The rankings were established in 1997 as the Top Level International Ice Hockey "All Time World Rankings" in order to qualify, from an historical perspective, the performance of countries competing in "Best-on-Best" ice hockey. As such, these rankings are not intended as an indicator of any team's current strength or stature, rather they are meant as a cumulative measure of each country's success in top level international competition.

By "top level", we are referring to competitions in which all countries are fairly allowed to field what they deem to be their best possible teams, and it is understood by all sides competing that the games are, for lack of a better term, "for all the marbles". Therefore, IIHF World Championships (held during NHL playoffs), amateur Olympic tournaments (prohibiting professional players), exhibition games and club matches are not included.

Unlike many other sports, top level international ice hockey has thus-far been played exclusively within the domain of tournament competition. As a result a greater emphasis is placed on final standings as opposed to individual wins, losses and scores. With this in mind, the rankings have been based on a very simple, yet effective point system devised by TLH using the results of all the top level tournaments ever held - Canada/World Cups, Olympic Games from 1998, and the 1972 Summit Series. Points are derived from the final standings of each team per competition in relation to the number of teams competing. For example: the Czech Republic finished first in the 1998 Olympics and 14 teams competed, therefore the Czech Republic is awarded 14 points, plus 1 bonus point for winning the tournament. Canada finished 4th in that tournament so they are awarded 11 points with no bonus. Teams finishing in last place will always receive a single point in recognition for at least qualifying for a top level tournament (granting the "invitation-only" status of some past tournaments). Please also note that, for the sake of continuity, Russian points include those of the former USSR and Czech Republic points include those of Czechoslovakia.