Best NHL Freshman
Seider makes ice hockey Germany “proud”
Best NHL Rookie: National ice hockey player Moritz Seider with the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year. Photo: John Bazemore/AP/dpa
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A German ice hockey professional has never been honored as the best newcomer in the NHL. Moritz Seider has now received the award. This crowns the defender’s season.
Moritz Seider gave no indication that he had just written German ice hockey history.
When the 21-year-old was named the North American NHL’s best rookie, the Detroit Red Wings defender looked calm. He was given an honor that no other German professional in the best ice hockey league in the world had previously received.
Seider exchanged his equipment for a fine thread at the gala in the US metropolis of Tampa. The national player accepted the prize, which he himself said he had not expected, in a suit and bow tie. “I haven’t prepared a speech,” Seider said on stage after kissing his girlfriend, three-time short track Olympic competitor Anna Seidel, and receiving the first congratulations. “I just want to go with the flow.”
NHL rookie Seider with 43 assists
In his first season, however, he only made inconspicuous appearances in the rarest of cases. Seider regularly stood out. He was on the ice in all 82 main round games, scored a total of 50 points and recorded 43 assists. No other NHL rookie has had more assists in the past season.
On the defensive, he showed himself tough against the established stars. And there was no sign of adjustment problems after his adjustment phase at Detroit’s cooperation partner Grand Rapids Griffins and a season at Rögle BK in Sweden.
“He showed a remarkable presence in his first year and played well all year,” said national coach Toni Söderholm about his protégé, who was sixth in the 2019 talent selection. “Of course I’m very happy for Moritz, he made all ice hockey in Germany proud.”
In the national team, Seider, together with Leon Draisaitl from Canadian league rivals Edmonton Oilers, is one of the most important building blocks of Söderholm – despite his young age. DEB President Peter Merten added: “We are very proud that Moritz Seider was the first German to receive the Calder Trophy at the age of 21.”
Congratulations from Germany
The organization of the Adler Mannheim, where Seider gained his first experience in the senior sector, wrote on Instagram the morning after the award ceremony: “Incredibly awesome! Congratulations on this incredible award!”
In the final, Seider prevailed in impressive superiority against the two attackers Michael Bunting from the Toronto Maple Leafs and Trevor Zegras from the Anaheim Ducks. Only 25 of the 195 journalists entitled to vote did not see the native of the Palatinate, who is predicted to have a great future, in first place.
Focused on the ice and likeable off the field – that’s how Seider presented himself on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Because after a little joke about his absent parents, “who just came back from Croatia and thought it was more important to go on vacation,” Seider also had sympathy on his side in Tampa.