The Russian Major League or Vysshaya Liga (, ''Supreme League of the Russian Ice Hockey Championship''), also referred as Higher League or Major League and commonly abbreviated as RUS-2, was a second level professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

league in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Season structure

The league consisted of two divisions (East and West) before 2008 and three divisions for the last two seasons. During 1997–2000 there was a relegation round where the strongest teams of the league played with the weakest RSL clubs for their place in the top division. In 2001–01 this system was replaced with a final round between the league teams only and starting with 2003–04 the Supreme League ultimately switched to playoffs. Its finalists were promoted to the RSL. In 2008, when the

Superleague Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

became defunct, the Supreme League that still was operating under the FHR authority got its own cup.

Champions

* 1992–93 –

CSK VVS Samara BC Samara () is a Russian professional basketball team based in Samara. History BC Samara (1976–2002) Club was founded in Tolyatti as BC Azot. Club was a silver medalist of the Russian Super League 1 in 1992, and a 3-time bronze medalist, ...

* 1993–94 –

* 1994–95 – Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk * 1995–96 –

Amur Khabarovsk Hockey Club Amur (), commonly referred to as the Amur Khabarovsk, is a professional ice hockey club based in Khabarovsk, Russia. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Located in the Russian Far East, th ...

* 1996–97 – ''(West)''

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

/ ''(East)'' HC Mechel * 1997–98 – ''(West)'' HC Lipetsk / ''(East)''

Neftyanik Almetyevsk Neftyanik Almetyevsk is an ice hockey team in Almetyevsk, Russia. They play in the VHL, the Supreme Hockey League, which is the second level of Russian ice hockey. History The club was founded in 1965 as Sputnik. In 1986, they were renamed Nefty ...

* 1998–99 –

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod () is a professional ice hockey club in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The team's home arena is Trade Union Sport Palace. The team used to play it ...

* 1999–00 –

* 2000–01 – Spartak Moscow * 2001–02 – Sibir Novosibirsk * 2002–03 –

* 2003–04 –

Molot-Prikamye Perm Molot-Prikamye Perm () is a professional ice hockey team based in Perm, Perm Krai, Russia. They are playing in the Supreme Hockey League The All-Russian Hockey League (VHL) (, ''Vserossiyskaya hokkeinaya liga (VHL)''), also known as the Majo ...

* 2004–05 –

HC MVD HC MVD () was a professional ice hockey club based in Balashikha, Moscow Oblast, Russia. They were members of the Tarasov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League. They are best known for winning the silver medal in the KHL backstopped by all star ...

* 2005–06 –

Traktor Chelyabinsk Traktor Chelyabinsk, also known as Traktor, or HC Traktor Chelyabinsk, () is a professional ice hockey club based in Chelyabinsk, Russia. It is a member of the Kharlamov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). From 1967 to 2009, the te ...

* 2006–07 –

* 2007–08 –

Khimik Voskresensk Hockey Club Atlant Moscow Oblast (, ) was a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Mytishchi, Moscow Oblast. They were members of the Bobrov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League in the 2014–15 KHL season, 2014–15 season, but have ...

* 2008–09 –

Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk Hockey Club Yugra (), is a professional ice hockey team based in Khanty-Mansiysk, Yugra, Russia. They currently play in the Supreme Hockey League, the second-highest league in Russia, and played in the Kontinental Hockey League from 2010 until 201 ...

* 2009–10 –

Establishment of the VHL

In 2010, it became known that the Vysshaya Liga was to be replaced with the

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

–affiliated Higher Hockey League (VHL) under a new ownership. Most of the Vysshaya Liga clubs re-signed with the new league in the summer of 2010. In 2010, the

Supreme Hockey League The All-Russian Hockey League (VHL) (, ''Vserossiyskaya hokkeinaya liga (VHL)''), also known as the Major Hockey League or Higher Hockey League (HHL), is a professional ice hockey league in Eurasia, and the second highest level of Russian hocke ...

was also established.

External links

Official PageLeague schedule and standings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Major League Sports leagues established in 1992 Sports leagues disestablished in 2010 Defunct ice hockey leagues in Russia 1992 establishments in Russia 2010 disestablishments in Russia