Following an incredible 10-0-0-0 record at the 2015 World Championships, Team Canada has reclaimed first overall in the IIHF World Rankings.
For Canada, it’s been a long time since the country was on top of the IIHF chart. After the 2010 Olympics, in which Canada won their second gold medal in the four times NHLer’s were allowed to participate, Canada was considered to be the best hockey nation in the world for the first time since 2008. Before that, the team moved around between the top three in the rankings, with Canada being first from 2003-2005.
Since 2010, the team has struggled to build a strong foundation at men’s events. Despite winning the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, the team fell down to fourth place following their disappointing World Championship appearance the year before. This year, however, the team brought an all-star roster to the Czech Republic, winning all ten games in en route to their 25th World Championship gold. The win moved them up three spots in the official standings, putting them in first place heading into the 2016 World Championships.
The IIHF World Rankings take into consideration only tournaments that took place over a certain period of time. For the 2015 rankings, the IIHF took into consideration every World Championships event from 2012-2015, as well as the Sochi Winter Olympics. Each year, the tournaments decrease in value, so it’s worth the same to win both the World Championships and Olympics, while winning a gold in 2012 wont mean as much today as it would be to win the 2015 championship. With Canada winning two of the three major tournaments in the past two years, their 3690 total points are just 15 more than Russia in second, who have won two of the past five major championships.
The biggest loser with the newest rankings is Ireland, who haven’t been able to participate over the past few years due to a lack of a legal arena. The team does get to keep their official IIHF status, however, giving the federation 50 teams for the first time in their history. Bosnia and Herzegovina helped out with that fact, earning a spot for the first time thanks to their World Championship debut.
The highest ranking team outside of the top division of the World Championships is Slovenia in 14th, who were recently relegated after recording just one win in Prague. What helps their case is that, despite struggling in the main division of the World Championships, they did in fact play in Sochi, giving them a distinct point advantage over teams that did not. Kazakhstan, the champions of Division IA this past April, currently sits in 17th.
Rank Team WC 2015
(100%)WC 2014
(75%)OLY 2014
(75%)WC 2013
(50%)WC 2012
(25%)Total Change
+/−
1 Canada 1200 1060 1200 1060 1060 3690 3
2 Russia 1160 1200 1060 1040 1200 3675 1
3 Sweden 1060 1120 1160 1200 1040 3630 –2
4 Finland 1040 1160 1120 1100 1100 3575 –2
5 United States 1120 1040 1100 1120 1020 3540 1
6 Czech Republic 1100 1100 1040 1020 1120 3495 –1
7 Switzerland 1000 940 960 1160 920 3235 –
8 Slovakia 960 960 920 1000 1160 3160 –
9 Belarus 1020 1020 860 860 860 3075 2
10 Latvia 880 920 1000 920 940 3015 –1
11 Norway 920 900 900 940 1000 2990 –1
12 France 900 1000 800 880 960 2930 –
13 Germany 940 860 840 960 900 2920 –
14 Slovenia 820 800 1020 820 800 2795 –
15 Denmark 860 880 780 900 880 2775 –
16 Austria 840 780 940 840 780 2745 –
17 Kazakhstan 800 820 880 800 820 2680 –
18 Italy 720 840 820 780 840 2565 –
19 Hungary 780 720 700 760 760 2415 –
20 Japan 740 760 640 740 740 2345 1
21 Ukraine 700 740 720 680 700 2310 –1
22 Poland 760 680 680 660 660 2275 2
23 South Korea 680 700 660 720 680 2230 –
24 Great Britain 660 620 760 700 720 2225 –2
25 Netherlands 580 600 740 640 640 2065 –
26 Lithuania 640 640 620 600 600 2035 –
27 Croatia 620 660 540 560 520 1930 1
28 Romania 560 580 580 620 620 1895 –1
29 Estonia 600 560 560 580 560 1870 –
30 Serbia 520 520 500 480 480 1645 1
31 Spain 500 440 600 460 540 1645 –1
32 Mexico 400 420 520 400 380 1400 1
33 Israel 360 460 480 440 360 1375 –1
34 Belgium 540 480 – 540 440 1280 2
35 Iceland 480 540 – 520 500 1270 –
36 Australia 460 500 – 500 580 1230 –2
37 New Zealand 420 400 – 420 460 1045 –
38 China 440 380 – 380 420 1020 –
39 Bulgaria 380 320 – 340 400 890 –
40 South Africa 340 360 – 320 340 855 –
41 Turkey 300 340 – 360 320 815 –
42 North Korea 320 300 – 300 300 770 1
43 Luxembourg 280 280 – 280 280 700 –1
44 United Arab Emirates 220 240 – 220 – 510 1
45 Georgia 240 220 – 180 – 495 2
46 Hong Kong 260 260 – – – 455 2
47 Bosnia and Herzegovina 200 – – – – 200 new
48 Ireland – – – 260 260 195 –4
49 Greece – – – 240 240 180 –3
50 Mongolia – – – 200 220 155 –1