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.