New World Rankings

For the first time since this system was introduced after the 2003 World Championship, the IIHF's World Rankings have a new name at the top of the standings. By advancing to the gold-medal game, Sweden has overtaken Canada as the number-one men's hockey nation. The World Rankings take into account countries' performance over a continuous four-year cycle. The current year (in this case, the Olympics) counts for 100% of total points available, the previous year 75%, two years ago 50%, and three years ago 25%. The maximum points available is 1,200 which is awarded to the champion. Here are the top ten nations on the men's side after the Olympics. These will no doubt change in May following the 2006 World Championship in Riga, Latvia.

1 Sweden 4,030
2 Canada 3,940
3 Czech Republic 3,930
4 Slovakia 3,805
5 Finland 3,765
6 Russia 3,725
7 USA 3,575
8 Switzerland 3,525
9 Latvia 3,335
10 Germany 3,270

For the women, Canada and USA were tied prior to the Olympics, but USA received superior placement because it defeated Canada at last year's World Championship. With the gold medal in Torino, however, Canada regains first place. The top eight women's nations after the Olympics looks as follows. These are final for 2006:

1 Canada 2,970
2 USA 2,890
3 Sweden 2,830
4 Finland 2,760
5 Germany 2,635
6 Russia 2,585
7 China 2,485
8 Switzerland 2,480