Russia continues to be number one, even though it has not played at the international level for several years.
Russia continues to top the IIHF rankings. PDO
Russia is now proud of a rather incomprehensible hockey fact. Among other things, the website Sportbox.ru highlights in its headline how “the Russian national team kept its top position in the IIHF ranking after the World Championships”.
The website refers to the special listing method of the International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF. The Russian national team has been ranked number one in the men’s world by the IIHF, even though Russia has not participated in international tournaments since 2022.
Russia has a total of 5,510 ranking points, with which it surpasses Switzerland (5,335), Canada (5,305) and the USA (5,305) at the top of the list. Finland (5,240) is also behind Russia in points.
The IIHF has justified its special listing by the fact that it does not want Russia to sink to the bottom of the ranking. Every year, the IIHF has given Russia a number of points according to its ranking at the time.
However, Russia is not placed at the top of the “official list” because it and Belarus are not allowed to participate in IIHF international tournaments.
Russia and Belarus were banned in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.