Hockey nations make the best nations

Newsweek recently did a ranking of the world's best nations, and the ones at the top of the list are pretty darn good at hockey.  I don't think it's too neccesary to look into why this is, as clearly these poorer nations need to start investing in their hockey programs to better themselves.  Some countries are pretty darn good even without a top program (#4 Australia), and some good hockey nations have some other issues right now (#51 Russia).  So hockey standing isn't the be all and end all, but it's clearly important.  Russia would probably be ranked below Iran if it weren't for the hockey team. 

Sure, NewsWeek might claim to rank the countries on how well they score in Education, Health, Quality of Life, Economic Dynamism, and Political Environment, but what helps aid all those factors?  That's right, hockey.  Join me after the jump for further proof.

A special Hat Tip to Derek Zona of The Copper & Blue for posting the link over there. 

Best Nations in the World

NW Rank	Country	IIHF Member?	IIHF Rank M/W
1	Finland	Full	4 / 3
2	Switzerland	Full	7 / 5
3	Sweden	Full	3 / 4
4	Australia	Full	34 / 25
5	Luxembourg	Full	44 / NR
6	Norway	Full	11 / 12
7	Canada	Full	2 / 1
8	The Netherlands	Full	25 / 23
9	Japan	Full	21 / 9
10	Denmark	Full	13 / 22
11	United States of America	Full	6 / 2
12	Germany	Full	9 / 11
13	New Zealand	Full	40 / 30
14	United Kingdom	Full	23 / 18
15	South Korea	Full	33 / 28
16	France	Full	15 / 14
17	Ireland	Full	41 / NR
18	Austria	Full	14 / 16
19	Belgium	Full	36 / 26
20	Singapore	Associate	NR / NR
21	Spain	Full	30 / NR
22	Israel	Full	39 / NR
23	Italy	Full	16 / 17
24	Slovenia	Full	19 / 19
25	Czech Republic	Full	5 / 13
26	Greece	Associate	45 / NR
27	Portugal	Associate	NR / NR
28	Croatia	Full	26 / 20
29	Poland	Full	22 / NR
30	Chile	Affiliate	NR / NR
31	Slovakia	Full	8 / 10
32	Estonia	Full	27 / 33
33	Hungary	Full	20 / 27
34	Lithuania	Full	24 / NR
35	Costa Rica	NO
36	Latvia	Full	12 / 15
37	Malaysia	Associate	NR / NR
38	Bulgaria	Full	31 / 24
39	Romania	Full	28 / 31
40	Kuwait	Associate	NR / NR
41	Panama	NO
42	Peru	NO
43	United Arab Emirates	Associate	47 / NR
44	Uruguay	NO
45	Mexico	Full	32 / NR
46	Argentina	Associate	NR / NR
47	Jamaica	NO
48	Brazil	Associate	NR / NR
49	Ukraine	Full	18 / NR
50	Cuba	NO
51	Russia	Full	1 / 6
52	Turkey	Full	35 / 34
53	Jordan	NO
54	Qatar	NO
55	Dominican Republic	NO
56	Belarus	Full	10 / NR
57	Albania	NO
58	Thailand	Full	NR / NR
59	China	Full	37 / 7
60	Oman	NO
61	Kazakhstan	Full	17 / 8
62	Colombia	NO
63	Philippines	NO
64	Saudi Arabia	NO
65	Tunisia	NO
66	Sri Lanka	NO
67	Morocco	Associate	NR / NR
68	Paraguay	NO
69	Azerbaijan	Full	NR / NR
70	Ecuador	NO
71	Venezuela	NO
72	El Salvador	NO
73	Indonesia	NO
74	Egypt	NO
75	Nicaragua	NO
76	Honduras	NO
77	Bolivia	NO
78	India	Full	NR / NR
79	Iran	NO
80	Botswana	NO
81	Vietnam	NO
82	South Africa	Full	42 / 32
83	Syria	NO
84	Guatemala	NO
85	Algeria	NO
86	Ghana	NO
87	Kenya	NO
88	Bangladesh	NO
89	Pakistan	NO
90	Madagascar	NO
91	Senegal	NO
92	Yemen	NO
93	Tanzania	NO
94	Ethiopia	NO
95	Mozambique	NO
96	Uganda	NO
97	Zambia	NO
98	Cameroon	NO
99	Nigeria	NO
100	Burkina Faso	NO

The facts are undeniable.  Of the top 50 nations on Earth, 45 have IIHF memberships of some kind.  Of the next 50, only 10 have a membership.  There are 69 IIHF members total, and I'm sure some of the nations aren't included in Newsweek's listing, and would've made it on there somewhere (Hong Kong, Liechtenstein, Andorra).  Clearly war torn nations like Serbia and Bosnia have it right by starting up hockey programs to help lift themselves up. For the rest of these nations, it's pretty clear what they need to do.  If Costa Rica had a national hockey program, they'd probably be top 10, if not #1. 

Our hats are off to Finland.  They're as hockey mad as any nation on Earth, and just about everything else they score well in as well.