For the first time in twelve years, Germany's women's hockey team will be playing at the Winter Olympics. When Germany last contested the women's hockey event at the Winter Olympics, the team finished third in Group B before securing seventh place courtesy of the 5th-8th place bracket.
Since that 2014 Winter Olympics, Germany was relegated and then promoted back to the IIHF Women's World Championship. They then appeared in the bronze medal game of the 2017 World Championship before going on a run of form that saw the team finish eighth in three of the next six editions.
Outside of the World Championship, this is the first opportunity for much of Germany's roster to prove themselves on an international stage as big as the Olympics.
Can they take that opportunity and beat hosts Italy and debutants France to a knockout spot? That will be the big question for Germany in this tournament and a third place finish in Group B could potentially be their threshold for success at this Winter Olympics.
Germany’s women’s hockey team is leaning heavily on its European core
Of the twenty-three players named to Germany's roster, just three play their club hockey in the PWHL. In addition, just seven players total play their club hockey outside of Europe. The remaining sixteen roster members are either part of Germany's domestic women's hockey league or another European hockey league.
All across this Germany lineup, there are connections between members of the rosters. For one, twins Lille Welcke and Luisa Welcke both find themselves on the Olympic roster's forward group. This season, they have a total of nineteen points through twenty-four games played at Boston University.
Elsewhere, nine of the twenty-three players play their hockey with the ECDC Memmingen Indians, while an additional three play for the Eisbären Juniors Berlin.
While Germany might not necessarily have the Olympic experience that Group B rivals Japan and Sweden may have, they can compare in terms of the familiarity seen up and down their lineup. If that can lead to effective play and strong offensive production, then Germany should be able to keep up in Group B action.
The recent Olympic experience might not be there, this Germany team does seem capable of making an impression at this Winter Olympics. Then again, Italy is making their return to women's hockey after a twenty-year absence while France is making their debut at the women's hockey tournament. So really, any perceived disadvantage with regard to Olympic experience becomes moot.
I don't think Germany is going to be competing for a top-two spot; they'll end up fighting with Italy and France for the final spot in the knockout round. That said, I do think that Germany will do just enough to secure third place in Group B.