Coming in ranked number 10, Germany is the only roster we will look at that is not already in the Olympics. In the previous Olympics Germany went 0-4 losing all three of their round robin games (to Sweden, Finland and Belarus) then they lost to Canada in the qualifying game. They finished 11th within the tournament.
2010 Olympic Roster:
| No. | Pos. |
Name
| Height | Weight | Birthdate | Birthplace | 2009–10 team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 44 | G | Dennis Endras | 182 cm (6 ft 0 in) | 72 kg (160 lb) | 14 July 1985 | Immenstadt | Augsburger Panther (DEL) |
| 1 | G | Thomas Greiss | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) | 86 kg (190 lb) | 26 January 1986 | Füssen | San Jose Sharks (NHL) |
| 32 | G | Dimitri Pätzold | 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) | 99 kg (220 lb) | 3 February 1983 | Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakh SSR | ERC Ingolstadt (DEL) |
| 22 | D | Michael Bakos | 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) | 90 kg (200 lb) | 2 March 1979 | Augsburg | ERC Ingolstadt (DEL) |
| 6 | D | Sven Butenschön | 192 cm (6 ft 4 in) | 96 kg (210 lb) | 22 March 1976 | Itzehoe | Adler Mannheim (DEL) |
| 10 | D | Christian Ehrhoff | 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) | 90 kg (200 lb) | 6 July 1982 | Moers | Vancouver Canucks (NHL) |
| 38 | D | Jakub Ficenec | 179 cm (5 ft 10 in) | 89 kg (200 lb) | 11 February 1977 | Hradec Králové, Czechoslovakia | ERC Ingolstadt (DEL) |
| 5 | D | Korbinian Holzer | 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) | 93 kg (210 lb) | 16 February 1988 | Munich | DEG Metro Stars (DEL) |
| 7 | D | Chris Schmidt | 189 cm (6 ft 2 in) | 91 kg (200 lb) | 1 March 1976 | Beaverlodge, Alberta, Canada | Adler Mannheim (DEL) |
| 84 | D | Dennis Seidenberg – A | 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) | 95 kg (210 lb) | 18 July 1981 | Villingen-Schwenningen | Florida Panthers (NHL) |
| 52 | D | Alexander Sulzer | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) | 94 kg (210 lb) | 30 May 1984 | Kaufbeuren | Nashville Predators (NHL) |
| 11 | F | Sven Felski – A | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | 76 kg (170 lb) | 18 November 1974 | Berlin | Eisbären Berlin (DEL) |
| 57 | F | Marcel Goc | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) | 92 kg (200 lb) | 24 August 1983 | Calw | Nashville Predators (NHL) |
| 39 | F | Thomas Greilinger | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | 110 kg (240 lb) | 6 August 1981 | Deggendorf | ERC Ingolstadt (DEL) |
| 17 | F | Jochen Hecht | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) | 90 kg (200 lb) | 21 June 1977 | Mannheim | Buffalo Sabres (NHL) |
| 18 | F | Kai Hospelt | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) | 85 kg (190 lb) | 23 August 1985 | Cologne | Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg (DEL) |
| 9 | F | Manuel Klinge | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | 80 kg (180 lb) | 5 September 1984 | Kassel | Kassel Huskies (DEL) |
| 25 | F | Marcel Müller | 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) | 104 kg (230 lb) | 10 July 1988 | Berlin | Kölner Haie (DEL) |
| 15 | F | T. J. Mulock | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) | 88 kg (190 lb) | 26 February 1985 | Langley, British Columbia, Canada | Eisbären Berlin (DEL) |
| 24 | F | André Rankel | 186 cm (6 ft 1 in) | 89 kg (200 lb) | 27 August 1985 | Berlin | Eisbären Berlin (DEL) |
| 19 | F | Marco Sturm – C | 181 cm (5 ft 11 in) | 88 kg (190 lb) | 8 September 1978 | Dingolfing | Boston Bruins (NHL) |
| 21 | F | John Tripp | 191 cm (6 ft 3 in) | 104 kg (230 lb) | 4 May 1977 | Kingston, Ontario, Canada | Hamburg Freezers (DEL) |
| 16 | F | Michael Wolf | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) | 75 kg (170 lb) | 24 January 1981 | Ehenbichl, Austria | Iserlohn Roosters (DEL) |
Players who are still in the NHL and will most likely be by the time 2014 rolls around include: Christian Ehrhoff, Alex Sulzer, Dennis Seidenberg, Korbinian Holzer and Marcel Goc.
They also have Thomas Greiss to look forward to in net.
The only other two NHLers from 2010, Marco Sturm and Jochen Hecht, are both without contracts at the moment and are getting up there in age. Thus, its reasonable to believe neither player will be available for the 2014 Olympics.
There is also former NHL D-man Christoph Schubert. He represented Germany in the 2012 World Championships this year and played the most of any defender on the team. After him Nikolai Goc, Christopher Fischer, and Denis Reul were two, three and four in ice time and our best bets as to who will round out that top six. Goc is the brother of NHLer Marcel Goc, and brings some bite to the backend, plus he's only 26 right now so he's a good bet at the moment.
At forward from the NHL there is Marcel Goc, and that's it. Marcel Mueller did play pro hockey in Toronto's farm system for a few years but has moved back over to Europe for the upcoming season. Regardless, he has represented Germany more than a few times and should be another lock for the 2014 tournament.
The next forward to look at that is young and upcoming is Phillip Gogulla. He was drafted by the Sabres in the second round way back in 2005 so he does have some pedigree. He's 6'2, nearly 200 pounds, and just put up nine points in seven games for the Germans at the World Championships. He's 25 at the moment.
Some of Germany's other top scorers include: Christoph Ullmann, Patrick Reimer, and Kai Hospelt. Some of their younger players who participated in the 2010 Olympics and should be expected to return include: Andre Rankel, TJ Mulock, and Manuel Klinge.
Some other players to keep an eye from the German league who have been doing well include Daniel Pietta, Darin Olver and Thomas Grielinger (whose a veteran). There's also Alexander Barta.
Germany could end up looking something like this:
Gogulla-Goc-Mueller
Reimer-Ullmann-Hospelt
Pietta-Grielinger-Rankel
Mulock-Barta-Klinge
Olver
Ehrhoff-Seidenberg
Schubert-Holzer
Sulzer-Goc
Fischer
Greiss
Endras
Obviously, there isn't a lot of name value here. This looks more like a solid Euro league team then a National one.
2014 Olympic Chances:
Germany will once again be climbing a really steep uphill battle. They have some NHL talent and ability, and their defense doesn't look dreadful on paper but they just don't have the horses to compete with the big boys. Unless Greiss emerges into at the very least a true number one starting NHL goalie they will have trouble winning even one game yet again. Back in the day Germany used to have Olaf Kolzig as that guy and he was able to carry them for stretches, but as of right now they don't really have star players except maybe Ehrhoff and some could even argue Seidenberg. Even with that, that won't be enough to compete against the best players in the world who are all on other teams.
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