Joel Farabee defends Travis Sanheim in 3-words after hockey analyst condemns Canadian D-man's 4 Nations Face-Off roster selection

By ARJUN B

Modified Dec 05, 2024 03:58 GMT

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Philadelphia Flyers winger Joel Farabee defended teammate Travis Sanheim in three words after a hockey analyst questioned Sanheim's selection to Team Canada's roster for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.

The 23-man roster was announced on Wednesday and includes many of Canada's top NHL stars like Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and Brad Marchand.

However, hockey analyst JFresh condemned the decision to include defenseman Travis Sanheim on the roster, tweeting:

"The one pick for (Canada) that does actually kind of confuse me is Sanheim. He's a good player and he's having a good year playing a lot of minutes but I wouldn't consider him an amazing defender, he's not that physical, etc. What am I missing (other than not a lot of great LD options)."

In response, Sanheim's Philadelphia Flyers teammate Joel Farabee replied:

"Watch a game."

While Sanheim may not be a big name or have the same pedigree as some of the other D-men on the roster, Farabee believes his teammate's strong play this season warrants inclusion.

In addition to the aforementioned stars, Canada's roster includes other top players like Mark Stone, Sam Reinhart, Cale Makar, and Brayden Point.

Canadien team GM Don Sweeney said on Canada's 4 Nations Face-off roster

Canadian team general manager Don Sweeney expressed confidence in Canada's 4 Nations Face-off roster selection and also emphasized the depth and versatility of the group.

"We're excited about the versatility of the group, the depth of the group, strength of the middle of the ice is really good, size in the back end. So, I think we can play any type of game and we're gonna go out and try and execute to the highest level that coop and staff expect level just to able to attain," said Sweeney (as per NHL.com)

He acknowledged that some difficult decisions had to be made, leaving off talented players who could have represented Canada.

"We left off some players, some great players that could easily represent Canada in this event and they very well may.”

The 4 Nations Face-off will feature Canada, Sweden, the United States and Finland competing in a round robin format. Canada's first game will be against Sweden on February 12th at the Bell Centre in Montreal. They will stay in Montreal to face the US team on February 15th.

The tournament then moves to Boston where Canada will play Finland on February 17th. After the round robin, the top two teams will advance to the championship game on February 20th at the TD Garden in Boston.