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.
The period between the 2022 Olympics and the 2026 Olympics might have been some of the best years yet for the Japanese women's hockey team. In 2022, the team secured a fifth-place finish at the IIHF Women's World Championship. Three years later, Japan would win gold at both the Asian Winter Games and the IIHF Asian Championship. And just recently, the Japanese women's hockey team won gold at the second edition of the IIHF Asian Championship.
70% of the Swiss Olympic women's hockey roster plays their club hockey in Europe, with a good portion of them making their name in the Swiss league. Of the remaining seven players, two play in the PWHL, four are enrolled in collegiate hockey programs in the United States, while one plays in U Sports - Canada's primary postsecondary athletic division.