The Canada Cup was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The brainchild of Toronto lawyer Alan Eagleson, the tournament was created to meet demand for a true world championship that allowed the best players from participating nations to compete regardless of their status as professional or amateur. It was sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation, Hockey Canada and the National Hockey League. Canada won the tournament four times, while the Soviet Union captured the championship once. It was succeeded by the World Cup of Hockey in 1996.
Sandis Ozoliņš, commonly spelled Sandis Ozolinsh in North America, is a Latvian former professional ice hockey player and coach. During his career in North America, Ozoliņš was a seven-time NHL All-Star, Stanley Cup champion, and Norris Trophy finalist. He is also the all-time leader for goals, assists, points, and games played by a Latvian in the NHL and holds several Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks franchise records. Ozoliņš also the highest-paid sportsman in Latvian history, before NBA basketball player Andris Biedriņš succeeded him in 2008. He became the head coach of Dinamo in 2017.
Sergei Viktorovich Fyodorov is a Russian former professional ice hockey player and the former head coach of CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) from 2021 to 2024. During his playing career, for which he is best known for his 13 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, Fedorov was primarily a centre, but occasionally played as a winger or defenceman.
The Russian men's national ice hockey team is the national men's ice hockey team of Russia, overseen by the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia. As of 2021, they were rated third in the IIHF World Ranking. The team has competed internationally from 1992 until it was provisionally suspended in 2022, and is recognized by the IIHF as the successor to the Soviet Union team and CIS team. Russia has been one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six," the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, and the United States. The European nations of the Big Six participate in the Euro Hockey Tour, which Russia won nine times since 2005. Since September 2021, the head coach is Alexei Zhamnov, who took over from Valeri Bragin.
Darius Kasparaitis is a Lithuanian–American former professional ice hockey defenceman. He mainly played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche, and New York Rangers. He is a four-time Olympian and three-time medalist, winning one gold medal, one silver medal, and one bronze medal. He received the title of Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1992 and was inducted into the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame in 2016. His 28 career Olympic games is a record among Russian national team's players.
Alexander Valerievich Radulov is a Russian professional ice hockey player for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He had previously had two separate stints with the Nashville Predators, the NHL team which had drafted him, from 2006 to 2008 and again in 2012, as well one season with the Montreal Canadiens, five seasons with the Dallas Stars between 2016 and 2022, and eight seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), split evenly between Salavat Yulaev Ufa and CSKA Moscow from 2008 to 2016.
Metallurg Magnitogorsk is a professional ice hockey team based in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. They are members of the Kharlamov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League. They also competed in the Champions Hockey League, losing the 2008–09 season championship round to Swiss club, the ZSC Lions.
Hockey Club Lokomotiv, also known as Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, is a Russian professional ice hockey team, based in the city of Yaroslavl, playing in the top level Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The name of the team is derived from its owner, Russian Railways, the national railroad operator.
Hockey Club Salavat Yulaev, commonly referred as Salavat Yulaev Ufa, is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Ufa. They are members of the Chernyshev Division of the Kontinental Hockey League.
Alexei Alekseyevich Morozov is the president of the Kontinental Hockey League and a Russian former professional ice hockey player.
Traktor Chelyabinsk, also known as Traktor, is a professional ice hockey team based in Chelyabinsk, Russia. They are members of the Kharlamov Division of the Eastern Conference of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). From 1967 to 2009 the team played their home games at the Yunost Sport Palace. In 2009 the team moved to the arena now called Traktor Ice Arena named after Valery Belousov, their present home arena in Chelyabinsk.
Nigel Alexander Dawes is a Canadian-Kazakhstani former professional ice-hockey winger. He played 212 games in 5 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Phoenix Coyotes, Calgary Flames, Atlanta Thrashers, and Montreal Canadiens.
Professional ice hockey (hockey) is the competition of ice hockey in which participants are paid to play. Professional competition began in North America in the United States—in Pennsylvania and Michigan—and in Canada around 1900. Professional ice hockey expanded across Canada and the United States and eventually to many other countries. There are major leagues around the world, including the National Hockey League in North America, the Kontinental Hockey League in Europe and Asia, and the Swedish Hockey League in Europe, as well as minor leagues such as the American Hockey League and ECHL in North America, and the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey in Canada. High-level professional hockey is also present in Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland and Switzerland; professional hockey is also played in many other countries, as diverse as Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Austria, Australia and Japan. The major professional women's league is the Professional Women's Hockey League, which began play in 2024.
Viktor Vasilievich Tikhonov is a Russian former professional ice hockey forward. Tikhonov was originally selected 28th overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, by the Phoenix Coyotes. After several years in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Coyotes, Tikhonov moved to the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in Russia, where he spent four years with SKA St. Petersburg. In 2015, he returned to the NHL, signing a contract with the Chicago Blackhawks, appearing in 11 games for them before he was claimed on waivers by the Coyotes.
The Victoria Cup was series of games played between professional ice hockey teams from Europe and the North American National Hockey League (NHL). The event was held twice, in 2008 and 2009.
The Kontinental Hockey League 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.
Andrei Anatolyevich Miezin is a Belarusian ice hockey coach and a retired goaltender.
The 2011–12 KHL season was the fourth season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The regular season began with the Opening Cup game on 7 September 2011, but because of the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash, which occurred during the first period of the Cup game and killed all but one member of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team, further play was delayed until 12 September 2011. The tragedy forced Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to cancel their participation in the KHL season. The Opening Cup was renamed the Lokomotiv Cup in honor of those lost in the tragedy. The regular season ended on 26 February 2012 and the following playoffs ended on 25 April.
Vsevolod Vladimirovich Kukushkin is a Russian journalist, writer and ice hockey administrator. He has written for Komsomolskaya Pravda, TASS, RIA Novosti and Sport Express. He traveled with the Soviet Union national ice hockey team as both a journalist and translator, and reported on ice hockey at the Olympic Games, the Ice Hockey World Championships and Canada Cup tournaments. His other work includes published books and television screenplays. As an ice hockey administrator he sat on International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) committees, and acted as a press secretary for the Russian Superleague and its successor the Kontinental Hockey League. He received the Paul Loicq Award in 2000 from the IIHF for contributions to international ice hockey.
PostFinance-Arena, Bern 
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 
New York Rangers 
Arena Riga 
