# 1996–97 Vysshaya Liga season

The 1996–97 Vysshaya Liga season was the fifth season of the Vysshaya Liga, the second level of ice hockey in Russia. 17 teams participated in the league. CSKA Moscow won the Western Conference, and Metchel Chelyabinsk won the Eastern Conference. UralAZ Miass won the Cup competition.

## First round
### Western Conference

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1. | HC CSKA Moscow | 32 | 24 | 3 | 5 | 143 | 59 | 51 |
| 2. | HC Lipetsk | 32 | 23 | 2 | 7 | 140 | 67 | 48 |
| 3. | HC Voronezh | 32 | 20 | 4 | 8 | 112 | 65 | 44 |
| 4. | Olimpiya Kirovo-Chepetsk | 32 | 19 | 4 | 9 | 115 | 82 | 42 |
| 5. | Avangard Tambov | 32 | 12 | 2 | 18 | 68 | 119 | 26 |
| 6. | Motor Zavolzhye | 32 | 10 | 5 | 17 | 75 | 110 | 25 |
| 7 | Izhorets St. Petersburg | 32 | 9 | 4 | 19 | 62 | 103 | 22 |
| 8. | Khimik Engels | 32 | 7 | 7 | 18 | 74 | 107 | 21 |
| 9. | Gornyak Olenogorsk | 32 | 3 | 3 | 26 | 50 | 127 | 9 |

### Eastern Conference

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1. | Mechel Chelyabinsk | 28 | 21 | 2 | 5 | 112 | 61 | 44 |
| 2. | Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk | 28 | 20 | 1 | 7 | 148 | 77 | 41 |
| 3. | Neftyanik Almetyevsk | 28 | 17 | 4 | 7 | 92 | 64 | 38 |
| 4. | UralAZ Miass | 28 | 17 | 2 | 9 | 110 | 63 | 36 |
| 5. | Kedr Novouralsk | 28 | 8 | 4 | 16 | 70 | 110 | 20 |
| 6. | Progress Glazov | 28 | 6 | 4 | 18 | 52 | 117 | 16 |
| 7 | Izhstal Izhevsk | 28 | 6 | 3 | 19 | 67 | 116 | 15 |
| 8. | Metallurg Serov | 28 | 6 | 2 | 20 | 66 | 109 | 14 |

## Second round
### Western Conference

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1. | HC Voronezh | 52 | 34 | 5 | 13 | 185 | 98 | 73 |
| 2. | Olimpiya Kirovo-Chepetsk | 52 | 31 | 8 | 13 | 182 | 120 | 70 |
| 3. | Motor Zavolzhye | 52 | 16 | 11 | 25 | 129 | 166 | 43 |
| 4. | Izhorets St. Petersburg | 52 | 16 | 9 | 27 | 115 | 156 | 41 |
| 5. | Avangard Tambov | 52 | 18 | 2 | 32 | 105 | 201 | 38 |
| 6. | Khimik Engels | 52 | 12 | 9 | 31 | 106 | 178 | 33 |

### Eastern Conference

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1. | UralAZ Miass | 48 | 32 | 4 | 12 | 205 | 116 | 68 |
| 2. | Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk | 48 | 32 | 3 | 13 | 217 | 128 | 67 |
| 3. | Metallurg Serov | 48 | 15 | 5 | 28 | 124 | 162 | 35 |
| 4. | Kedr Novouralsk | 48 | 15 | 5 | 28 | 119 | 192 | 35 |
| 5. | Izhstal Izhevsk | 48 | 14 | 7 | 27 | 135 | 168 | 35 |
| 6. | Progress Glazov | 48 | 8 | 6 | 34 | 99 | 222 | 22 |

### Cup

| First round | First round | First round | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | | Final | Final | Final |
| O1 | UralAZ Miass | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | – | | O1 | UralAZ Miass | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | PL | Yantar Seversk | 0 | | | | | | | |
| PL | Yantar Seversk | 2 | PL | Yantar Seversk | 0 | | | | | | | |
| O6 | Progress Glazov | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| O6 | Progress Glazov | 0 | | | | O1 | UralAZ Miass | 2 | | | | |
| | | | | | | PL | Progress Solikamsk | 1 | | | | |
| O4 | Kedr Novouralsk | 0 | | | | | | | PL | Progress Solikamsk | 1 | | | | |
| PL | Progress Solikamsk | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| PL | Progress Solikamsk | 2 | PL | Progress Solikamsk | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | O3 | Metallurg Serov | 0 | | | | | | | |
| O3 | Metallurg Serov | 2 | O3 | Metallurg Serov | 0 | | | | | | | |
| O5 | Izhstal Izhevsk | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| O5 | Izhstal Izhevsk | 0 | | | | | | | | O1 | UralAZ Miass | 3 |
| | | | | | | | | | | W2 | Olimpiya Kirovo-Chepetsk | 1 |
| W1 | HC Voronezh | | | | | | | | | | | | W2 | Olimpiya Kirovo-Chepetsk | 1 |
| | – | | W1 | HC Voronezh | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | PL | Avangard Tambov | 0 | | | | | | | |
| W5 | Avangard Tambov | 2 | PL | Avangard Tambov | 0 | | | | | | | |
| W4 | Izhorets St. Petersburg | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| W4 | Izhorets St. Petersburg | 0 | | | | W1 | HC Voronezh | 2 | | | | |
| | | | | | | W2 | Olimpiya Kirovo-Chepetsk | 0 | | | | |
| PL | Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod II | 0 | | | | | | | W2 | Olimpiya Kirovo-Chepetsk | 0 | | | | |
| W2 | Olimpiya Kirovo-Chepetsk | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| W2 | Olimpiya Kirovo-Chepetsk | 2 | W2 | Olimpiya Kirovo-Chepetsk | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | W3 | Motor Zavolzhye | 0 | | | | | | | |
| W3 | Motor Zavolzhye | 2 | W3 | Motor Zavolzhye | 0 | | | | | | | |
| PL | Lada Togliatti II | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |