Channel One Cup (ice hockey)

The Channel One Cup (Russian: Кубок Первого канала, formerly Izvestia Trophy) is an annual ice hockey event held in Russia under the auspices of Channel One. It is an open tournament typically composed of various national teams.

The tournament started in 1967 on November 30 in the Soviet Union. The first edition of the tournament was held in honour of the 50th anniversary of the Soviet state. Six teams participated in that tournament; two Soviet teams, two Czechoslovak teams, a Canadian team and a Polish team. Swedish and Western German teams declined the invitation.^[1]

It has typically been held every year in December in Moscow. No matches were held in the capital in 2013 and 2014, when most of the games were held in Sochi; in 2023 and 2024, when the tournament was held in Saint Petersburg; in 2025, when the tournament was held in Novosibirsk; and in 1991, when the tournament was not held at all due to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In 1967, some games were held in Leningrad and Voskresensk. In 1992, Moscow and Saint Petersburg split the tournament's hosting. Saint Petersburg also hosted one game each in 2018 and 2019.

The 2002, 2005–2019, and 2021 tournaments each featured one game held outside of Russia. They were hosted in various cities in the Czech Republic, Finland, and Sweden. The tournament during the 1974/1975 season had a different format, with games spread out during the season since September to March (except October and January) and equally divided between the USSR, Sweden, Finland, and Czechoslovakia.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the cup was often commonly referred to as "The Little World Championships". From 1996 to 2021 it was part of the Euro Hockey Tour.

In 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the tournament was removed from the Euro Hockey Tour.^[2] To replace the countries that had pulled out, Kazakhstan made its tournament debuts, and Belarus played in the tournament alongside a Russian team.^[3][4]

The name of the tournament has changed several times during its history:

• International Ice Hockey Tournament (1967^[5][6]–1968^[7])^[1][8]
• Izvestia Trophy (1969–1996)
• Baltica Brewery Cup (1997–2003)
• Rosno Cup (2004–2005)
• Channel One Cup (2006–present)

Final standings in the most events are determined in a round-robin tournament. If teams are tied in points, the standing is determined by the result of the game between the tied teams.

In 1974-1975 there was a sextuple round-robin tournament^[9].

In 1980, 1981, 1997 there were a final and the 3rd place game^[10][11][12].

In 1992, 1993 and 1994 there were two groups instead of a round-robin tournament and there were a final and the 3rd place game. In 1992 and 1994 there were also the 5th place game and the 7th place game^[13][14][15].

In 2017 six teams played three matches each in the group tournament^[16].

In 2021 Russia played four matches, while the other teams played three matches each. Places were determined based on a percentage of points scored^[17].

In 1967 the USSR and Czechoslovakia teams were divided arbitrary into the first and the second teams — the strongest players were simply spread between them^[68]. Canada was represented by the Eastern branches team^[69].

In 1968 the USSR II team was consisted from young promising players^[70].

In 1971 Sweden was represented by Sweden B national team "Vikings"^[22].

In 1990 and 1992 Czechoslovakia represented Czech and Slovak Federative Republic instead Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.

In 1992 and 1993 Russia II team was also named as Olympic Russia national team^[71][72].

In 1995 Finland was represented by Finland B national team^[39].

In 2023, 2024 and 2025 the Russia 25 team included players over 25 years old and did not use the U25 designation^[73][74][75].

In 2023 Stars and VHL team included Russian players from VHL and KHL^[76].

In 2024 World Team KHL team included foreign players from KHL^[77].

• Izvestia Trophy (in Russian)
• Channel One Cup (in Russian)
• Channel One Cup website on fhr.ru