The German team used familiarity, cohesion, and well-coached system to climb from the preliminary round and into the championship round of the tournament.

The German's roster is primarily made up of German nationals, that compete against and with each other in the German elite league back home. While competitors like Slovakia were air lifting in NHL player after NHL player, the Germans just stuck to their game plan and quietly won all three games on their schedule.

With Olaf Kolzig and Marco Sturm set to join the squad on a permanent basis, the team will actually get better.

Depth and talent.

When it comes to elite hockey skills the German team falls short of the "big six" that are expected to battle it out for medals.

The German Olympic hockey team has been on the fringe of the big eight for some time. They have never won a gold nor silver medal in competition, but did medal with a Bronze in both of 1932 and 1976.

Udo Kiessling holds the record for German attendance in the Winter Games, representing his country on four different occasions, a total of 32 games.

Their all time Olympic record is 36-58-6, first competing in the Games in 1928.

None.

They'll need great defense, all world goaltending, and timely goals if they expect to move deep into the medal round.

The German team plays an aggressive and physical style, a methodology that was very beneficial in the preliminary round. They'll have to continue that style against much bigger and more seasoned players now that the real games have begun.