The Detroit Red Wings suffered highs and lows during the 2024-25 season, but for two Detroit Red Wings players, their struggles followed them to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Men's World Hockey Championship. This year's tournament is being held in Stockholm, Sweden, and Herning, Denmark, until May 25.
Moritz Seider is the Detroit Red Wings' number one defenseman, regardless of what some people might think. He's shown that he can handle top minutes when paired with a competent defensive partner. Fortunately for Team Germany, Seider is happy to help his national team whenever he can. Last year, due to Seider not having a contract in place, he could not attend the IIHF Men's World Championships.
Marco Kasper is becoming a star in his own right. After a slower start to his National Hockey League (NHL) career, Kasper took off as the second-line center. With fellow Red Wings star Alex DeBrincat and superstar Patrick Kane on his flanks, Kasper showed why the Detroit Red Wings selected him.
Until they ran into Team Switzerland, Seider's Team Germany went undefeated, while Kasper's Team Austria had struggled with only one shootout win. Granted, Team Austria has faced Team Canada, Slovakia (the shootout win), Sweden, and Finland. A bit more challenging of a schedule than Team Germany's thus far (Team Germany has faced Team Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Norway, and Hungary).
Detroit Red Wings defender Moritz Seider and Team Germany faced a surging Team Switzerland
Seider and Team Germany suffered their first defeat of the tournament, losing 5-1 to Switzerland. Although the latter is famously known for their watches, Seider could only watch as his club allowed four goals to the same player. His team gave up four goals to the same player. That man was Sven Andrighetto. When someone has a career-best performance, it is often called a field day. In this case, it was an ice day for Andrighetto.
Damien Riat opened the scoring 4:25 into the second period. The sequence gave a shot in the arm to Andrighetto, who spent the next nine minutes and four seconds churning his recipe of destruction. That's all it took for the former NHL player to score a hat trick. He added his fourth goal in the third period. Unfortunately for Seider, his team was on the receiving end of the coup de grâce.
In a more positive light, Seider was even in the plus/minus category while playing over 23 and a half minutes, per the IIHF website. Seider took 29 shifts in the game, three more than the next highest German player.
Team Austria, with Detroit Red Wings rising star Marco Kasper leading their charge, was outmatched in their game against Canada
Austria's Kasper was also on the wrong side of a blowout, but their goaltender was actually very good considering what he was up against. A surprising Team Canada, which boasted the likes of Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby, Bo Horvat, and Macklin Celbrini. For context, Crosby hasn't suited up in the IIHF Men's World Championship since 2015.
Unsurprisingly, Team Canada defeated Team Austria 5-1 on Thursday.
It certainly wasn't a good score, but it definitely could have been worse. Austria actually led 1-0 after the opening period, but Canada's indefatigable offense never gave Austrian netminder Florian Vorauer a chance to breathe. The Canadians outshot their counterparts 52-16. MacKinnon opened up the scoring for Canada and was awarded player of the game. He finished with two goals and an assist, while Brandon Montour added three assists.
The soon-to-be-retired Marc-André Fleury stopped 15 of 16 shots for the Canadians.
But in all fairness to Kasper, he probably was the most impressive player for the losing team. He was always looking for ways to set up plays, but they either never fully materialized, or his attempts came up short of the mark.
He had a great opportunity at one point in the game, but Fleury made an impressive pad save to keep the puck out of the net. Vinzenz Rohrer, on the other hand, was the one guy who managed to beat Fleury. In the first period, Rohrer got a hold of the puck and scored on a breakaway to give Austria a 1-0 lead.
Although it was a tough day for our Detroit Red Wings players, at least they're staying in shape for next season.