Russian Superleague

The Russian Superleague (Russian: Чемпионат России Суперлига, Russian Championship Superleague), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was considered the second-best league in the world, after the National Hockey League (NHL) of North America.^[1] It was a part of the Russian Pro Hockey League which was composed of three divisions — the Superleague, Major League (Vysshaya Liga), and First League (Pervaya Liga).

The league was rebranded after the 2007/2008 season as the KHL. The KHL absorbed all 20 teams from the previous RSL season, for a total of 24 for its inaugural campaign.

The origins of the Superleague 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 1992 due to the Soviet Union's collapse. After its transformation into the International Hockey League , the league was rechristened the Russian Hockey League in 1996. From 1996 to 1999, league membership was Russian-only. In 1999, membership was open and the league went international, and was renamed the Russian Superleague.^{[citation needed ]} Journalist Vsevolod Kukushkin acted as a press secretary for the league.^[2]

There were 20 teams in the Superleague in 2007–08.

The competition consisted of the regular season and the play-off. The games were played in accordance with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) rules.

During the regular season, each team faced each other team three times (twice at home/once away, or once at home/twice away). Each team played 57 games during the regular season. If a game was drawn, a five-minute sudden-death overtime was played, followed by a shootout. Three points were awarded for a win in regulation, two points for an overtime or shootout win, one point for an overtime or shootout loss, and no points for a loss in regulation.

The 16 teams with the best regular-season records qualified for the playoffs. Each playoff round was a best-of-five series. In each round, the teams were paired according to the regular season performance. The top team was paired with the bottom team, the second-ranked team was paired with the team with the second worst regular-season performance, and so on. The higher-ranked team played Games One, Two, and Five on home ice.

• 2008 — Salavat Yulaev Ufa
• 2007 — Metallurg Magnitogorsk
• 2006 — Ak Bars Kazan
• 2005 — Dynamo Moscow
• 2004 — Avangard Omsk
• 2003 — Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
• 2002 — Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
• 2001 — Metallurg Magnitogorsk
• 2000 — Dynamo Moscow
• 1999 — Metallurg Magnitogorsk
• 1998 — Ak Bars Kazan (Cup of Russia — Metallurg Magnitogorsk)
• 1997 — Torpedo Yaroslavl (since 2000 named as Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)

Four-time winners:

• Igor Shadilov 2000, 2005, 2006, 2008
• Alexei Tereshchenko 2000, 2005, 2006, 2008
• Vladimir Antipov 1997, 2002, 2003, 2008

Teams from the league are playable in NHL 09 .

• Russian Elite Hockey Scoring Champion
• Russian Elite Hockey Goal Scoring Champion

• Russian Super League (in Russian)

• Russian Superleague
• Sports leagues established in 1999
• Organizations disestablished in 2008
• Defunct ice hockey leagues in Russia
• 1999 establishments in Russia
• 2008 disestablishments in Russia

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