The Swedish and Canadian teams, traditionally two hockey powerhouses, had boycotted the 1976 Games in protest of the amateur rules that allowed Eastern Bloc countries to send their best players while keeping Western nations from doing the same.

The team is not considered to be as elite as Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden or the United States; they are ranked 9th in the world (2022) by the IIHF.

Since re-unification, their best recent results include finishing 6th place at the 2003 World Championships where they lost a close quarter-final match in overtime to Canada, and 4th at the 2010 World Championships where they lost to Sweden in the bronze medal game.

Previously, they finished third in the European Group and qualified for the quarter-finals at the 1996 World Cup after a surprising 7–1 victory against the Czech Republic.

It was the first time that Germany had reached the Gold Medal Game at the Winter Olympics.