In the mixed zone, where athletes and reporters exchange ideas, games are sometimes decided afresh. It’s then about the interpretive sovereignty: was it a good game or rather so-so? Why did this work better and that not at all? Was it a work victory or a duty, a triumph or a disaster?
At the Ice Hockey World Championship, which is currently being played in Finland and Latvia, Moritz Müller is always one of the last to appear in front of the journalists in Tampere. Müller, 36, is the captain of the German team and is contesting his eleventh World Cup. He always has to be in front of the cameras of international television first, then in front of those of the German broadcasters, before he is available to reporters who are writing. The process is fixed. Most of the time he looks at the questioners with his head slightly bowed, as if he had to peek out from under a wide-brimmed hat, which is not so easy because Müller towers over most of the questioners on ice skates.
His posture reveals an interest in what is to come, as well as a well-trained readiness to defend himself. He answers directly and in print-ready sentences. On Thursday, after the 6-4 win against Denmark, the first success in the tournament after three defeats, Müller said: “We tried to moderate it a bit beforehand. But of course the pressure was enormous after three good games without points. “
The success against the Danes, who had previously won three times, gave the team of national coach Harold Kreis the chance to reach the quarterfinals and direct qualification for the Olympic Games in 2026. After this World Cup, they must be in the top eight places in the world rankings – the quarterfinals are not only goal, but duty. “I’m all the more proud that the team has mentally coped with these setbacks in the game again and again,” said Müller.
One of those setbacks was the early 1-0 draw against the Danes. After Moritz Seider hit the bar, it was Müller who unluckily deflected a Danish shot into his own net. And when the German team took control of the game in the second period, took a 3-1 lead and seemed to be aiming for a sure win, they made two mistakes and suddenly it was 3-3. “These are moments when a team comes together or not,” said Müller. After the equalizer, he admitted, he groaned inwardly: “It can’t be true, now again.”
Twenty seconds later, Berlin’s Jonas Müller, who is not related or related by marriage to the captain, scored to make it 4-3, courtesy of Danish goalkeeper Frederik Dichow. But it took two more empty nets in the closing minutes before the Danes were truly defeated. “It was a moment that we just needed and somehow deserved,” said Moritz Müller.
There are voices that say Müller primarily promotes himself
Müller is the face and mouthpiece of the team and their emotional center. No one jumped higher after beating Canada 4-3 in the 2018 Olympic semi-finals when it was clear Germany were assured of silver; No one cried more bitterly when the team lost 2-1 to eventual world champions Finland in the semi-finals at the 2021 World Cup, despite a superior performance, and couldn’t get a foot in front of the others in the match for third place the next day.
Müller is one of the few German ice hockey players to have a significant following on social media. During the pandemic, he criticized the club managers of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) for their crisis management, he was publicly annoyed at the ignorance of many media towards all sports that are not called football. And he is one of the initiators of the Ice Hockey Players’ Association (SVE), which wants to give the ice hockey professionals in Germany a better voice.
Ambitious, eloquent, committed: for some that is too much. There are those who say that Müller primarily promotes himself. In the national team, however, he is the undisputed leader, alongside NHL professionals such as Moritz Seider and Nico Sturm.
In the SZ interview, Müller once said how in need of harmony he is. After the death of his mother, who died when he was four, he grew up as an orphan in Frankfurt, France and Kassel. At the age of 15 he moved to Weißwasser without his father, at the age of 16 he moved on to Cologne. There he stayed, even impressing Hans Zach, who was known as a talent promoter and notorious as a merciless grinder of sloppy talent. The title of a TV documentary about Müller – “Nothing is given. Everything deserves.” – goes back to a Zach quote.
At 17, he made his debut for the Haie under the former national coach in the DEL and has been their captain since 2015. One could say that Müller settled in Cologne, his three children were born there. He has now played 1010 DEL games for the Haie – a phenomenon in a sport that is characterized by frequent changes of club. Nico Sturm, World Cup debutant and scorer of the 6-4 win against Denmark, said: “Now I understand why everyone is always happy to come back.” He said: to the national team. Müller says: “I think the lads feel that we have a good group here that has its heart in the right place.” This is not least due to Müller. His coaches and teammates describe him as die integrative Figure.
On Thursday, Müller entered the mixed zone particularly late. He had prepared the 2:1 and scored the 3:1 himself and received the award as “Best Player” of the German team. “That was an outstanding pass from Marcel Noebels,” he said almost apologetically, “and then I was nervous that I might shoot too late.” The defender Müller started as a striker. “But that was so long ago, I can hardly remember.” A few more games like this and Moritz Müller will have to explain himself.
