Night Hockey League

The Night Hockey League (NHL) is a Russian amateur sports organization, established on December 15, 2011, at the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, along with some former hockey players.
 
Putin has participated in a special Night Hockey League Gala Match six times since 2012. He has played in every gala match since 2014, scoring 27 goals in five games.Putin hits ice at Night Hockey League match in Sochi
==Competition Setup==
The league is divided into four divisions - Amateur 40+, 18+ Amateur League Dreams, 18+ Amateur League Hopes, and a women's division, called "Amazon". 
The competitions are held for the purpose of development and promotion of hockey in Russia. The league features a general administration and 68 regional offices.
Each year, the NHL holds the All-Russian Festival of Ice Hockey Amateur Championship, which includes the regional qualifying competition and final tournament, which since 2013 has been held in Sochi at the Olympic facilities.
The Night League is divided into nine conferences on a geographical basis: "Moscow", "St. Petersburg", "Center", "North-West", "Ural", "Volga Region", "Siberia", "South and North Caucasus", and "Far East". Since 2015, the winner of the most prestigious NHL division, the 40+ championship, have been awarded the Krutov Cup, named after the famous hockey star, Vladimir Krutov. 
Competitions are held in three phases in accordance with the official rules of the competition, approved by the Ministry of Sports Russia:
*Stage I - the competition in the municipalities of the Russian Federation
*Stage II - the competition among teams of municipalities in the region of the Russian Federation;
*Stage III - All-Russian final competition (May, Sochi). 
Despite the amateur status of the competition, matches are held with officials, in three periods of 20 minutes each, with medical support, and broadcast on local television and on the Internet.
==Regional Championships==
This is a list of regional competitions organized under the Night Hockey League umbrella: 
Region 	Division 	Team	Players
Altai region 	Amateur 40+ 	4 	71
Altai region 	18+ Amateur League Dreams	4 	93
Altai region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	3 	44
Amur region 	Amateur 40+ 	5 	78
Amur region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	5 	87
Arhangelsk region 	Amateur 40+ 	5 	102
Arhangelsk region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	6 	126
Belgorod region 	Amateur 40+ 	4 	70
Belgorod region 	18+ Amateur League Dreams	5 	93
Belgorod region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	5 	110
Bryansk region 	Amateur 40+ 	6 	125
Vladimir region 	Amateur 40+ 	6 	119
Vladimir region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	4 	84
Vologda Region 	Amateur 40+ 	4 	72
Vologda Region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	3 	60
Voronezh region 	Amateur 40+ 	11 	185
Voronezh region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	7 	131
Transbaikal region 	Amateur 40+ 	4 	52
Irkutsk region 	Amateur 40+ 	4 	70
Irkutsk region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	6 	104
Kaliningrad region 	Amateur 40+ 	5 	107
Kaliningrad region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	7 	140
Kamchatka Krai 	Amateur 40+ 	9 	144
Kamchatka Krai 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	4 	59
Kemerovo region 	Amateur 40+ 	6 	121
Kemerovo region 	18+ Amateur League Dreams	6 	122
Kemerovo region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	10 	235
Kirov region 	Amateur 40+ 	3 	66
Kirov region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	3 	71
Kostroma region 	Amateur 40+ 	8 	152
Kostroma region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	5 	79
Krasnodar region 	Amateur 40+ 	10 	183
Krasnodar region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	10 	234
Krasnoyarsk region 	Amateur 40+ 	7 	136
Kurgan region 	Amateur 40+ 	4 	74
Kurgan region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	4 	87
Kursk region 	Amateur 40+ 	4 	70
Kursk region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	4 	70
Lipetsk region 	Amateur 40+ 	5 	87
Lipetsk region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	6 	105
Magadan Region 	Amateur 40+ 	6 	75
Moscow 	Amateur 40+ 	10 	239
Moscow 	18+ Amateur League Dreams	8 	126
Moscow 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	67 	1445
Moscow region 	Amateur 40+ 	14 	288
Moscow region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	40 	953
Murmansk region 	Amateur 40+ 	5 	91
Nenets 	Amateur 40+ 	3 	39
Nenets 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	3 	41
Nizhny Novgorod Region 	Amateur 40+ 	6 	103
Novosibirsk region 	Amateur 40+ 	4 	85
Novosibirsk region 	18+ Amateur League Dreams	5 	93
Omsk region 	Amateur 40+ 	8 	174
Orenburg region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	5 	100
Oryol Region 	Amateur 40+ 	6 	106
Penza region 	Amateur 40+ 	8 	141
Perm Krai 	Amateur 40+ 	7 	119
Perm Krai 	18+ Amateur League Dreams	3 	50
Primorsky Krai 	Amateur 40+ 	8 	192
Primorsky Krai 	18+ Amateur League Dreams	8 	102
Pskov region 	Amateur 40+ 	8 	154
Altai Republic 	Amateur 40+ 	3 	38
Republic of Bashkortostan 	Amateur 40+ 	12 	277
Republic of Bashkortostan 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	8 	201
The Republic of Karelia 	Amateur 40+ 	3 	62
Mari El Republic 	Amateur 40+ 	6 	108
The Republic of Mordovia 	Amateur 40+ 	5 	42
Saha Republic 	Amateur 40+ 	4 	67
Saha Republic 	18+ Amateur League Dreams	4 	63
Republic of Tatarstan 	Amateur 40+ 	7 	159
Republic of Tatarstan 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	6 	105
Republic of Udmurtia 	Amateur 40+ 	7 	157
Republic of Udmurtia 	18+ Amateur League Dreams	3 	58
Republic of Udmurtia 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	9 	196
The Republic of Khakassia 	Amateur 40+ 	6 	98
The Republic of Khakassia 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	2 	28
Chuvash Republic 	Amateur 40+ 	6 	139
Rostov region 	Amateur 40+ 	4 	73
Ryazan Oblast 	Amateur 40+ 	16 	340
Samara Region 	Amateur 40+ 	10 	197
Samara Region 	18+ Amateur League Dreams	6 	102
Samara Region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	8 	158
Saratov region 	Amateur 40+ 	5 	106
Sakhalin region 	Amateur 40+ 	8 	146
Sakhalin region 	18+ Amateur League Dreams	8 	157
Sakhalin region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	5 	78
Sverdlovsk region 	Amateur 40+ 	5 	125
Sverdlovsk region 	18+ Amateur League Dreams	4 	86
Smolensk region 	Amateur 40+ 	6 	108
Stavropol region 	Amateur 40+ 	5 	97
Stavropol region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	6 	115
Tambov Region 	Amateur 40+ 	8 	154
Tver region 	Amateur 40+ 	5 	72
Tver region 	18+ Amateur League Dreams	3 	65
Tver region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	6 	123
Tula region 	Amateur 40+ 	4 	77
Tula region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	14 	325
Tyumen region 	Amateur 40+ 	6 	104
Tyumen region 	18+ Amateur League Dreams	6 	104
Tyumen region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	5 	89
Ulyanovsk region 	Amateur 40+ 	6 	111
Khabarovsk region 	Amateur 40+ 	3 	64
Khabarovsk region 	18+ Amateur League Dreams	5 	69
Khabarovsk region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	5 	103
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area (Yugra)	Amateur 40+ 	6 	134
Chelyabinsk region 	Amateur 40+ 	6 	149
Chelyabinsk region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	4 	98
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug 	Amateur 40+ 	6 	114
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug 	18+ Amateur League Dreams	4 	77
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	6 	128
Yaroslavl region 	Amateur 40+ 	8 	153
Yaroslavl region 	18+ Amateur League Dreams	1 	16
Yaroslavl region 	18+ Amateur League hopes 	20 	407
 	Total: 	777 	15356
 
==Champions==
The following are the winners of the 40+ Amateur Division:
*2012: Centurion (Chelyabinsk)
*2013: Kazan Dragons
*2014: Neoplan (Yekaterinburg)
*2015: Nevsky Legion (St. Petersburg)
*2016: Auto (Yekaterinburg)
*2017: Stalker (Moscow)
*2018: Flagship Vsevolozhsk (Leningrad region)
*2019: Skon-Ural (Yekaterinburg)
*2020: not awarded
*2021: Monolith (Nizhny Novgorod)
*2022: SV Metal (Yekaterinburg)
*2023: Wolfram (Vostok)
The following are the winners of the 50+ Amateur Division (awarded the Bobrov Cup):
*2022: HC Lampovo (Druzhnogorskoye)
*2023: Galva (Perm)
The following are the winners of the 18+ Division:
*2013: Viking (Perm)
*2014: Gorvodokanal (Novosibirsk)
*2015: Monolith (Nizhny Novgorod)
*2016: Dreams League: Oilman (Jalil), Hopes League: Aizovets (Yuzhnouralsk)
*2017: Dreams League: Forge (Novokuznetsk), Hopes League: Beat (Chelyabinsk)
*2018: Dreams League: Wolfram B (Vostok Primorsky Krai), Hopes League: Timerkhan (Bogatye Saby)
*2019: Dreams League: Mars Volkhov (Leningrad region), Hopes League: Wolfram A (Vostok Primorsky Krai)
*2020: not awarded
*2021: Dreams League: LHC Wolfram (Sosnovka, Vologda region), Hopes League: LHK SV Metal (Yekaterinburg)
*2022: Dreams League: Avtoreal (Miass, Chelyabinsk region), Hopes League: Druzhina (Moscow)
*2023: Dreams League: Avtoreal (Miass, Chelyabinsk region), Hopes League: Tungsten-A (Vostok)
The winners of the Dreams and Hopes Leagues have been awarded the Dream Cup and the Hope Cup, respectively, since 2018.
The following are the winners of the Intercontinental Bank Cup "Ugra"
*2015: Three Rivers (Montreal, Canada)
The following are the winners of the Champions Cup Night Hockey League "Ugra"
*2015: Neoplan (Yekaterinburg)
The following are the winners of the World Cup
*2013: Nevsky Legion (St. Petersburg)
*2014: Centurion (Chelyabinsk)
*2015: Neoplan (Yekaterinburg)
==Photos==
Putin Group 2015.jpg|Vyacheslav Fetisov, Vladimir Putin, and Sergei Shoigu, at a May 16, 2015 match in Sochi.
NHL Liga Awards 2015.jpg|The awards ceremony for the Nevsky legion, 2015 champions.
Putin hockey.jpg|Vladimir Putin on the ice.
==References==
 
==External links==
*About the League
*League Statistics
Category:Ice hockey leagues