BRATISLAVA. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) published the latest issue of the World Rankings on Wednesday.
In the first place are the Olympic winners from Beijing, the Finns, the highest in history – in sixth place – are the Swiss and, conversely, the seventh Czech Republic fell to historically worst position.
Thanks to bronze at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, Slovakia has improved by one place and is eighth. The last time the Slovaks were in the top eight was in 2016.
The IIHF rankings include the results of the last five tournaments – the four World Championships and the Winter Olympics, with the older the event, the fewer points.
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The results in the four-year cycle are adjusted according to the following coefficient: for tournaments in the last year it is 100 percent points, for the results of a year ago it is given 75 percent points, for two years 50 percent and for three years 25 percent.
The IIHF rankings are important in placing teams in the elite categories of the World Cup, but especially for the direct promotion to the Winter Olympics.
Since 2006, the first eight teams from the rankings have directly qualified for the Olympic tournament, and additional places have been added to the qualifying teams or the host of the games.
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Slovakia had to advance to Beijing in a qualifying tournament in Bratislava, as it dropped out of the elite eight after 2016.
The Canadian players came to the top of the women’s rankings, who defeated the USA 3: 2 in the final in Beijing and overtook it. The third is Finland and the fourth is Switzerland.
The Slovaks remained in 15th place, with 2925 points on their account.
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