abstract
| - The Russian Open Hockey Championship (Russian: Открытый Чемпионат России по хоккею, Otkrytyy Chempionat Rossii po khokkeyu), also known as the Championship of Russia in ice hockey (Russian: Чемпионат России по хоккею с шайбой, Chempionat Rossii po khokkeyu s shayboy), is an annual ice hockey award and national title, bestowed by the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia to the professional hockey organization judged to have the best performing team in Russia. The Russian Championship (formerly Soviet Championship) has acted as the national ice hockey title of Russia since 1946. The Cup of Russia acted as an independent league title awarded in the Russian Hockey League first in 1997, before being merged with the Russian Championship in 2000. The recipient team of the Cup is awarded an engraved trophy, whereas the top-3 finalists of the Russian Championship are awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals. During the existence of the Russian Championship, several separate league trophies have been handed out intermittently, including the Soviet Cup (USSR), IHL Cup, and currently the Gagarin Cup (KHL). In the KHL, both the Russian Championship & the Gagarin Cup are awarded to the winner of the playoffs regardless of the nationality of the club. Traditionally however, the title of Champion of Russia was awarded to the club with the best record in the regular season. Thus the Russian Championship had a similar role to the NHL's Presidents' Trophy, albeit the top three teams in the end of the regular season received medals instead of only the team with most points. The winner of the regular season receives the Continental Cup (Russian: Кубок Континента, Kubok Kontinenta). CSKA Moscow has won the most national titles, with 32, and Soviet Cups, with 12. Thus far, Ak Bars Kazan has won the most Cups of Russia, with 4.
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