www.hockeythink.com

All Time Women's World Rankings

Copyright Iain Fyffe, 2003

Ranking the countries involved in women's international hockey is easier than doing so for men's hockey, namely because the first women's international tournament was only held in 1987, not even two decades ago. The first men's international tournament, on the other hand, was held in 1909.

Year-by-Year Rankings

1987 and 1988

The first World Hockey Championship for women was held in 1987. It was an unofficial tournament, and is not recognized by the IIHF. Canada took first place, as well as second, as a team representing Ontario also participated in the tournament. The provincial team was not recognized in the standings, however, so the US was given second place. Since no international tournament was held in 1988, the following rankings apply for both 1987 and 1988.

1989

The first Women's European Championships were held this year. Finland dominated the field, with Sweden taking second. Switzerland's impressive offence was not enough to carry them above West Germany and Norway.

1990

The first official Women's World Championships saw Canada once again on top, with the US again taking second (though this time they actually earned it). Finland finished third for the first of many times.

1991

Finland won the Euros once again, scoring 73 goals and allowing one. Sweden, Denmark and Norway rounded out the top four, making it a clean sweep for Scandanavia. Great Britain and France both made their first appearances in international competition.

1992

Canada were again World Champions, with the US edging out Finland, who were probably the better team, for second place. China finished an impressive fifth in their first international competition.

1993

11 teams participated in the Euros this year, making it the largest international tournament to date. Finland were champions once again, followed by Sweden and Norway. Latvia and the Ukraine both made their first appearances, finishing fifth and 11th respectively.

1994

Again no surprises at the Worlds, with Canada and the US in the top two spots. Finland took third again, with China sneaking into fourth ahead of Sweden, who had the far better tournament overall, which keeps them at number four in the rankings.

1995

There were two seperate tournaments held this year. The European Championships, won once again by Finland in a walk, were split into two pools featuring a total of 14 teams. Slovakia debuted in competition. The Pacific Championhsips were held to give non-European teams a tournament in a non-Worlds year. Canada, China, Japan and the US faced off in this competition. And, for the first time, the US defeated Canada for a championship. Canada took second, China third, and Japan was the weak-sister tail-ender. In the Christmas Cup, Switzerland took the title over Russia, Germany, and Denmark.

1996

Once again two major tournaments were held. The Euros featured an upset, as Sweden became the first European Champion other than Finland. The Finns also finished behind Russia, champions of last year's B Pool. The Pacific Championships featured a return to order, as Canada regained their customary top spot. The inaugural Three Nations' Cup (later to become the Four Nations' Cup) saw Canada defeating the US in a playoff, while Finland took third (and last) place. The Ukraine is dropped from the rankings; 1995 was the last tournament in which they participated.

1997

Canada won another World Championship title ahead of the US and Finland. No surprises. Although the US won the Three Nations' Cup, it was in a single-game playoff after Canada had defeated the US twice in the round-robin. Therefore Canada regains the top spot. This year's Christmas Cup was won by Russia, who defeated a field of Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Denmark for the title. Great Britain is dropped from the rankings; 1996 was the last time they appeared in competition.

1998

Women's hockey finally appeared at the Olympics in 1998. For only the second time, the US was able to overcome the Canadian powerhouse to take a title. Canada took silver, while Finland finished in their customary third position. China, Sweden and Japan were the only other participants in the Games themselves, so the results of the qualifying tournaments for the 1999 Worlds, and the Four Nations Tournament (Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden) were used to produce rankings as well. The USA is not ranked on top because Canada took the Three Nations' Cup title again, defeating the US in both of their games. Due to Canada's history on top of the rankings, this is enough to keep them there this year.

1999

The World Championships expanded to 16 teams, divided into two pools, removing the need for separate European Championships. Canada was once again on top, allowing only two goals in five games. The US and Finland took their usual second and third positions. Sweden was fourth and China fifth, reversing their positions at the 1998 Olympics. The Three Nations' Cup was once again won by Canada, who went undefeated against the US in three games and the Finns in two.

2000

Kazakhstan and newcomers Italy (in their only international competition) replace the Netherlands and Slovakia at the World Championships. Canada continued their domination of the Worlds with another title, with the US second again and Finland third again. Italy finished last of 16 teams. Canada won the Four Nations' Cup, with Sweden taking last place. In the Three Nations' Tournament, Canada under-22 team defeated Switzerland and Germany.

2001

The 2001 World Championships wound up with Canada on top once again, followed by their continental rivals. Russia pulled off an upset by taking third place ahead of Finland. Korea debuted, finishing a respectable 12th of 16 teams, which is exactly where they end up in the rankings.

2002

The 2002 Olympics did not feature a repeat performance by the US from 1998, as they were unable to defeat Canada in the gold-medal game. This time it was Sweden taking third, with Russia slipping to fifth behind Finland. Germany, China and Kazakhstan were the only other competing nations. Canada once again won the Four Nations' Cup, avenging their loss to the US in the three-game TSN Challenge. The IIHF held the World Women's Challenge, which featured France defeating Denmark, the Netherlands, and newcomers Hungary.

Country-by-Country Results

Canada

China

Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia)

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Great Britain

Hungary

Italy

Japan

Kazakhstan

Korea

Latvia

Netherlands

Norway

Russia

Slovakia

Sweden

Switzerland

Ukraine

USA

West Germany

All-Time Rankings

From the results above we can proceed to an all-time ranking of women's hockey nations. The system I will use to produce this ranking is as follows.

First, we find the average number of teams ranked (No) and average team rank (Rank) for all years the team in question was ranked. Then we calculate the Ranking Percentage (Pct) as follows:

Pct = (No - Rank) / No

This result is expressed as if it were a winning percentage, and in a weird sort of way, it's kind of like a winning percentage. At any rate, teams are then simply ranked by their Pct. Note that West Germany is not included in the results below (though they had a .545 Pct), since that country no longer exists.