The Russian Open Hockey Championship (), also known as the Championship of Russia in ice hockey (), is an annual ice hockey award and national title, bestowed by the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia to the professional hockey organization judged to have the best performing team in Russia.
The Russian Championship (formerly Soviet Championship) has acted as the national ice hockey title of Russia since 1946. The Cup of Russia acted as an independent league title awarded in the Russian Hockey League first in 1997âÂÂ98, before being merged with the Russian Championship. The recipient team of the Cup is awarded an engraved trophy, whereas the top-3 finalists of the Russian Championship are awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals. During the existence of the Russian Championship, several separate league trophies have been handed out intermittently, including the Soviet Cup (USSR), IHL Cup, and currently the Gagarin Cup (KHL).
Historically the title of Champion of Russia was awarded to the club with the best record in the regular season; but the last such case was in 2014âÂÂ15 KHL season. Starting from the 2015âÂÂ16 KHL season, the Russian Championship is awarded to the highest-ranked Russian team of the playoffs. 2019âÂÂ20 KHL season was prematurely ended due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe, and medals were awarded based on performance of clubs in the regular championships and in first round of the Gagarin Cup playoffs.
Until 2011âÂÂ12 KHL season, non-Russian KHL teams were also eligible for Russian Championship. The winner of the regular season receives the Continental Cup (Russian: ÃÂÃÂñþú ÃÂþýÃÂøýõýÃÂð, Kubok Kontinenta).
Starting from 2024âÂÂ25 season, the rights for organization of the Russian Championships were granted to the All-Russian Hockey League (VHL) instead of KHL.
CSKA Moscow has won the most national titles, with 37, and Soviet Cups, with 12.
bold â club is currently member of KHL
italics â indicates club does not exist anymore
<sup>[*]</sup> â non-Russian based club