The
Russian men's national ice hockey team is the national
ice hockey team of Russia, overseen by the
Ice Hockey Federation of Russia. As of May 2015, they are rated second in the
IIHF World Rankings; with 3675 points. The team has been competing internationally since 1993, and is recognized by the
IIHF as the successor to the
Soviet Union Hockey Federation and have passed its ranking on to Russia. Today, it still follows a long tradition of
Soviet hockey teams, composed mostly of Russian players. The Russian team replaced the
Unified Team of the
ice hockey at the 1992 Winter Olympics and the
Commonwealth of Independent States team of the
1992 World Championships and is a member of the so-called "
Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with
Canada, the
Czech Republic,
Finland,
Sweden and the
United States.