MLive’s Ansar Khan praises Moritz Seider as his ascent continues among the Red Wings’ “iron men“–and among the ranks of the team’s best defensemen:
Seider’s ironman streak reached 300 games Tuesday in Seattle. That’s 45 short of John Ogrodnick’s club record for consecutive games to start a career.
“Fortunate to play every single game, just try to continue that,” Seider said. “If you’re not severely injured, I think you always find a way to get yourself going and be out there. I take a lot of pride in being ready every single time. Hopefully, I can continue that for a long time here.”
The Red Wings (28-21-5) will try to extend their winning streak to eight games Saturday when they host Tampa Bay in the final game before a 13-day break for the 4 Nations Face-Off (1 p.m., ABC).
They are coming off their first 4-0 trip since 1996, a swing that started with a 3-2 shootout victory at Edmonton in which Seider logged a career-high 30:44. That’s the most minutes for a Red Wing since Nicklas Lidstrom played 32:12 against San Jose on Feb. 11, 2010.
Seider, in his fourth season, is averaging 25:15 per game, nearly three minutes more than he did last season (22:21).
“I think everyone is working really hard in the summertime to get that base, the foundation that you want to have for playing those kind of minutes,” Seider said. “The game gets easier the more you play. I feel like things are just happening a lot more natural. You don’t think as much out there. Things are coming instantly and you don’t have enough time to think about what happened the shift before.”
Seider was asked about his leadership qualities after being praised by Patrick Kane for “going up and down the bench” to remind the Wings to stay confident against the Seattle Kraken, and here’s what he had to say:
“I just go out and try to have fun, but also lead by example,” Seider said. “I wouldn’t say I’m the loudest guy by any means. I just try to get a little bit of spark or motivation going when things aren’t going our way. After they tied the game late in Seattle, I just try to remind the guys that we’re a really good hockey team. We can play with everybody, we can definitely score here, and even if we go into overtime or the shootout, we’ll have the better outcome on our side.”
Continued (paywall)
