With no NHL players in these Olympics, we knew the men's hockey tournament had the potential to be unpredictable and produce some wonky results. But even with that understanding, it's safe to say nobody could've predicted that Germany would be one of the last two teams standing.
This is a country that didn't even qualify for the 2014 Winter Games and had finished sixth or worse in each of the six Olympic tournaments prior to that. They've finished seventh or worse in 23 of the last 24 World Championships.
But former Bruin Marco Sturm, who took over as the head coach for his home country's national team in 2015, has Germany believing, and now they're one win away from becoming arguably the most surprising gold medalists in Olympic hockey history. They'll take on the Olympic Athletes from Russia team -- the clear pre-tournament favorites -- Saturday night at 11:10 p.m. ET.
Even through most of this tournament, there was little reason to think Germany was capable of going this far. They got trounced by Finland, 5-2, in their tournament opener, showed a little bit of promise in a narrow 1-0 loss to Sweden, and then squeaked by lowly Norway in a shootout to close out the group stage. They beat Switzerland in overtime in the first round of the playoffs, and that was surely as far as they'd get.
But then in the quarterfinals, they not only played heavily-favored Sweden tough again, but they managed to build up a shocking 3-1 lead by the middle of the third period. Then they blew that lead, only to bounce back and win the game in overtime.
In the semifinals Friday morning, the Germans once again took control against what should've been a superior opponent. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead against Canada and led 4-1 at the end of the second. Canada cut the lead to 4-3 in the third, but Germany held on for another upset.
The wins over Sweden and Canada are obviously not as surprising as they'd be if those countries had their best players available, but they're still pretty stunning. Those countries still have more talent throughout their rosters and more players with NHL experience.
Germany has Christian Ehrhoff and Marcel Goc, who both had lengthy NHL careers, but the rest of the roster has a grand total of four games of NHL experience. The entire roster currently plays in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), a good enough league but one that is probably the fifth-best in Europe at best. Many players on the team have never played in a better league.
What the Germans do have, though, is Sturm, who is getting a lot of credit for the team's success and quickly emerging as an NHL head coaching candidate. The 39-year-old, who played 14 seasons in the NHL, including five with the Bruins from 2005-2010, is in his third year leading the program.
"He installed a system that really fits the players well we have," Ehrhoff told the media in South Korea. "He is one of the greatest figures of German hockey, so when he first came in, the respect level he has within the group, it's huge."
Sturm has expressed interest in moving back to the NHL as a coach, and any club with an opening would have to at least take a look at the resume he's putting together.
"It's a great opportunity for me with the German hockey, but when this is done, I think I'm trying and I'm looking forward to maybe a next challenge and that will be the States and I think that's my goal," Sturm said.
The Germans will once again be massive underdogs against the Russians, who have an even deeper and more talented roster than Sweden and Canada, but at this point it feels pretty foolish to count them out.