NHL
Rookie of the Year: Seider was chosen as the first German
Moritz Seider of the Detroit Red Wings is awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy. Photo: Duane Burleson/AP/dpa
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National ice hockey player Moritz Seider is the first German to be voted the best newcomer in an NHL season.
National ice hockey player Moritz Seider is the first German to be voted the best newcomer in an NHL season.
The 21-year-old from the Detroit Red Wings was overwhelmingly awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy for tremendous performance in his freshman year in the National Hockey League. Only 25 of the 195 voting journalists did not see him in first place. Second place went to Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks.
Seider had 50 points as a defender and had 43 assists, more than any other NHL rookie last season. The man from the Palatinate, who trained with the Adler Mannheim, was also on the ice in all 82 games of the season and played more minutes than any other rookie.
At the gala in Tampa, Seider thanked the sponsors of his career and made a little joke about his absent parents, “who just came back from Croatia and thought it was more important to go on vacation”.
The journalists’ most valuable player of the season award went to Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The attacker scored 60 goals and was also voted the NHLPA Players Union’s Pro of the Season. Matthews edged out Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid, who a year ago won the MVP award for the second time in his career. Leon Draisaitl took ninth place in the vote. He was the first German to win the Hart Memorial Trophy for MVP two years ago.