“Slovak Hockey Ranks 9th in Latest IIHF Ranking After 2023 World Hockey Championship | International Ice Hockey Federation”.

TAMPERE – After the 2023 World Hockey Championship, Slovak hockey players are ranked 9th in the latest IIHF ranking with 3290 points. Compared to last year, we fell by one place, when we were overtaken by the silver-winning Germans, who climbed up to fourth place.

Gold Canada moved to the top with 3750 points, second is Finland (3680). The United States of America (3540) and silver Germany (3435) follow. The downward movement was recorded by the hockey players of the Czech Republic, who fell from sixth to eighth place. The Swiss (3375) got ahead of our neighbors, and Russia, which was excluded from the World Cup due to war aggression in Ukraine, remains ahead of them.

The IIHF ranking ranks countries according to their success over the past four years, taking into account placings at world championships and the Olympic Games. The allocated points from the three previous championships are reduced by 25 percent every year.

According to the ranking, deployment to the World Cup and the Olympic Games is determined. According to him, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Slovakia, Latvia, France, Kazakhstan and Poland would form Group A for the World Championships next year in Ostrava and Prague. Finland, USA, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Austria and Great Britain would be in Group B. But they will be determined definitively by the organizer, who has the right to replace one team in the group.

Slovak hockey is not certain of direct participation in the 2026 Olympic tournament in Milan/Cortina. It was decided by Thursday’s result of the World Cup quarter-finals in Riga between Switzerland and Germany. The possible exclusion of the Russians, who in the current situation cannot start at top events, can change that.

Ranking of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) after the World Championships in Tampere and Riga (first 15 places):

• Author: © List
• Source: CTK