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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.
| 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.
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