BRATISLAVA – Russia remains first in the 2011 IIHF World Ranking, but Finland follows just 20 points behind after winning the 2011 Worlds. The groups for 2012 will be determined shortly.
The Finns move up from fourth to second place. Sweden remains third with as many points as Finland, but Finland is ahead because the result of the most recent tournament serves as a tie-breaker in the World Ranking.
Olympic champion Canada drops down from second to fourth place after being ousted in the World Championship quarter-finals two years in a row.
The Czech Republic stays in fifth place despite winning the bronze medals in Bratislava.
The United States remain in sixth and Switzerland in seventh position in the 2011 IIHF World Ranking.
Germany and Norway – the two surprising quarter-finalists at this year’s World Championship – move up. Germany gains one place and is now eighth while Norway moves up two spots and follows in ninth place.
This area is the borderline for a bye to the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. The top nine teams of the IIHF World Ranking in one year, after the 2012 IIHF World Championship, will be qualified automatically for the Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Teams ranked tenth and worse in one year will have to battle for the remaining three spots in the 12-team Olympic men’s ice hockey tournament through qualification events.
Slovakia loses two places after finishing in a disappointing tenth place on home ice in Bratislava and is now tenth in the World Ranking as well. Belarus drops down one spot and is eleventh, followed by Latvia, Denmark, France and Austria.
Among Division I nations Great Britain made the biggest step forward. The British won Division I silver in April and had their best placement since 2001. They moved up two places and are now 21st.
The IIHF World Ranking includes the 48 of the IIHF’s 70 member nations that have participated in the IIHF World Championship Program in the last four years. It is based on the performances of the men’s national teams in the last four IIHF World Championships (2008-2011) and the last Olympic Winter Games (2010) with higher weighting on the more recent tournaments.
2011 IIHF Men’s World Ranking2011 IIHF Women’s World RankingGroups for 2012 to be determined shortlyThe two groups of eight teams for the 2012 IIHF World Championship in Helsinki (Finland) and Stockholm (Sweden), along with the schedule, will be determined shortly upon consultation with the involved parties and participants.
Due to logistical and scheduling reasons, the composition of the two groups may not necessarily follow the predetermined order from the 2011 IIHF World Ranking.
MARTIN MERK
