Travis Sanheim and Ivan Provorov are arguably the two most exciting prospects the Flyers have outside of the professional ranks of hockey, and fans have been following their respective exploits in the WHL all year long. On Sunday night, the two faced off with one another, with Provorov’s Brandon Wheat Kings traveling to Calgary to take on Sanheim and the Calgary Hitmen.
Sanheim (who was clearly motivated by the Broad Street Hockey staff ranking him behind Provorov in our midterm 25 Under 25 update) tallied two assists in a 6-3 win for the Hitmen, while Provorov picked up a single power play assist in defeat. They both would’ve had more even more chances to score, though, if they weren’t tossed out of the game about halfway through the third period!
Because at that point — 9:31 into the game’s final frame — Provorov did this (vine via @J_Fahringer):
Provorov LEVELS this forward. Totally clean hit. Sanheim didnt like it tho & started wrestling w/ Provorov. https://t.co/2H4cbryu5h
— Jake (@J_Fahringer) February 1, 2016
That’s a massive hit by Provorov on Hitmen forward Beck Malenstyn. And not only that, it’s a completely legal one, as the contact was shoulder to chest and Provorov’s feet didn’t leave the ice until after contact. However, as we know, a giant hit being legal has never stopped a teammate from taking exception with it, so someone from the Hitmen found it necessary to take liberties with Provorov.
Naturally, that someone ended up being his pipeline-mate, Travis Sanheim. Via the fine folks over at Sons of Penn, we can see the scuffle between them ultimately devolved to what looks like more of a minor wrestlematch than anything else:
They’re both #Flyers prospects, but they were enemies on the ice today. – https://t.co/oUWOt8cZpK pic.twitter.com/DqsHfvvhUe
— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) February 1, 2016
The two didn’t even get five-minute fighting majors for their troubles, but they both were sent to the locker rooms for the rest of the game.
They weren’t the only ones on the ice that saw their tempers flare up, as six players in total — including fellow Hitman and Flyers prospect Radel Fazleev — picked up two-and-ten minutes each for their actions.
In three years, when Sanheim and Provorov are anchoring the Flyers’ defense en route to the top of the Eastern Conference, this’ll all be fun to look back on and laugh at.
