Ak Bars Kazan

Ak Bars Kazan

Full name	Hockey Club Ak Bars
Founded	1956
Based In	Kazan, Russia
Arena	TatNeft Arena (Capacity: 8,900)
League	Kontinental Hockey League
Division	Kharlamov
Conference	Eastern
Team Colors
Affiliates	Bars Kazan (VHL) Neftyanik Almetievsk (VHL) Irbis Kazan (MHL)
Website	www.ak-bars.ru

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Hockey Club Ak Bars (Russian: Ак Барс, Tatar Cyrillic: Ак Барс|Aq Bars, English: Snow Leopard), also known as Ak Bars Kazan, is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Kazan, Tatarstan. They are a member of the Kontinental Hockey League.

The team's name, Ak Bars, is derived from the official symbol of Tatarstan, translated as Snow Leopard, a traditional symbol which has its origins with the Barsil, one of the Tatar tribes.

History

One of Ak Bars logos.

Originally founded as Mashstroy Kazan in 1956, the name was later changed to SC Uritskogo Kazan when it entered the Soviet Class B league in 1958. It was promoted to Soviet Class A2, where it gained promotion to the top tier of Soviet hockey. Kazan's performance was respectable, starting the season by winning 6 out of 19 games against the best of the Soviet teams before falling away in the second half of the season and was demoted.

From this point onward, SC Uritskogo Kazan established a reputation as a consistently strong team in the second tier leagues of the USSR. Renowned as a high scoring team, Kazan averaged over four goals a game throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Twice they won the USSR League (lower tiers), being named Champion of Russia in 1962 and 1976.

SC Uritskogo Kazan's most successful period occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The team was led by Russia's Sergei Stolbun; scoring ace Gennady Maslov (current coach of Ak Bars-2 Kazan), who enjoyed a short stint with the Soviet Wings and set a club record of 140 points in 76 games in 1982–83; and Ravil Shavaleev, who was regarded as one of the finest defenseman to ever come out of Tatarstan. During this period, Kazan was consistently among the top teams in the league but failed year after year to gain promotion to the top flight of Soviet hockey.

Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Uritskogo Kazan became Itil Kazan in 1990 and participated in the IHL. Itil was only mildly successful, narrowly avoiding relegation to the Vysshaya Liga in 1991 and 1992.

It was following the establishment of the Russian Superleague (RSL) in 1996 that the golden age of hockey in Tatarstan began. Renamed Ak Bars Kazan after the traditional symbol of the Tatars, the snow leopard. Benefiting from the resources boom in the Urals, Ak Bars began its history in fine form, finishing first in their respective divisions in 1997 and 1998 along with winning the RSL in 1998. During this period, Kazan lacked the high scoring of their predecessors but regardless continued to be a dominant team in Russian hockey, finishing runners-up in 2000 and 2002. During this period, Kazan developed players such as Denis Arkhipov and Danis Zaripov.

In the 2004–05 season, Kazan signed 11 National Hockey League players, including Russian superstars Alexei Kovalev and Ilya Kovalchuk and Canadians Vincent Lecavalier and Dany Heatley, in an attempt to celebrate Kazan's 1000th anniversary with a championship. They did not succeed, however, as a lack of continuity and chemistry saw them finish in fourth place and were upset in the first round of the playoffs by Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.

Since then, Ak Bars Kazan dominated the RSL, winning the league in 2006 on the back of a brilliant performance from Aleksey Morozov. In 2007, Kazan paced the league with 35 wins and 214 goals in 54 games before falling at the final hurdle to Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

Ak Bars has been led in recent years by the dominant "ZZM" line of Sergei Zinovjev, Danis Zaripov, and Aleksey Morozov, who have established themselves as one of the most dominant lines in recent history. Combined with veterans such as Vitaly Proshkin and Vladimir Vorobiev, and imports, such as Ray Giroux, Petr Čajánek, and Jukka Hentunen, Kazan has remained one of the top teams in the league. However, they have been at times criticized for lacking consistency and relying too heavily on star players such as Morozov.

Ak Bars Kazan are strong rivals with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and the neighboring team of Salavat Yulaev Ufa. However, Ak Bars was the strongest rival with Dynamo Moscow in 1990s.

Honors

Champions

1 ! Russian Championship (5): 1997–98, 2005–06, 2008-09, 2009–10, 2017–18
1 ! Gagarin Cup (3): 2008-09, 2009–10, 2017–18
1 ! Opening Cup (3): 2009–10, 2020–21,2023–24
1 ! Russian Superleague (2): 1997–98, 2005–06
1 ! IIHF European Champions Cup (1): 2007
1 ! IIHF Continental Cup (1): 2007–08
1 ! Soviet Class A2 (3): 1962, 1985, 1989 (West)
1 ! Soviet Class B (1): 1976

Runners-up

1 ! Russian Championship (5): 1999-00, 2001-02, 2006-07, 2014-15, 2019-20
1 ! Gagarin Cup (2): 2014-15, 2022-23
1 ! Russian Superleague (3): 1999-00, 2001-02, 2006-07
1 ! Russian Championship (1): 2016-17
1 ! Gagarin Cup (1): 2016-17
1 ! Russian Superleague (1): 2003-04
1 ! IIHF Continental Cup (1): 1999-00

Season-by-season KHL record

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; Pts = Points; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; P = Playoff

Season	GP	W	L	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	Finish	Top Scorer	Playoffs
2008–09	56	36	10	3	122	189	123	1st, Chernyshev	Aleksey Morozov (71 points: 32 G, 39 A; 49 GP)	Gagarin Cup Champions, 4–3 (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
2009–10	56	25	18	2	96	159	128	2nd, Kharlamov	Aleksey Morozov (49 points: 26 G, 23 A; 50 GP)	Gagarin Cup Champions, 4–3 (HC MVD)
2010–11	54	29	12	3	105	181	133	1st, Kharlamov	Aleksey Morozov (56 points: 21 G, 35 A; 53 GP)	Lost in Conference Semifinals, 1–4 (Salavat Yulaev Ufa)
2011–12	54	27	19	1	92	167	136	3rd, Kharlamov	Aleksey Morozov (50 points: 21 G, 29 A; 53 GP)	Lost in Conference Semifinals, 2-4 (Traktor Chelyabinsk)
2012–13	52	28	10	3	104	157	112	1st, Kharlamov	Aleksey Morozov (38 points: 15 G, 26 A; 51 GP)	Lost in Conference Finals, 3–4 (Traktor Chelyabinsk)
2013–14	54	26	14	1	100	139	108	2nd, Kharlamov	Alexander Burmistrov (38 points: 10 G, 28 A; 54 GP)	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2-4 (Sibir Novosibirsk)
2014–15	60	34	14	0	120	169	115	1st, Kharlamov	Justin Azevedo (50 points: 17 G, 33 A; 58 GP)	Lost in Gagarin Cup Finals, 1-4 (SKA Saint Petersburg)
2015–16	60	31	20	9	96	143	127	2nd, Kharlamov	Justin Azevedo (53 points: 17 G, 36 A; 59 GP)	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3–4 (Salavat Yulaev Ufa)
2016–17	60	38	18	4	109	155	127	2nd, Kharlamov	Justin Azevedo (34 points: 13 G, 21 A; 54 GP)	Lost in Conference Finals, 0–4 (Metallurg Magnitogorsk)
2017–18	56	32	18	6	100	158	126	1st, Kharlamov	Jiri Sekac (42 points: 16 G, 26 A; 50 GP)	Gagarin Cup Champions, 4–1 (CSKA Moscow)
2018–19	62	38	18	6	82	165	139	3rd, Kharlamov	Jiri Sekac (47 points: 23 G, 24 A; 60 GP)	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 0–4 (Avangard Omsk)
2019–20	62	44	13	5	93	178	121	1st, Kharlamov	Justin Azevedo (37 points: 13 G, 24 A; 57 GP)	Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 4–0 (Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk) Playoffs cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21	60	41	11	8	90	185	131	1st, Kharlamov	Stéphane Da Costa (57 points: 27 G, 30 A; 52 GP)	Lost in Conference Finals, 3–4 (Avangard Omsk)
2021–22	48	30	12	6	66	129	109	3rd, Kharlamov	Dmitri Kagarlitsky (34 points: 12 G, 22 A; 46 GP)	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2–4 (Avangard Omsk)
2022–23	68	41	18	9	91	187	158	1st, Kharlamov	Alexander Radulov (57 points: 25 G, 32 A; 62 GP)	Lost in Gagarin Cup Finals, 3–4 (CSKA Moscow)
2023–24	68	41	25	2	84	175	140	2nd, Kharlamov	Vadim Shipachyov (44 points: 13 G, 31 A; 62 GP)	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1–4 (Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg)

External links

• (Russian) Ak Bars Kazan official site
• Ak Bars Kazan on http://www.eliteprospects.com/
• (Russian) Ak Bars Kazan on http://www.khl.ru/

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