Russian Super League
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Russian Super League | |
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| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Founded | 1996 |
| No. of teams | 19 |
| Country |  Russia |
| Current champions | Aq Bars Kazan |
The Russian Super League is the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia, and is commonly considered second-best in the world after the NHL.[citation needed] It is part of the Russian Pro Hockey League which is composed of two divisions, the Super League and the Vysshaya Liga (Premier League).
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[edit] History
The origins of the Super League are in the old Soviet League, which was founded in 1946. The Soviet era was dominated by the Red Army-affiliated CSKA Moscow who won 32 of the 46 championships. The league lasted until 1991 when the USSR was dissolved. After going through several different CIS-related names, the league was rechristened the Russian Super League in 1996 [1].
[edit] Teams (2006-2007)
There are 19 teams in the Super League in 2006-2007. The league was planned with 20 teams, but Spartak Moscow was disbanded before the start of the season, on August 11. [2] After the season, two bottom teams (ranked 18th and 19th) will be relegated to the Vysshaya Liga, and the winner of the Vysshaya Liga will be promoted to the Super League. [3] In December 2006 FHR decided to admit Spartak Moscow to the Super League 2007-2008 on unanimous request of other Super League clubs. [4]
[edit] Competition
The competition consists of the regular season and the play-off. The games are played in accordance with the IIHF rules.
During the regular season, each team faces each other team three times. Of these three games, two are played on one team's ice, and one on the other's. Each team plays 54 games during the regular season. If a game is drawn, a five-minute sudden death overtime is played. Three points are awarded for a regulation time win, two points for an overtime win, one point for a draw or an overtime defeat, and no points for a regulation time defeat.
The 16 teams with the best regular season records qualify for the playoffs. Each playoff round is a best-of-five series. In each round, the teams are paired according to the regular season performance. The top team is paired with the bottom team, the second ranked team is paired with the team with the second worst regular season performance, and so on. The higher ranked team plays games 1, 2, and 5 on home ice.
[edit] Champions
[edit] Russian Super League champions |
[edit] International Hockey League champions |
[edit] Soviet League champions
[edit] References
- Super League Regulations (Russian)
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Top level Ice Hockey leagues of Europe
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