ZURICH – The International Ice Hockey Federation has received entry applications from 33 nations for the Ice Hockey Tournaments at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. The top ranked will get a direct entry, while the others will have to qualify.

The following nations have registered for the ice hockey tournaments at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games and the qualification tournaments respectively prior to the end of last week.
  <table> <tbody><tr><td colspan="2">Men:</td><td width="5"> </td><td colspan="2">Women:</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">1.</td><td>Russia</td><td> </td><td alight="right">1.</td><td>USA</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">2.</td><td>Finland</td><td> </td><td alight="right">2.</td><td>Canada</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">3.</td><td>Sweden</td><td> </td><td alight="right">3.</td><td>Finland</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">4.</td><td>Canada</td><td> </td><td alight="right">4.</td><td>Sweden</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">5.</td><td>Czech Republic</td><td> </td><td alight="right">5.</td><td>Russia</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">6.</td><td>USA</td><td> </td><td alight="right">6.</td><td>Switzerland</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">7.</td><td>Switzerland</td><td> </td><td alight="right">7.</td><td>Kazakhstan</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">8.</td><td>Germany</td><td> </td><td alight="right">8.</td><td>Slovakia</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">9.</td><td>Norway</td><td> </td><td alight="right">9.</td><td>China</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">10.</td><td>Slovakia</td><td> </td><td alight="right">10.</td><td>Germany</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">11.</td><td>Belarus</td><td> </td><td alight="right">11.</td><td>Japan</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">12.</td><td>Latvia</td><td> </td><td alight="right">12.</td><td>Norway</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">13.</td><td>Denmark</td><td> </td><td alight="right">13.</td><td>Latvia</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">14.</td><td>France</td><td> </td><td alight="right">14.</td><td>Czech Republic</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">15.</td><td>Austria</td><td> </td><td alight="right">15.</td><td>Austria</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">16.</td><td>Kazakhstan</td><td> </td><td alight="right">16.</td><td>France</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">17.</td><td>Italy</td><td> </td><td alight="right">17.</td><td>Italy</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">18.</td><td>Slovenia</td><td> </td><td alight="right">18.</td><td>Great Britain</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">19.</td><td>Ukraine</td><td> </td><td alight="right">19.</td><td>Slovenia</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">20.</td><td>Hungary</td><td> </td><td alight="right">20.</td><td>Denmark</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">21.</td><td>Great Britain</td><td> </td><td alight="right">21.</td><td>Hungary</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">22.</td><td>Japan</td><td> </td><td alight="right">22.</td><td>Korea</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">23.</td><td>Poland</td><td> </td><td alight="right">23.</td><td>Poland</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">24.</td><td>Lithuania</td><td> </td><td alight="right">24.</td><td>Spain</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">25.</td><td>Croatia</td><td colspan="3"> </td></tr> <tr><td align="right">26.</td><td>Romania</td><td colspan="3"> </td></tr> <tr><td align="right">27.</td><td>Spain</td><td colspan="3"> </td></tr> <tr><td align="right">28.</td><td>Serbia</td><td colspan="3"> </td></tr> <tr><td align="right">29.</td><td>Korea</td><td colspan="3"> </td></tr> <tr><td align="right">30.</td><td>Mexico</td><td colspan="3"> </td></tr> <tr><td align="right">31.</td><td>Israel</td><td colspan="3"> </td></tr> <tr><td align="right">32.</td><td>Bosnia-Herzegovina</td><td colspan="3"> </td></tr> </tbody></table>  
(Nations sorted according the 2011 IIHF Men’s and Women’s World Rankings)

The final list will be known at the 2012 IIHF Annual Congress and approval by the respective National Olympic Committees may be pending for some nations.

The top-9 men’s nations and the top-6 women’s nations according to the 2012 IIHF Men’s and Women’s World Rankings respectively will be qualified automatically for the Ice Hockey Tournaments at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Additionally, three more men’s teams and two women’s teams will be determined through a series of qualification tournaments during the 2012/2013 season, starting in autumn 2012 and ending with the final qualifications in February 2013.

The groups of the men’s and women’s tournaments in Sochi as well as the seeding for the qualification tournaments will be determined based on the 2012 IIHF World Rankings as calculated following the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Burlington, Vermont (USA), 7-14 April; and the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Helsinki (Finland) and Stockholm (Sweden), 4-20 May.

Click here for more information on the format of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games’ Ice Hockey Tournaments and the Qualification.

Click on the following links for the 2011 IIHF Men’s World Ranking and the 2011 IIHF Women’s World Ranking. Click here for an explanation of the World Ranking system.