# 1996–97 Russian Superleague season

The 1996–97 Russian Superleague season was the first season of the Russian Superleague, the top level of ice hockey in Russia. 26 teams participated in the league, and Torpedo Yaroslavl won the championship.

## First round
### Western Conference

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1. | Ak Bars Kazan | 24 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 77 | 40 | 37 |
| 2. | Torpedo Yaroslavl | 24 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 65 | 31 | 36 |
| 3. | HC CSKA Moscow | 24 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 58 | 58 | 29 |
| 4. | Krylya Sovetov Moscow | 24 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 83 | 61 | 27 |
| 5. | HC Dynamo Moscow | 24 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 60 | 55 | 27 |
| 6. | HC Spartak Moscow | 24 | 11 | 3 | 10 | 62 | 63 | 25 |
| 7. | Khimik Voskresensk | 24 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 65 | 63 | 24 |
| 8. | Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk | 24 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 47 | 49 | 24 |
| 9. | Severstal Cherepovets | 24 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 56 | 59 | 22 |
| 10. | SKA St. Petersburg | 24 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 46 | 59 | 19 |
| 11. | Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod | 24 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 47 | 64 | 16 |
| 12. | Dizelist Penza | 24 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 52 | 81 | 15 |
| 13. | Kristall Elektrostal | 24 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 44 | 79 | 11 |

### Eastern Conference

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1. | HC Lada Togliatti | 24 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 116 | 43 | 42 |
| 2. | Rubin Tyumen | 24 | 15 | 3 | 6 | 81 | 61 | 33 |
| 3. | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | 24 | 15 | 3 | 6 | 81 | 50 | 33 |
| 4. | Avangard Omsk | 24 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 75 | 47 | 31 |
| 5. | Salavat Yulaev Ufa | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 83 | 58 | 29 |
| 6. | Traktor Chelyabinsk | 24 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 60 | 56 | 26 |
| 7. | Kristall Saratov | 24 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 76 | 87 | 21 |
| 8. | Metallurg Novokuznetsk | 24 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 65 | 81 | 20 |
| 9. | CSK VVS Samara | 24 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 65 | 72 | 19 |
| 10. | HC Sibir Novosibirsk | 24 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 62 | 106 | 18 |
| 11. | Amur Khabarovsk | 24 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 62 | 84 | 17 |
| 12. | Spartak Yekaterinburg | 24 | 6 | 1 | 17 | 68 | 104 | 13 |
| 13. | Molot-Prikamye Perm | 24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 50 | 95 | 10 |

## Final round

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1. | HC Lada Togliatti | 38 | 30 | 3 | 5 | 146 | 63 | 63 |
| 2. | Ak Bars Kazan | 38 | 25 | 5 | 8 | 113 | 78 | 55 |
| 3. | Torpedo Yaroslavl | 38 | 24 | 6 | 8 | 120 | 62 | 54 |
| 4. | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | 38 | 23 | 4 | 11 | 134 | 91 | 50 |
| 5. | Avangard Omsk | 38 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 126 | 84 | 45 |
| 6. | HC Dynamo Moscow | 38 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 105 | 88 | 41 |
| 7. | Salavat Yulaev Ufa | 38 | 17 | 6 | 15 | 116 | 97 | 40 |
| 8. | Rubin Tyumen | 38 | 17 | 5 | 16 | 114 | 106 | 39 |
| 9. | Krylya Sovetov Moscow | 38 | 17 | 4 | 17 | 112 | 105 | 38 |
| 10. | Severstal Cherepovets | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 95 | 92 | 38 |
| 11. | Traktor Chelyabinsk | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 82 | 95 | 35 |
| 12. | Khimik Voskresensk | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 97 | 114 | 34 |
| 13. | HC CSKA Moscow | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 83 | 104 | 34 |
| 14. | Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 65 | 85 | 33 |
| 15. | Kristall Saratov | 38 | 14 | 4 | 20 | 102 | 125 | 32 |
| 16. | CSK VVS Samara | 38 | 14 | 4 | 20 | 85 | 114 | 32 |
| 17. | HC Spartak Moscow | 38 | 13 | 5 | 20 | 95 | 119 | 31 |
| 18. | SKA St. Petersburg | 38 | 8 | 7 | 23 | 85 | 116 | 23 |
| 19. | Metallurg Novokuznetsk | 38 | 7 | 8 | 23 | 77 | 122 | 22 |
| 20. | HC Sibir Novosibirsk | 38 | 8 | 5 | 25 | 78 | 170 | 21 |

## Playoffs

| First round | First round | First round | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | HC Lada Togliatti | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | CSK VVS Samara | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | CSK VVS Samara | 0 | 1 | HC Lada Togliatti | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Rubin Tyumen | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Rubin Tyumen | 2 | 8 | Rubin Tyumen | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Krylya Sovetov Moscow | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Krylya Sovetov Moscow | 0 | | | | 1 | HC Lada Togliatti | 2 | | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | 1 | | | | |
| 4 | HC Avangard Omsk | 2 | | | | | | | 4 | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | 1 | | | | |
| 13 | Khimik Voskresensk | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 13 | Khimik Voskresensk | 0 | 5 | HC Avangard Omsk | 1 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 4 | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | 2 | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | 2 | 4 | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | 2 | | | | | | | |
| 10 | HC CSKA Moscow | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | HC CSKA Moscow | 0 | | | | | | | | 1 | HC Lada Togliatti | 0 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Torpedo Yaroslavl | 3 |
| 3 | Torpedo Yaroslavl | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Torpedo Yaroslavl | 3 |
| 14 | Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk | 0 | 3 | Torpedo Yaroslavl | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | HC Dynamo Moscow | 0 | | | | | | | |
| 6 | HC Dynamo Moscow | 2 | 6 | HC Dynamo Moscow | 0 | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Traktor Chelyabinsk | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Traktor Chelyabinsk | 0 | | | | 3 | Torpedo Yaroslavl | 2 | | | | |
| | | | | | | 7 | Salavat Yulaev Ufa | 0 | | | | |
| 7 | Salavat Yulaev Ufa | 2 | | | | | | | 7 | Salavat Yulaev Ufa | 0 | | | | |
| 10 | Severstal Cherepovets | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Severstal Cherepovets | 1 | 7 | Salavat Yulaev Ufa | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 15 | Kristall Saratov | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Ak Bars Kazan | 1 | 15 | Kristall Saratov | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 15 | Kristall Saratov | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
3rd place: Metallurg Magnitogorsk − Salavat Yulaev Ufa 1:2

## Relegation

| | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1. | Amur Khabarovsk | 36 | 23 | 3 | 10 | 125 | 76 | 49 |
| 2. | Kristall Elektrostal | 36 | 21 | 7 | 8 | 117 | 86 | 49 |
| 3. | HC Mechel Chelyabinsk | 36 | 21 | 5 | 10 | 107 | 78 | 47 |
| 4. | HC CSKA Moscow | 36 | 21 | 4 | 11 | 115 | 90 | 46 |
| 5. | Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod | 36 | 17 | 5 | 14 | 103 | 88 | 39 |
| 6. | Dizelist Penza | 36 | 14 | 3 | 19 | 93 | 107 | 31 |
| 7. | Neftyanik Almetyevsk | 36 | 11 | 6 | 19 | 79 | 100 | 28 |
| 8. | HC Lipetsk | 36 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 111 | 128 | 28 |
| 9. | Spartak Yekaterinburg | 36 | 10 | 6 | 20 | 96 | 125 | 26 |
| 10. | Molot-Prikamye Perm | 36 | 6 | 5 | 25 | 57 | 125 | 17 |