The IIHF World Ranking is a ranking of the national teams of member countries of the International Ice Hockey Federation.

The system was approved by the IIHF congress in September 2003.^[1] According to IIHF President René Fasel, the system was designed to be simple to understand and "reflect the long-term quality of all national hockey programs and their commitment to international hockey."^[2]

[edit] System

Both the men's and women's ranking systems are based on the standings of the most recent Winter Olympic Games and the four most recent IIHF World Championships. The world champion or Olympic gold medal winner is awarded 1200 points. In general there is a 20 point interval between two ranks, but there is a 40-point interval between position 1 and 2, 2 and 3, 4 and 5 and 8 and 9. The results of the most recent tournaments have a higher weight in the ranking. For example, in the 2009 men's ranking, The 2009 tournament has 100% points value, the 2008 has 75%, 2007 has 50% and 2006 has 25%. All championships before that are no longer counted. The Olympic tournament has the same value as the World Championship the same year. If several teams are equal on points, the position of most recent World Championship will decide the ranking of those teams.^[3]

[edit] Effects

The ranking is used to determine the seeding of the teams for the next World Championship and to select the teams which can participate in Winter Olympics without playing in the qualifying round. For the 2010 Winter Olympics the first nine teams of the Men's World Ranking and the first six of the Women's World Ranking can participate without qualification. Qualification for the the men's tournament at the 2010 Winter Olympics was structured around the 2008 ranking. Twelve spots were made available for teams. The top nine teams in the World Ranking after the 2008 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships received automatic berths into the Ice Hockey event. Teams ranked 10th through 30th had an opportunity to qualify for the event.^[4][5] The women's tournament uses a similar qualification format. The top six teams in the IIHF Women's World Ranking after the 2008 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships received automatic berths into the ice hockey event. Lower ranked teams had an opportunity to qualify for the event. Teams ranked 13th and below were divided into two groups where they played in a first qualification round in September 2008. The two group winners from the round advanced to the second qualification round, where the teams ranked seventh through twelfth joined them.^[6]

[edit] Men's rankings

[edit] 2009

The Men's 2009 ranking is based on the performance at World Championship of 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006 and at the 2006 Olympic Ice Hockey Tournament in Turin, Italy.^[7]

Rank	Team	Points before 2009	Points gained in 2009	Points 2009	Change +/−
1	Russia (WC)	2000	1200	3200	+1
2	Canada	2000	1160	3160	−1
3	Sweden (OC)	1975	1120	3095	–
4	Finland	1990	1060	3050	–
5	United States	1815	1100	2915	+1
6	Czech Republic	1875	1040	2915	–1
7	Switzerland	1765	960	2725	–
8	Belarus	1660	1000	2660	+1
9	Slovakia	1680	940	2635	–1
10	Latvia	1590	1020	2610	+1
11	Norway	1625	920	2545	+1
12	Germany	1620	840	2460	−2
13	Denmark	1565	880	2445	–
14	France	1440	900	2325	+4
15	Italy	1510	780	2290	−1
16	Austria	1425	860	2285	–
17	Slovenia	1430	760	2190	−2
18	Kazakhstan	1365	800	2165	+1
19	Ukraine	1395	740	2135	−2
20	Hungary	1310	820	2130	–
21	Japan	1245	720	1965	+1
22	Poland	1260	680	1940	−1
23	Lithuania	1150	660	1810	–
24	Netherlands	1115	640	1755	–
25	Great Britain	995	700	1695	+4
26	Croatia	1055	620	1675	–
27	Estonia	1115	520	1635	−2
28	Romania	1025	580	1605	−1
29	China	950	460	1410	−1
30	South Korea	835	560	1395	+1
31	Australia	785	600	1385	+2
32	Serbia	825	540	1365	−2
33	Belgium	755	500	1255	+1
34	Spain	685	480	1165	+2
35	Bulgaria	740	420	1160	−3
36	Israel	690	380	1070	−1
37	Iceland	590	440	1030	+1
38	Mexico	625	400	1025	−1
39	New Zealand	530	320	850	–
40	South Africa	450	340	790	+2
41	Turkey	450	300	750	–
42	Ireland	480	240	720	−2
43	North Korea	345	360	705	+1
44	Luxembourg	420	280	700	−1
45	Mongolia	295	220	515	–
46	Greece	180	260	440	–
47	Bosnia and Herzegovina	150	–	150	–
48	Armenia	70	–	70	–

[edit] 2003–2008

Team	P-2003	R-2003	P-2004	R-2004	P-2005	R-2005	P-2006	R-2006	P-2007	R-2007	P-2008	R-2008
Armenia	0 —	99 —	0240 240	45	0420 420	45	0580 580	45	0390 390	45	0200 200	48
Australia	1080	36	1125	35	1195	34	1215	34	1260	33	1300	33
Austria	2970	12	2755	11	2430	13	2930	16	2695	17	2445	16
Belarus	2955	13	2590	13	2430	12	3230	10	3025	09 9	2845	09 9
Belgium	1240	33	1345	33	1255	32	1200	35	1200	35	1230	34
Bosnia and Herzegovina	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0200 200	47
Bulgaria	1550	30	1375	32	1235	33	1715	30	1500	31	1305	32
Canada	3685	01 1	3485	01 1	3220	01 1	3890	03 3	3670	02 2	3410	01 1
China	1805	28	1630	28	1515	28	1970	28	1860	27	1650	28
Croatia	1545	31	1425	31	1390	30	2000	27	1850	28	1790	26
Czech Republic	3560	03 3	3225	04 4	3065	03 3	3985	02 2	3595	04 4	3265	05 5
Denmark	2665	14	2575	14	2400	14	3005	14	2855	12	2660	13
Estonia	2135	24	1995	24	1860	24	2325	24	2165	23	1930	25
Finland	3525	04 4	3195	05 5	2865	07 7	3830	04 4	3640	03 3	3385	04 4
France	2575	18	2400	18	2150	17	2720	19	2525	19	2410	18
Germany	3240	08 8	2990	08 8	2580	10	3110	12	2925	11	2740	10
Great Britain	2230	23	1990	25	1780	25	1580	31	1605	29	1645	29
Greece	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0240 240	46
Hungary	2255	22	2060	22	1920	22	2430	22	2320	21	2220	20
Iceland	0930 930	38	0875 875	39	0875 875	39	0840 840	40	0920 920	37	0965 965	38
Ireland	0 —	99 —	0260 260	44	0455 455	44	0585 585	44	0710 710	43	0775 775	40
Israel	1110	35	1035	36	1140	35	1275	33	1260	34	1190	35
Italy	2585	17	2315	19	2100	19	2915	17	2815	13	2580	14
Japan	2605	15	2440	15	2090	20	2540	21	2305	22	2120	22
Kazakhstan	2480	21	2410	17	2335	15	3115	11	2740	16	2405	19
North Korea	0680 680	41	0950 950	37	1105	36	1105	36	0660 660	44	0645 645	44
South Korea	1420	32	1455	30	1360	31	1320	32	1320	32	1365	31
Latvia	3060	10	2900	10	2675	09 9	3310	09 9	2995	10	2740	11
Lithuania	1885	27	1720	27	1620	27	2270	25	2105	25	1970	23
Luxembourg	0635 635	42	0755 755	42	0785 785	42	0705 705	43	0710 710	42	0695 695	43
Mexico	0820 820	39	0770 770	41	0775 775	43	0845 845	39	0915 915	38	1010	37
Mongolia	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0260 260	46	0415 415	45
Netherlands	2135	25	2015	23	1885	23	2360	23	2155	24	1935	24
New Zealand	0800 800	40	0870 870	40	0910 910	38	0925 925	38	0900 900	39	0890 890	39
Norway	2535	20	2265	21	2105	18	2935	15	2780	14	2735	12
Poland	2550	19	2295	20	2085	21	2580	20	2395	20	2175	21
Romania	1965	26	1845	26	1685	26	2135	26	1970	26	1770	27
Russia	3480	06 6	3105	07 7	2905	05 5	3725	05 5	3535	05 5	3400	02 2
Serbia	1685	29	1565	29	1420	29	1745	29	1555	30	1425	30
Slovakia	3480	05 5	3235	03 3	2965	04 4	3685	06 6	3390	06 6	2955	08 8
Slovenia	2595	16	2420	16	2295	16	2870	18	2640	18	2460	15
South Africa	0990 990	37	0930 930	38	0845 845	40	0830 830	41	0770 770	41	0755 755	42
Spain	1230	34	1170	34	1090	37	1040	37	1090	36	1120	36
Sweden	3610	02 2	3400	02 2	3095	02 2	4095	01 1	3740	01 1	3400	03 3
Switzerland	3135	09 9	2920	09 9	2715	08 8	3500	08 8	3250	08 8	3020	07 7
Turkey	0625 625	43	0690 690	43	0795 795	41	0775 775	42	0830 830	40	0765 765	41
Ukraine	3010	11	2720	12	2490	11	3005	13	2740	15	2435	17
United States	3330	07 7	3145	06 6	2865	06 6	3580	07 7	3375	07 7	3105	06 6

[edit] Women's rankings

[edit] 2009

Rank	Team	Points 2009	Change +/−
1	United States	2960	+1
2	Canada	2930	-1
3	Finland	2785	0
4	Sweden	2745	0
5	Switzerland	2630	0
6	Russia	2610	0
7	China	2485	+1
8	Kazakhstan	2475	+2
9	Japan	2465	0
10	Germany	2420	-3
11	Norway	2195	+3
12	Czech Republic	2180	0
13	France	2170	-2
14	Latvia	2135	-1
15	Slovakia	2040	+2
16	Italy	1980	-1
17	Austria	1875	+2
18	North Korea	1775	+2
19	Denmark	1760	-1
20	Great Britain	1645	+3
21	Netherlands	1645	0
22	Slovenia	1075	-6
23	Australia	890	-1
24	Belgium	810	0
25	Croatia	785	+5
26	Hungary	785	-1
27	South Korea	760	-1
28	New Zealand	690	-1
29	Iceland	685	+2
30	Romania	685	-1
31	South Africa	675	-3
32	Estonia	650	0
33	Turkey	600	0

[edit] 2003–2008

Team	P-2003	R-2003	P-2004	R-2004	P-2005	R-2005	P-2006	R-2006	P-2007	R-2007	P-2008	R-2008
Australia	02 530	22	1270	21	1375	22	0850 850	23	1205	23	1405	22
Austria	0 —	99 —	0700 700	26	1375	25	0850 850	21	1315	20	1580	19
Belgium	0535 535	21	1175	22	1335	23	0830 830	24	1160	24	1305	24
Bulgaria	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	780	34
Canada	1800	01 1	3000	01 1	2960	01 1	2970	01 1	2980	01 1	2950	01 1
China	1545	07 7	2565	07 7	2575	07 7	2485	07 7	2520	08 8	2510	08 8
Croatia	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0580 580	31	1095	30
Czech Republic	0670 670	11	1590	11	1840	11	2010	12	2195	13	2205	12
Denmark	0635 635	16	1455	16	1700	14	1070	17	1485	17	1650	18
Estonia	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0520 520	32	0910 910	32
Finland	1655	03 3	2775	03 3	2765	03 3	2760	04 4	2755	04 4	2770	03 3
France	0660 660	12	1540	13	1780	12	1995	14	2230	12	2220	11
Germany	1565	06 6	2605	06 6	2625	05 5	2635	05 5	2585	05 5	2525	07 7
Great Britain	0560 560	20	1280	20	1425	20	0885 885	22	1210	22	1385	23
Hungary	0505 505	24	1165	23	1320	24	0825 825	25	1135	25	1265	25
Iceland	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0540 540	30	0405 405	30	0770 770	30	1090	31
Italy	0585 585	18	1385	17	1610	17	2015	11	2160	14	2065	15
Japan	1425	10	2405	10	2380	10	2350	10	2345	10	2420	09 9
Kazakhstan	1490	08 8	2430	09 9	2475	08 8	2445	09 9	2445	09 9	2410	10
North Korea	0650 650	13	1490	15	1635	16	1005	18	1380	19	1560	20
South Korea	0 —	99 —	0600 600	27	1050	27	0750 750	26	1070	26	1215	26
Latvia	0645 645	15	1545	12	1750	13	1995	13	2250	11	2195	13
Netherlands	0570 570	19	1330	19	1505	19	0935 935	20	1300	21	1480	21
New Zealand	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0580 580	29	0435 435	29	0830 830	29	1110	27
Norway	0650 650	14	1510	14	1695	15	1900	15	2145	15	2150	14
Romania	0320 320	25	0940 940	25	1185	26	0730 730	27	0995 995	27	1100	29
Russia	1620	05 5	2680	05 5	2605	06 6	2585	06 6	2565	06 6	2575	06 6
Slovakia	0595 595	17	1375	18	1585	18	0990 990	19	1415	18	1735	17
Slovenia	0310 310	26	0990 990	24	1385	21	1700	16	1865	16	1810	16
South Africa	0 —	99 —	0505 505	28	0790 790	28	0465 465	28	0910 910	28	1105	28
Sweden	1625	04 4	2725	04 4	2760	04 4	2830	03 3	2890	02 2	2760	04 4
Switzerland	1435	09 9	2435	08 8	2430	09 9	2480	08 8	2555	07 7	2645	05 5
Turkey	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0 —	99 —	0480 480	33	0840 840	33
United States	1740	02 2	2900	02 2	2940	02 2	2890	02 2	2825	03 3	2930	02 2

[edit] References

General

• 2003 ranking: Edvinsson, Jan-Ake, ed (November 2003). "News release–Hockey fans are the best in the world" (PDF). Ice Times (International Ice Hockey Federation) 7 (5): p. 7. http://www.iihf.com/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/The_IIHF/IIHF_Vol7No5.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-12. 
• 2004 ranking: Edvinsson, Jan-Ake, ed (June 2004). "News release–There is nothing like the sweet taste of gold" (PDF). Ice Times (International Ice Hockey Federation) 8 (3): p. 5. http://www.iihf.com/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/The_IIHF/IIHF_Vol8No3.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-12. 
• 2005 ranking: Edvinsson, Jan-Ake, ed (June 2005). "News release–Back Czech, fore Czech - GOLD CZECH" (PDF). Ice Times (International Ice Hockey Federation) 9 (3): p. 5. http://www.iihf.com/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/The_IIHF/IIHF_Vol9No3.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-12. 
• 2006
  • Men's ranking: Edvinsson, Jan-Ake, ed (June 2006). "News release–Yes, they could" (PDF). Ice Times (International Ice Hockey Federation) 10 (4): p. 4. http://www.iihf.com/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/The_IIHF/IceTimes_10_4.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-12. 
  • Women's ranking: Edvinsson, Jan-Ake, ed (March 2006). "News release–The way everyone wanted - stars ruled Olympics" (PDF). Ice Times (International Ice Hockey Federation) 10 (2): p. 3. http://www.iihf.com/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/The_IIHF/IceTimes_10_2.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-12. 
• 2007
  • Men's ranking: "2007 Men's World Ranking". International Ice Hockey Federation. 2007. http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/championships/world-ranking/mens-world-ranking/2007-ranking.html. Retrieved 2009-05-12. 
  • Women's ranking: "2007 Women's World Ranking". International Ice Hockey Federation. 2007. http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/championships/world-ranking/womens-world-ranking/2007-ranking.html. Retrieved 2009-05-12. 
• 2008
  • Men's ranking: "2008 Men's World Ranking". International Ice Hockey Federation. 2008. http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/championships/world-ranking/mens-world-ranking/2008-ranking.html. Retrieved 2009-05-12. 
  • Women's ranking: "2008 Women's World Ranking". International Ice Hockey Federation. 2008. http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/championships/world-ranking/womens-world-ranking/2008-ranking.html. Retrieved 2009-05-12. 
• 2009
  • Men's ranking: "2009 Men's World Ranking". International Ice Hockey Federation. 2009. http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/championships/world-ranking/mens-world-ranking/2009-ranking.html. Retrieved 2009-05-12. 
  • Women's ranking: "2009 Women's World Ranking". International Ice Hockey Federation. 2009. http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/championships/world-ranking/womens-world-ranking/2009-ranking.html. Retrieved 2009-05-18. 

Specific

[edit] External links

• World Ranking at IIHF.com