Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider conducted a 10-minute interview with SWR Sport in Germany during his summertime training in Mannheim, and while the interview is in German, you won’t be surprised to find out that Moritz works his ass off:
There are shorter clips on SWR Sport’s website as part of a written interview anchored by said clips. Here’s a rough translation thereof–and it’s a long interview.
You can thank my Google Email Alerts for tipping me off to the full interview, which was online a couple of days ago, but posted to YouTube and as text on Thursday night:
Ice hockey star Moritz Seider–between Detroit and Angelbachtal
by Martin Bromber
A few weeks ago, Moritz Seider was named the best young player in the NHL. During his summer break, the 21-year-old returns to Mannheim to keep in shape there.
A commercial building in Angelbachtal, a small community about 40 kilometers from Mannheim. Only a branch of a local bank can be seen from the outside. There’s nothing to indicate that, a floor above, is training one of the best-known and best German ice hockey players: Moritz Seider.
Just a few weeks ago, he was awarded the Calder Trophy in the NHL, the toughest ice hockey league in the world. It’s awarded annually to the best young player of the season. No other German player has won it before Seider earned the honor.
Summer training at home
During his summer break, Seider works with his long-time trainer Adrian Konig on body, mind and nutrition. They’ve known each other for a number of years. At one time, Seider was being treated for an injury in Hoffenheim. Konig was a physiotherapist at TSG before becoming self-employed. In the two-to-three months when there are no games, both work together intensively.
“It’s a lot of pounding and sweating, but you both like doing it because you know you’ll be rewarded for it on the ice,” says Seider, describing his intensive training.
He played in all 82 games for the Detroit Red Wings last season. Coach Konig finds words of praise for his protege:
“As a person and an athlete, he’s an exceptional performer. And he’s definitely someone who works very meticulously. I demand a lot from him, but he’s someone who gives a lot in return.”
In the summer months, the Red Wings give Seider a relatively large amount of freedom when it comes to training and nutrition. That makes it all the more important to “give the player the ability to act, so that he is also able to show a high level of durability,” says Konig.
Despite all the discipline, Seider finds it difficult to do without desserts during the season. So he treats himself to a warm chocolate cake or a tiramisu every now and then, which is perfectly fine for his coach, too.
He moved from Erfurt to Mannheim at a young age
We continue in the direction of the SAP Arena. As a matter of course, Seider rings the bell at the players’ entrance, opens the door, and greets former coaches and purposefully finds his way into the Young Eagles’ locker room. It’s a special place for Seider, because this is where his ice hockey career really took off.
“Of course there were many great moments that I experienced here: the first championship, for example, which we celebrated back then,” Seider says, reminiscing.
But the defenseman was on the ice for the first time as a 5-year-old in Erfurt. After a try-out season with a local ice hockey team, he couldn’t let go of the sport. So Seider made rapid progress, and was increasingly allowed to help out as a guest player for the Young Eagles [Jungadler].
When Moritz was 14 years old, the Seider family decided to move to Mannheim together, although it wasn’t clear at the time how Seider’s career would develop.
Successful years as an Eagle
A whole new world opened up for Moritz: shuttle service from the ice rink to the school, a large staff of trainers and teachers–and he was impressed by the professional environment of the Young Eagles.
And the sporting achievements followed. In 2017 and 2018 the Young Eagles won the German championship. Seider made his National Team debut, and was named the best defenseman in the tournament at both the U-18 and U-20 World Championship. The original plan to graduate from high school with the Young Eagles didn’t happen.
Pro? Yes! Abitur? No!
Seider was promoted to the “real” Eagles [the Adler] in the German Ice Hockey League at an early stage. School faded into the background. The newcomer also impressed the pros. In 2019, he celebrated another German championship, and was named the most valuable young player in the DEL. Attention increased, and some NHL teams also kept an eye on the exceptional German talent.
“In the beginning, there wasn’t so much hustle and bustle,” says Seider, describing how his season went. It was only shortly before the end that everything “spectacularly exploded.”
The Day That Changes Everything
The explosion refers to the 2019 NHL Draft. At the 6th overall spot, Seider was picked by the Detroit Red Wings, to everyone’s surprise. His astonished face hasn’t been forgotten to this day.
“You sit there and only really enjoy it because you didn’t expect it to be that high at the time. That’s why the surprise was so much bigger,” Seider says, in retrospect.
Many fans and experts still describe the choice of Seider as a big mistake at this point.
Detours via the Smaller AHL and Sweden
Seider didn’t succeed in making the jump directly to Detroit’s team on his first attempt. He joined the Red Wings’ practice squad and played for the Grand Rapids Griffins for a year. Seider had a very good season there–compared to previous years–with many games in a row and fewer practice sessions.
When the coronavirus took over the world, the start of the following NHL season was delayed. Seider is to be loaned out to Mannheim in order to gain further game practices there. But the DEL also initially suspended its games due to the pandemic.
There was a spontaneous idea: a move to Sweden. Just a few days later, Seider was on Rogle BK’s team, and, after the most successful season in team history, he led the team to the runner’s-up position in the playoffs.
The first NHL year and his greatest successs
After the 2020-2021 season, the time finally came. Seider stepped onto NHL ice for the first time. He was considered one of the best-prepared rookies in the league, and showed his skills from the first game onward. Seider played all 82 games of the 2021-2022 season for the Red Wings. In the end, he scored 7 goals and recorded 43 assists.
Those were absolutely top numbers, which helped him earn the Calder Trophy as the Rookie of the Year after the end of the regular season.
“It’s an incredibly great honor to be judged like that by others,” Seider says, still happy to this day. “It’s just a nice sign when you see that your hard work can be rewarded.”
Social Responsibility and Public Perception
What few have noticed: before Seider started his speech, he helped former ice hockey player Jake Thibeault, who was in a wheelchair. Thibeault suffered a spinal cord injury during a game. Seider first handed him the cue card that had fallen down, waited for a moment, and then proceeded to the microphone.
A matter of course for Seider.
“I do think that we can also be role models in a way. That should always stay in the back of our minds,” Seider analyzes. “Especially in the world of sports, this is a matter of course for us, because those kinds of events can happen again and again, and you have to deal with what might happen.”
Great Connection to His Homeland
His final walk around the Mannheim water tower illustrates what Seider has not lost in addition to his down-to-earthness, even after all these years abroad: his ties to his homeland.
Family, friends and former teammates keep drawing the star back to Mannheim. Here, he’s gaining strength and continuing to work toward an impressive career:
“Mannheim will always remain as a part of my home. And I’m very happy about that.”
Edit: I listened to/watched the interview, and Moritz does say a little bit more than the interview indicates, but not too much. Moritz seems to certainly have a ton of self-confidence and swagger as a professional athlete, but his humility is a real thing, too, and a quality which he possesses in abundance.
He also says that winning the Calder Trophy makes him hungrier and hungrier for more success in the season to come in the video, and in an Italian restaurant near his training facility, he admits that he’s having a hard time missing sweets, but he offers a hopeful outlook for his future as well.
My German is more than a little rusty, but after 4 years of high school and 3 years of college German, you get the gist of it most of the time.
The gist of the interview, in any language, is good news for Red Wings fans: Moritz Seider is indeed as hard-working and humble as you’ve been led to believe, and he’s got just as much self-belief as is necessary to have a spectacularly successful pro hockey career without losing his inner “Mo.”
