At only 24, Moritz Seider is the most important leader of the ice hockey national team – on and off the ice. In the SWR Sport interview, he talks about his new role as captain and the goals for the World Cup.
SWR Sport: Moritz Seider, with what setting do you look at the upcoming World Cup? How do you feel?
Moritz Seider: The tank is full. Of course, you are preparing all summer to play ice hockey late in the season. And the World Cup is always a good test or good preparation for possible playoffs. That’s why you always want to take such an opportunity. I feel very, very comfortable, have a good feeling in the team and of course I look forward to the new tasks.
What goals have you sat down as a team and you personally?
Personally, a lot of fun to have a lot. It is always a great honor to play for the German national team. But you should not forget that you can put the joy in the first place. You have an incredibly great team around you. We have a lot of fun and actually everything is great. It definitely runs.
Other teams are currently playing in the NHL playoffs. This year you just missed the playoffs with the Detroit Red Wings. Does a World Cup help to get your head free or is there still a lot of disappointment?
It is of course a mix of both. Disappointment, frustration should definitely be there, otherwise you will do something wrong. The claim should always be that you want to play in the playoffs. If this is not the case, you can also use the World Cup to just have fun with ice hockey again, to simply end the season. That is exactly what I try.
Moritz Seider: Captain role is a great honor
As a captain, they lead the German team at the age of 24. What does that mean for you?
It is a great honor, maybe also a new role model in the team. But otherwise relatively little will change. I have a great team around myself, experienced boys who support me. It is just very, a lot of fun to be able to play in such a team. You get a little more media responsibility now. But that’s not a problem either. And the rest is actually very relaxed. You just try to make your thing, maybe organize a little more for the boys. But that’s it.
Germany starts this time against Hungary and Kazakhstan. Often you had the first games at the beginning of a World Cup against co -favorites like the United States. How do you approach the task now?
At a World Cup, all the best teams are. But we are also looking forward to the task of not going to the first games as an underdog, but also to say: Okay, if everything goes according to plan, then the chances should be relatively good that we will score points in the first two games. This is also the claim to which we want to do justice. We had a good preparation and had a good test. Now it is just time to go into grooving in the last few days before finally starting.
If we talk again after the tournament, what would your wish be? What would you be happy about?
If you would say “world champion” now, of course you say the right answer. But if we manage to play a World Cup that we can be proud of that we define as successful, then we have done everything. And that’s my wish. We want to create great moments together, play very attractive and vivid ice hockey, be able to rely on the other and then just have fun. This is always the most important thing. And then the result can decide whether it was a good or bad World Cup. But others can argue about what should be good and what should be bad.
