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Russian Major League (Vysshaya Liga)

Countries	Russia
Founded	1992
Folded	2010
No. of teams	27
Promotion to	Russian Superleague
Relegation to	Pervaya Liga
Associated Title(s)	Bratina Cup
Recent Champions	Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk (2009–10)
Most successful club	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (3)
Website	http://www.fhr.ru

The Russian Major League or Vysshaya Liga (Russian: Высшая лига чемпионата России по хоккею с шайбой, 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 league in Russia.

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

Champions

• 1992–93 – CSK VVS Samara
• 1993–94 – CSK VVS Samara
• 1994–95 – Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
• 1995–96 – Amur Khabarovsk
• 1996–97 – (West) CSKA Moscow / (East) HC Mechel
• 1997–98 – (West) HC Lipetsk / (East) Neftyanik Almetyevsk
• 1998–99 – Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
• 1999–00 – Neftyanik Almetyevsk
• 2000–01 – Spartak Moscow
• 2001–02 – Sibir Novosibirsk
• 2002–03 – Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
• 2003–04 – Molot-Prikamye Perm
• 2004–05 – HC MVD
• 2005–06 – Traktor Chelyabinsk
• 2006–07 – Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
• 2007–08 – Khimik Voskresensk
• 2008–09 – Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk
• 2009–10 – Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk

Establishment of the VHL

In 2010, it became known that the Vysshaya Liga was to be replaced with the KHL–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 was also established.

External links

• Official Page
• League schedule and standings

v t e Supreme Hockey League
Conference 1 Conference 2 Division A Dynamo MO Dinamo Saint Petersburg Humo Tashkent Khimik KRS-BSU ORG Beijing SKA-Neva Tsen Tou Jilin City Zvezda Chekhov Division B Bars Kazan Buran Voronezh Dizel Penza Lada Togliatti HC Rostov Torpedo-Gorky Nizhny Novgorod HC Ryazan HC Tambov CSK VVS Samara Division C Chelmet Chelyabinsk Gornyak Miner Uchaly Izhstal Izhevsk Molot-Prikamye Perm Neftyanik Almetyevsk Toros Neftekamsk Yuzhny Ural Orsk Zauralie Kurgan   Division D Metallurg Novokuznetsk Nomad Nur-Sultan Rubin Tyumen Saryarka Karagandy Sokol Krasnoyarsk Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk HC Yugra Yermak Angarsk
Former teams	Ariada Volzhsk Dynamo Balashikha HC Donbass HC Kuban HC Lipetsk Kristall Saratov Krylya Sovetov Lokomotiv Yaroslavl HC Sarov Sputnik Nizhny Tagil THK Tver Titan Klin Yunost Minsk Zvezda-VDV Dmitrov
VL seasons	1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
VHL seasons	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Related articles	Russian Superleague (top-level, 1996–2008) Kontinental Hockey League (top-level, from 2008) Petrov Cup (trophy for the winner)

• Sports leagues established in 1992
• Sports leagues disestablished in 2010
• Defunct ice hockey leagues in Russia
• 1992 establishments in Russia
• 2010 disestablishments in Russia
• Russian Major League