Top 10 hockey teams in the world

Review of the best according to the editorial board. On the selection criteria. This material is subjective, does not constitute advertising and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.

Hockey is truly a folk game. Everyone loves him – young and old, from students to businessmen, even the President of Russia plays him, and quite successfully. A larger community of fans and fans has been formed here, and there are clubs in every city.

But who to root for – and so as not to experience the bitterness of defeat? For fans who only want to rejoice for their favorite team, we have compiled a rating of the 10 best hockey teams in the world.

The source of information is the IIHF world ranking by points for the period 2016-2019, which includes four World Championships and one Olympic Games. Both the men's and women's teams are taken into account.

Rating of the best hockey teams in the world

Nomination	a place	National team	Points
Rating of the best hockey teams in the world	10	Switzerland women	3415
	9	Czech Republic, men	3465
	8	Russia, women	3560
	7	Sweden, men	3615
	6	Finland, men	3615
	5	Russia, men	3640
	4	Finland women	3675
	3	Canada Men	3705
	2	Canada women	3730
	1	USA women	3900

10th place: Switzerland, women, 3415 points

Rating: 4.1

The Swiss women's hockey team has a very distinctive history. Her first performance took place at the 1987 World Cup – and then she devastatingly 'blown' Canada with a score of 0:10. Now she occupies an honorable fifth place in the world ranking of women's teams.

On the other hand, she has never reached the championship at the world championships. The maximum result was at the 2013 competitions, when the team took a bronze medal to Switzerland. She also performed well at the 2014 Winter Olympics, held in the Russian city of Sochi. There she also took home a bronze medal.

In the IIHF world rankings, the team took fifth place in terms of points. She shows good, but not outstanding results. So, at the World Cup after 2012, she takes 5-7 place, similarly she performs at the Olympic Games.

9th place: Czech Republic, men, 3465 points

Rating: 4.2

The Czech men's hockey team is best known for being the 1998 Olympic champion. In addition, she has six world championships to her credit. The team is very strong and plays at the level of Canadians, Russians and other representatives of the 'big six hockey'.

But the ninth place in the current rating is due to not the most successful performances at the last championships. After several successful games (gold medal at the 2010 World Cup, bronze medals at the 2011 and 2012 World Championships), the Czechs began to fall in the standings. They do not have a single 'fresh' award – since 2013 they have taken 4-7 places.

And this is surprising, since the coaching staff does not change. In 2010, the Czechs were 'ruled' by Vladimir Ruzicka and received 'gold'. In 2014 and 2015, under his control – only 4th place. In 2011 and 2012, under the direction of Alis Gadamchik, the Czechs received a 'bronze', and in 2013 they dropped to the 7th line of the standings. They took the same place at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

8th place: Russia, women, 3560 points

Rating: 4.3

Women's hockey is not very widespread in Russia. In particular, there are only 2376 professional athletes as of 2018. On the other hand, it is becoming more and more popular – also thanks to the success of the Russian women's ice hockey team. In particular, in 2014 there were only 562 professional athletes.

And the Russian women's hockey team has something to brag about. She has two fresh World Championships bronze medals in her assets for 2013 and 2016. At the Olympic Games, she also showed herself well. In 2014, in Sochi, she took 6th place (although the result was canceled), and in 2018 in Pyeongchang, she took 4th place (however, she did not compete under the Russian flag, but as representatives of Olympic athletes from Russia).

The Russian women's team shows itself well at other international championships. For example, in 2014 she won gold at the Four Nations Tournament, in 2015 and 2017 at the Five Nations Tournament, and in 2018 at the Meco Cup.

7th place: Sweden, men – 3615 points

Rating: 4.4

The Swedish men's hockey team plays on par with Canada and Russia and boasts a huge number of awards. She has eleven gold medals from the World Cup and two from the Olympic Games. And others are completely unmeasured.

Therefore, the IIHF put her in 4th place in the global ranking of men's teams. But, since our material contains not only male, but also female compositions, Sweden occupies an honorary 7th line.

Unlike their predecessors, the Swedes perform well in modern games. So, they have gold medals at the 2013, 2017 and 2018 World Championships, as well as 'silver' from the 2014 Olympics. This is due to the very strong composition. In the current team, almost all players play for NHL clubs.

The Swedish men's ice hockey team is also known as 'Tre-Krunur' thanks to the logo. It features three crowns. In addition, the logo is displayed on the yellow and blue colors.

6th place: Finland, men, 3615 points

Rating: 4.5

Finns are very fond of hockey! According to recent research, there are 52,597 registered players in this country. And this, by the way, is almost 1% of the total population of Finland. Therefore, it is not surprising that the men's team of this country is included in the 'big six' and in the IIHF world ranking for 2019 it takes 3rd place.

On the other hand, she cannot boast a whole store of awards. She has only three gold medals with the World Cup – for 1995, 2011 and 2019. In the Olympics, she did not occupy any leadership positions at all, the maximum is 'silver'. In the 2014 games, she won the bronze medal.

At the same time, it has shown very good results over the past few years. So, at the Championships in 2014 and 2016, she took second place. In other 'fresh' competitions, she never dropped below the 5th line of the standings. From the last Euro Hockey Tour championships, she took away the 'gold' and 'silver'.

5th place: Russia, men, 3640 points

Rating: 4.6

According to the IIHF world ranking for 2019, the Russian ice hockey team takes a confident second place among the men's teams, second only to its constant rival, Canada. And the 'silver' came deservedly.

The Russian men's hockey team has a lot of awards. Therefore, it makes sense to consider only the latest, most 'fresh' and for the largest crops:

1. 2010 – silver at the World Cup, lost to the Czech Republic with a score of 1: 2;
2. 2012 – gold at the World Cup, defeated Slovakia with a score of 6: 2;
3. 2014 – gold at the World Cup, defeated Finland with a score of 5: 2;
4. 2015 – silver at the World Cup, lost to Canada with a score of 1: 6;
5. 2016 – bronze at the World Cup;
6. 2017 – bronze at the World Cup;
7. 2018 – gold medal at the Olympic Games, defeated Germany with a score of 4: 3;
8. 2019 – bronze at the World Cup.

It should be noted that in 2018 at the Olympics, the national team did not play under the Russian flag. Due to doping scandals, the athletes were planned to be permanently removed. But in the end they were still allowed, but not under the tricolor, but as representatives of Olympic athletes from Russia (OCP).

4th place: Finland, women, 3675 points

Rating: 4.7

The Finnish women's hockey team shows a confident good game – even if there are not enough stars from the sky. From the world championships, she consistently brings bronze medals – and only once a silver one.

So, the team has 12 medals with the World Cup. There are eleven bronze ones. The most recent awards are the third place at the 2011 and 2015 World Championships, the second at the 2019 World Championships, and the third at the 2018 Olympic Games (in which they had to fight with Olympic athletes from Russia).

On the other hand, she also has a huge number of 'regional' awards – that is, for victories in tournaments between European countries. That is why the IIHF Federation gave her an honorable third place in the ranking of female teams.

In their native Finland, the national hockey team is called 'lionesses'. This is due to the fact that the team logo depicts a heraldic lion. They love her very much – as, in principle, everything connected with hockey in this country – and actively follow every achievement.

3rd place: Canada, men – 3705 points

Rating: 4.8

Canadian ice hockey players are the strongest in the ranking among the teams of men. And in principle, they are known as very powerful players, regularly taking home gold and silver medals from the championships. At the moment, they have 35 major sporting achievements, that is, victories at the World Cup and Olympic Games.

Moreover, Canada is considered one of the pioneers of hockey as a professional sport. She has been a member of the IIHF International Federation since 1920. The Maple Leaves are composed exclusively of players who are members of NHL clubs. So there is nothing surprising in their leadership.

One of the greatest achievements of Canadians in recent years is the championship at the 2014 Olympics, held in the city of Sochi. At the next winter Games, the athletes also did not hit their faces in the mud, bringing a bronze medal from Pyeongchang to Canada.

Speaking about the recent World Championships, it is worth noting that it was the Canadians who took the 'gold' from the 2015 and 2016 competitions. And in 2017 and 2019, they acquired silver. In total, the team participated in 68 World Championships, and won prizes in 50 of them.

2nd place: Canada, women, 3730 points

Rating: 4.9

Canadian athletes keep up with their male colleagues, showing successful performances at a huge number of championships. And, according to the IIHF International Federation, in terms of points over the past few years they have completely bypassed the 'stronger sex'. Although, in principle, this is not surprising – back in 2011, there were 85.6 thousand professional ice hockey players in Canada. This sport, for all its roughness and even cruelty, is very popular with these northern women.

Of the freshest and most relevant sports achievements of Canada, it is worth highlighting the 'gold' at the 2014 Olympics. They achieved championship at other Winter Games, bringing gold medals in 2002, 2006 and 2010. But in Pyeongchang 2018 they received silver, which, in principle, is also an important achievement.

Their performances at the World Cup are also very successful, although not so impressive. Canadians brought silver medals from competitions in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017, and in 2019 in Finland they got a 'bronze'. They also have gold in their assets, but somewhat old – for 1990-2004.

1st place: USA, women, 3900 points

Rating: 5.0

American women are the strongest team in existence. Moreover, not only in terms of points scored in the IIHF international federation ranking (although this is also a very important indicator), but also simply in terms of results. If you look at the latest sports achievements, it turns out that the team brought gold in the 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 World Championships, and in Sochi-2018 it also became the champion.

At the same time, the “American women” have been performing not so long ago. For the first time they joined the national teams participating in the World Championship only in 1990. And the very first performance took place in 1987, where they had to fight with the Canadians (however, they lost 2: 1 in favor of their 'northern neighbors').

Speaking of the World Cup, the American women took part in 19 competitions. And from each of them they brought at least some medal. In the asset – 10 silver awards and 9 gold. Thus, the “American” is the only team that brought a medal from each championship and is simply the strongest at the moment.

The US Olympic Committee has twice issued their special regalia. In 1998, the American women were named Team of the Year, and in April 2015 – Team of the Month.

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Attention! This rating is subjective and does not constitute an advertisement and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.