Hockey in 2016. He was selected to Team Finland for the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025, but had to withdraw due to a triceps tear that ended his season and required surgery.
Both Sanheim and Ristolainen cranked out strong all-around performances. The International Ice Hockey Federation does not officially track hits or blocked shots as a recognized statistic. However, Ristolainen had at least 10 of each over the six games he played. He also chipped in three assists and compiled a traditional plus-nine rating. The big Finn averaged 19:45 of ice time, often seeing duties against the world's most dangerous attackers.
Meanwhile, Sanheim played a very intelligent tournament. He defended and closed well but even more noticeably used his feet very effectively to help out up the ice. From an offensive standpoint, Sanheim's lone point was the primary assist on the game-tying goal in the semifinal match against Finland. Canada rallied from a 2-0 deficit to pull out a 3-2 victory on a Nathan MacKinnon power play goal in the final minute of the third period.
By the time the gold medal game rolled around, Sanheim played regular shifts on Team Canada's second defensive pair. He skated 23 shifts against Team USA, contributing tape-to-tape breakout passes, sound positional defense and up-ice support for the attack.
Sanheim finished the tourney with a plus-six rating and nine shots on goal in five games. It took a ten-bell save from Czechia's Lukas Dostal in the quarterfinal match to prevent Sanheim from scoring his first Olympic goal.
Sanheim and Ristolainen are both players who've had their share of critics over the years, even heading into the Olympics. Both men answered the skeptics the best way possible; with their play on the ice among the best hockey players in the world.
Someday, Rasmus Ristolainen and Travis Sanheim can look back at the 2026 Olympics as one of their greatest personal accomplishments.
