What countries are ranked the highest at playing ice hockey?

For many years the game of ice hockey has been played on frozen water with sharp blades on the bottoms of the players’ feet. The goal of the game is to put a frozen piece of rubber called a puck into the net. The game hockey was created in Canada, but since then this sport has spread to many other countries, all of whom are attempting to catch up with Canada and become the best nation for hockey. Based on the rankings Finland, Russia and Sweden are rapidly becoming better at winning and making outstanding NHL players because they're Training is getting better.

Over the years hockey is almost played in every country to this date. Based on the rankings, individual nations are better at winning and better at getting NHL players into their teams. The International Hockey Federation or the IIHF ranks all the teams in the world by winning the gold medal in the world championship. The winner receives 12,000 points, and there is a 40-point difference between the silver and bronze teams. People always think that Canada as the best. According to the International Ice Hockey Federation, Canada is ranked number one in the world rankings, and their training is ranked number according to Korey Beckett of the Sporter. Countries are starting to get better at training and getting better at the sport. One example of a country that is more likely going to get a gold medal in Russia. According to the IIHF, Russia is ranked second after Canada. This is shocking because most people would assume that the U.S. would be second after Canada because for many years Canada and The U.S have dominated international hockey, but that’s not the case. Russia currently has 3,105 points. The training in Russia was ranked second, which was not shocking because Russia has provided over 50 players this year for the National Hockey League with fantastic players.

One example of a player is Alex Ovechkin who has over 500 goals. This shows that Russia has a lot of NHL players today and this due to having good training. This also indicates that the Russian hockey team is starting to develop and one day will be better as they come close to winning over Canada. It has already overtaken the U.S. hockey team. However, they still have not passed Canada because Canada is ranked number one according to the rankings.

The next country behind Russia and Canada is Sweden. Sweden is behind Canada and Russia, and they have 3,080 points based on the world rankings. Sweden moved up two places from last year. This means Sweden is improving, Sweden has also provided many quality players. Sweden also has over 50 active NHL players. This means Sweden is improving and this is due to some of the best training in the world, and the Swedish hockey team has moved up every year so it would not be a shock to overtake Canada because they already exceeded the United States hockey team regarding rankings. However, it is one spot behind team Russia.

    The next country is Finland. According to the IIHF world rankings, Finland is ranked 4th with 3,060 points. Yes, the Finnish team finished 4th and dropped back two spaces in the world rankings, but this team still has one the best prospects playing for them. One example of this is last year in the NHL, Draft Patrick Laine was selected, and Patrick is one of the best young players in the league based on him having 37 goals in his first season and a half. This shows that Finland is Making quality NHL players and are starting to be ranked higher because they are beginning to win more.

This shows even though the Finnish team dropped this year there are still making quality players.

   People who like hockey might not realize that many countries have hockey as a recent popular sports People have a bias towards the United States’ hockey team and Canada is the best. It is true that Canada is still number one but the way these countries are improving in the rankings and teams already passed the United States’ hockey team. Therefore, based on the ranking Finland, Russia and Sweden are rapidly becoming better at winning and making outstanding NHL players.

Works CIted

“Active Swedish NHL Players ‑ All-Time Stats.” QuantHockey, www.quanthockey.com/nhl/nationality/active-swedish-nhl-players-career-stats.html.

Iihf. “MORE HEADLINES.” 2017 Ranking, www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/championships/world-ranking/mens-world-ranking/2017-ranking/.

Beckett, Korey. “Top 10 Countries That Produce the Best Hockey Players.” TheSportster, 29 May 2015, www.thesportster.com/hockey/top-10-countries-that-produce-the-best-hockey-players/.

NHL.com. “Patrik Laine Stats and News.” NHL.com, 9 Oct. 2017, www.nhl.com/player/patrik-laine-8479339.

“Active Russian NHL Players ‑ All-Time Stats.” QuantHockey, www.quanthockey.com/nhl/nationality/active-russian-nhl-players-career-stats.html.

NHL.com. “Alex Ovechkin Stats and News.” NHL.com, 9 Oct. 2017, www.nhl.com/player/alex-ovechkin-8471214.