Sunday marked the final day of preliminary round group play at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, Italy. As expected, all three participating Philadelphia Flyers and their respective national teams are moving on to the medal round after the three-game round robin.
Rasmus Ristolainen (defenseman, Finland): "Risto" leads all players in the tournament with a +8 rating through the first three games. The Big Finn also notched two assists on Saturday in an 11-0 rout of overmatched Team Italy. Blocked shots and hits are not officially recorded as statistics by the International Ice Hockey Federation. However, Ristolainen has had several of each during his three games to date. He has performed well in every match, including Finland's 4-1 loss to Slovakia in the tournament opener. Ristolainen has averaged 19:23 of ice time over the first three games. Ristolainen has recorded seven shots on goal. Via tiebreaker formulas, Finland (2-1-0) exits the round robin as the second-place team in Group B.
Travis Sanheim (defenseman, Canada): "Sanny" dressed in two of Team Canada's three games during the Group A round robin. He was a healthy scratch in the opening game against Czechia. An injury to Winnipeg Jets' blueliner Josh Morrissey opened an opportunity for Sanheim to get into the Canada lineup. At last year's Four Nations Face-Off, Sanheim was scratched in the opener and then played well in each of the next three games. This year at the Olympics, Sanheim was plus-two and skated 19 shifts (10:17 time on ice) in Canada's 5-1 victory over Switzerland. He also dressed in the round robin finale against France. On Sunday, Sanheim was +3 with two shots on goal with 18:53 of ice time in a 10-2 win over France
Dan Vladar (goaltender, Czechia): "Vladdy" dressed in all three round-robin games but started only the Czechs' 6-3 win over France on Friday. Vladar (nine saves on 12 shots) saw almost no scoring chances in the first period. In the second period, the Czechs stumbled early, and the French struck for three goals in the first five minutes. Thereafter, the Czechs reasserted control. Vladar was tested a couple of times over the remainder of the game and kept his team in front. Overall, the Czech team underachieved in group play. After losing to Switzerland in overtime on Sunday, 4-3, Czechia finished the preliminary round with a 1-1-1 record. They finished in third place in Group A, ahead of France but behind Canada and Switzerland. Lukas Dostal (Anaheim Ducks) started in a regulation loss to Canada and the OT defeat against Switzerland. Karel Vejmelka (Utah Mammoth) was scratched in all three games as Team Czechia's third goaltender.
