Hockey

With the start of the Olympic Hockey tournament just around the corner, the International Ice Hockey Federation released its final Pre-Olympic World Ranking report on Monday with Russia topping the men's side and the United States leading the women's standings.

Winners of the past two IIHF World Championship, Russia leads the men's standings with 2,925 points, just 20 points ahead of Canada at 2,905. Sweden sits third with 2,795 points.

Finland and the United States round out the top five followed by the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Belarus, and Slovakia. Norway sits in 11th while Germany is 13th and the final 2010 Olympic competitor on the list.

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It is another tight battle on the women's side with the United States topping the ranking with 1,790 points. Canada follows with 1,750. Finland is third with 1,675 points. Sweden, Switzerland and Russia follow, while China sits ninth and Slovakia is 11th.

The IIHF World Ranking is calculated by awarding points for the final positions in the last four IIHF World Championships and in the last Olympic Ice Hockey Tournament.

The system uses a four-year cycle as the points earned in one year decline by 25 percent within the next three years and in the fifth-year results are dropped from the calculation altogether. The World Rankings will once again be established following the Olympic Games with the team that captures the gold medal receiving 1,200 points. Should Canada win the gold medal at the 2010 Games, it will overtake Russia on top of the Post-Olympic IIHF World Rankings.