Supreme Hockey League Championship
 | This article needs to be updated. (December 2016) |
Current season, competition or edition: | |
| Formerly | Russian Hockey League |
|---|---|
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Founded | 2011–12 season |
| No. of teams | 8 (2019–2020 season) |
| Countries |  Russia (8 teams) |
| Most recent champion(s) | HC Rostov (3rd title) |
| Most titles | HC Rostov (3) |
| Related competitions | KHL VHL MHL NMHL |
| Official website | vhl.su |
The Supreme Hockey League Championship (VHL-B) (Russian: Первенство Высшей хоккейной лиги (ВХЛ-П), Pervenstvo Vysshaya hokkeinaya liga) is an ice hockey league in Russia. It stands at the third-tier of the Russian ice hockey pyramid, below the second-level VHL and the top-tier KHL.
History[]
Since 1992, it was the First League of the Russian Ice Hockey Championship. During the 2010–11 season, it was known as the Championship of Russia between the club teams of regions (Russian: Первенство России среди клубных команд регионов, Pervenstvo Rossii sredi klubnykh komand regionov), which was considered a feeder league to both the KHL and the VHL. A majority of the teams were simply junior versions of their professional counterparts. During the era of the Soviet Championship League, it was referred to as "Class B"
The league in 2010–11 featured clubs from the 2009–10 season of the Pervaya Liga and also clubs from the 2009–10 season of the Vysshaya Liga that were not accepted into the VHL for 2010–11.
On August 23, 2011, the FHR announced the creation of the Russian Hockey League that replaced the Pervaya Liga. The league had 2 divisions. The West Division featured teams from both the Central and Povolzhie divisions of the Pervaya Liga. The East Division featured teams from the Ural and West Siberia division as well as teams from the Siberian and Far East division. The Russian Hockey League was also the same name of the organization responsible for organizing the top-tier hockey league of Russia at the time that existed from 1996 and 2008, when it was rebranded and reorganized as the Kontinental Hockey League.
Prior to the beginning of the 2014-15 season, there was a big decrease in league members (with seven teams either leaving to join a different league or disbanding altogether). In connection with this number of losses, FHR officials who ran the league were forced to combine the two territorial divisions into one league table.
After the 2014-15 season and prior to the 2015-16 season, the FHR transferred the organization of the RHL (which had seen its membership numbers plummet from 24 teams in 2011/12 to nine in 2014/15) to the Supreme Hockey League, with the hope of developing a better third-tier competition with an eventual promotion/relegation system with the second-level league thus creating the Supreme Hockey League Championship.
Prospects for expansion[]
It is planned to replenish the league from the following sources:
- VHL teams, for financial reasons, leaving the league.
- Foreign clubs. For example, interest to the league has been shown by representatives of Latvia.
- Teams from different cities of Russia.
- Independent teams of the MHL and/or the NMHL who left due to reorganization.[1]
Teams for 2019–2020[]
| Team | City | Arena | Capacity | Founded | Joined league |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dinamo-Altai Barnaul | Barnaul
|
Titov Sports Palace | 3,800 | 2006 | 2011 |
| Cheboksary
|
Cheboksary-Arena | 7,500 | 2016 | 2016 | |
| HC Chelny | Naberezhnye Chelny
|
Ice Palace Naberezhny Chelny | 1,500 | 2004 | 2016 |
| Orenburg
|
Unknown | - | 2019 | 2019 | |
| Junior Kurgan | Kurgan
|
Paryshev Ice Palace | 2,500 | 2012 | 2017 |
| Krasnoyarsk
|
Arena Sever | 2,600 | 2011 | 2018 | |
| Kristall | Saratov
|
Ice Sports Palace Saratov | 5,000 | 1946 | 2017 |
| Saransk
|
Ice Palace of the Republic of Mordovia | 3,300 | 2011 | 2011 |
Teams no longer in the league[]
| Team | City | Arena | Capacity | Fate of the team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tobolsk
|
Crystal Sports Complex | Unknown | Unknown | |
| Avangard-Yugra | Kogalym
|
Iceberg Sports Complex | Unknown | Originally joined, but ultimately did not participate; possibly disbanded |
| Buran Voronezh | Voronezh
|
3,200 | Joined the VHL in 2012 | |
| Yekaterinburg
|
KRK Uralets | 5,570 | Withdrew during 2013-14 season; later disbanded due to connection with financial problems | |
| Tomsk
|
Crystal Sport Palace | Unknown | Currently, the club performs in the Siberian Student Hockey League | |
| CSK VVS Samara | Samara
|
CSK VVS Sport Palace | 3,500 | Joined the VHL in 2017 |
| HC Belgorod | Belgorod
|
1,200 | Joined the NMHL (then MHL-B) in 2012 due to financial issues | |
| HC Bryansk | Bryansk
|
1,000 | Joined the NMHL (then MHL-B) in 2014 | |
| HC Lipetsk | Lipetsk
|
Zvezdny Sports Complex | 2,000 | Joined the VHL in 2013; later withdrew in 2015 |
| HC Rostov | Rostov-on-Don
|
Ice Arena | 600 | Joined the VHL in 2019 |
| HC Tambov | Tambov
|
Crystal Ice Palace | 1,200 | Joined the VHL in 2018 |
| Junior-Sputnik | Nizhny Tagil
|
Sotnikov Ice Sports Palace | 4,200 | Club skips season due to financial problems |
| Kedr Novouralsk | Novouralsk
|
Novouralsk Ice Palace | 1,200 | Disbanded |
| Kristall Elektrostal | Elektrostal
|
Kristall Sport Palace | 3,500 | Disbanded |
| Beloyarsky
|
Palace of Sports | 450 | Possibly disbanded | |
| Novosibirsk
|
Unknown | - | Disbanded | |
| Almetyevsk
|
Yubileyny Sports Palace | 2,000 | Changed name to Sputnik; joined the MHL in 2012 as farm club of Neftyanik (Almetyevsk) (VHL) | |
| Progress Glazov | Glazov
|
4,300 | Joined the NMHL (then MHL-B) in 2014; became farm club of Izhstal (Izhevsk) (VHL) | |
| Rubin Tyumen-2 | Tyumen
|
Sports Palace Tyumen | 3,300 | Unknown |
| Shakhtyor Prokopyevsk | Prokopyevsk
|
Snowflake Sports Complex | 3,150 | Due to financial problems, the club decided to go to the Siberian Student Hockey League in 2013 |
| Slavutych Smolensk | Smolensk
|
Ice Palace SGAFKST | 1,080 | Left league in 2017 due to financial problems |
| Sokol Novocheboksarsk | Novocheboksarsk
|
LD Sokol | 3,000 | Disbanded |
| Zarechny
|
Sports Palace Soyuz | Unknown | Possibly disbanded | |
| THK Tver | Tver
|
1,980 | Joined the VHL in 2012; later declared bankruptcy and ceased in 2017 | |
| Noyabrsk
|
KSK Fakel | Unknown | Disbanded | |
| Yantar Seversk | Seversk
|
SK North | Unknown | Withdrew from league after 2011-12 season; later disbanded due to financial issues in 2013-14 |
| Orsk
|
Unknown | - | Disbanded | |
| Zauralje Kurgan-2 | Kurgan
|
2,500 | Changed name to Junior and became a youth team joining the MHL and then the NMHL (then MHL-B) in 2012; currently still member of the league |
Champions[]
|
- [*]: Both losing semifinalists received bronze medals
- [NK]: Result not known
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "Оптимизация МХЛ поможет возродить РХЛ". Sports.ru. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
External links[]
- VHL-B Official website
- Inter-Regional Coordinating Council Siberia–Far East, responsible for the Siberia–Far East Division of Pervaya Liga
- Inter-Regional Coordinating Council Northwest, responsible for the Northwest Division of Pervaya Liga
- Inter-Regional Coordinating Council Povolzhye, responsible for the Povolzhye Division of Pervaya Liga
- Inter-Regional Coordinating Council Ural–West Siberia, responsible for the Ural–West Siberia Division of Pervaya Liga
- Euro Hockey
- Russian Hockey League
- Ice hockey leagues in Russia
- Third tier ice hockey leagues in Europe
- Sports leagues in Russia
- Professional sports leagues in Russia