HC CSKA Moscow

History

The club was founded in 1946 as CDKA (Centralnyy Dom Krasnoy Armii – Central House of the Red Army, referring to the Army community centre in Moscow). It was known as CDSA (with Red Army changed to Soviet Army) from 1952 – 1954, as CSK MO (Central Sports Club of the Ministry of Defense) from 1955 – 1959, and acquired its current name in 1960.

As a hockey powerhouse

CSKA won 32 Soviet regular season championships during the Soviet League's 46-year existence, far and away the most in the league's history; no other team won more than five. This included all but six from 1955 to 1989 and 13 in a row from 1977 to 1989. By comparison, no NHL no team has won more than five Stanley Cups in a row since the NHL took de facto control of the trophy in 1926, and no team has had the best regular season record in any format more than seven years in a row.

CSKA was just as dominant in the European Cup. They won all but two titles from 1969 to 1990, including 13 in a row from 1978 to 1990. The team's first coach was Anatoli Tarasov, who would later become famous as the coach of the Soviet national team. Tarasov coached the Red Army Team, either alone or with co-coaches, for most of the time from 1946 to 1975. The team's greatest run came under Viktor Tikhonov, who was coach from 1977 to 1996—serving for most of that time as coach of the national team.

The Red Army Team was able to pull off such a long run of dominance because during the Soviet era, the entire CSKA organization was a functioning division of the Soviet Armed Forces via the Ministry of Defence. As all able-bodied Soviet males had to serve in the military, the team was able to literally draft the best young hockey players in the Soviet Union onto the team. All players were commissioned officers in the Soviet Army. There was a substantial overlap between the rosters of the Red Army Team and the Soviet national team, which was one factor behind the Soviets' near-absolute dominance of international hockey from the 1950s through the early 1990s. By the late 1980s, however, the long run of Red Army dominance caused a significant dropoff in attendance throughout the league.

One of the most feared lines in hockey history was the KLM Line of the 1980s. The name came from the last names of the three players, Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov, and Sergei Makarov. Together with defensemen Viacheslav Fetisov and Alexei Kasatonov, they were known as the Green Unit because they wore green jerseys in practice. The five-man unit formed a dominant force in European hockey throughout the decade. All five players were later permitted to go to the NHL in 1989, with mixed results. Krutov had the shortest NHL career, lasting only one season in Vancouver; Makarov (who won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1990) and Kasatonov were out of the NHL by 1997; Fetisov and Larionov won the Stanley Cup twice together with Detroit before Fetisov retired in 1998; Larionov would win a third Cup with Detroit in 2002, before retiring from New Jersey in 2004.

CSKA and the NHL

CSKA played 36 games against NHL teams from 1975 to 1991 and finished with a record of 26 wins, 8 losses, and 2 ties. 34 of these games were played in Super Series, including the tour of North America in 1975/1976. The Super Series also introduced eventual Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Vladislav Tretiak of the CSKA squad to North American ice hockey fans. On New Year's Eve 1975, CSKA played the Montreal Canadiens, widely regarded as the league's finest team (and that year's eventual Stanley Cup winners). The game ended with a 3–3 draw, but was widely hailed as one of the greatest games ever played.

Another memorable game was played on 11 January 1976 against the Philadelphia Flyers, who at the time were the defending Stanley Cup Champions and were known as the "Broad Street Bullies" for their highly physical play. The game was notable for an incident where, after a body check delivered by Philadelphia's Ed Van Impe, the CSKA's top player, Valeri Kharlamov (like Tretiak eventually a Hall of Famer), was left prone on the ice for a minute. CSKA coach Konstantin Loktev pulled his team off the ice in protest that no penalty was called. They were told by NHL president Clarence Campbell to return to the ice and finish the game, which was being broadcast to an international audience, or the Soviet Hockey Federation would not get paid the fee that they were entitled to. They eventually complied and lost the game 4–1.

CSKA Moscow alumni have made a large impact on the NHL. In the mid-1990s, Sergei Fedorov, Vladimir Konstantinov, and Vyacheslav Kozlov had established themselves as key members of the Detroit Red Wings when they were joined by Fetisov and Larionov, forming the Russian Five. These five players would play an integral role in the Wings' consecutive Stanley Cup championships in 1997 and 1998. Dmitri Mironov joined the 1998 squad, following Konstantinov's career-ending injury on 13 June 1997; since Konstantinov was kept on the roster despite his injury, the 1998 squad marks the largest contingent of CSKA veterans (six) to win the Stanley Cup.

Post-Soviet history

During the late 80s and early 90s, CSKA's position significantly weakened. After a conflict with Tikhonov, CSKA major stars including Fetisov, Larionov, Krutov and Makarov left the team to make their careers in the NHL. During the 90s they were followed by younger talents like Mogilny, Bure, Fedorov and Samsonov.

CSKA Moscow played a series of exhibitions games, and an all-star game with the American Hockey Association as part of the 1992–93 season.

For a time in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was briefly unofficially known as "the Russian Penguins" after the Pittsburgh Penguins bought an interest in the team. The Russian Penguins played 13 games in the International Hockey League as part of the 1993–94 IHL season.

In 1996 after a conflict with management of the club, Tikhonov created his own separate team called HC CSKA that spent two seasons in the Russian Superleague and eventually reunited with the original CSKA in 2002.

In the KHL

Although CSKA has remained one of the strongest teams in Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it did not win a title in the KHL or its predecessors until 2015, when the club finished first in the regular season and became Russian champion for the first time in a long time, but failed to win the Gagarin Cup. From 2008 to 2015, the team did not advance past the conference semifinals of the Gagarin Cup playoffs; they missed the playoffs altogether in 2011. In the 2015–16 season, the team advanced all the way to the Gagarin Cup final; however, they lost that series to Metallurg Magnitogorsk in seven games. In the 2018–19 season, CSKA won its first Gagarin Cup, after beating Avangard Omsk in four games.

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Swedes Joakim Nordstrom and Lucas Wallmark elected to leave the team. Having lost the 2021 Gagarin Cup final to Avangard Omsk, CSKA returned to the final in 2022 to win its second Gagarin Cup against Metallurg Magnitogorsk. in 2023, CSKA went back to back, winning the Gagarin Cup in 7 games against Ak Bars Kazan.

CSKA has a major rivalry against SKA Saint Petersburg, referred to as the Army Derby.

Honours

Domestic competitions

Soviet League Championship (32, record): 1947–48, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89

USSR Cup (12, record): 1954, 1955, 1956, 1961, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1977, 1979, 1988

Vysshaya Liga Championship (1): 1996–97

Russian Championship (5): 2014–15, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22, 2022–23

Kontinental Hockey League

Gagarin Cup (3, shared record): 2019, 2022, 2023

Continental Cup (6, record): 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21

Opening Cup (2): 2015–16, 2022–23

International

Intercontinental Cup (1): 1971–72

IIHF European Cup (20, record): 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990

Spengler Cup (1): 1991

Pajulahti Cup (1): 2005

Pre-season

Hockeyades (Vallée de Joux) (2): 2017, 2018

Moscow Mayor Cup (4): 2010, 2011, 2013, 2017

Season-by-season KHL record

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTW = Overtime/shootout wins; OTL = Overtime/shootout losses; Pts = Points; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against

Head coaches

Until the fall of communism, all coaches held the rank of colonel in the Soviet Army.

Players

Current roster

Updated 13 September 2026.

Retired numbers

CSKA have retired four numbers in their history:

Hall-of-Famers

Players

Pavel Bure, LW, 1987–91, inducted 2012

Sergei Fedorov, C, 1986–90, inducted 2015

Viacheslav Fetisov, D, 1978–89, 2009; inducted 2001

Valeri Kharlamov, LW, 1967–81, inducted 2005

Igor Larionov, C, 1981–89, inducted 2008

Sergei Makarov, RW, 1978–89, inducted 2016

Vladislav Tretiak, G, 1968–84, inducted 1989

Sergei Zubov, D, 1988–93, inducted 2019

Alexander Mogilny, RW, 1986–89, inducted 2025

Builders

Anatoli Tarasov, Coach, 1947–60, 1961–70, 1970–74; inducted 1974

IIHF Hall-of-Famers

Players

Builders

Anatoli Tarasov, Coach, 1947–60, 1961–70, 1970–74; inducted 1997

Viktor Tikhonov, Coach, 1977–96, 2002–04; inducted 1998

Triple Gold Club

Players

Viacheslav Fetisov, D, 1978–89, 2009; inducted 7 June 1997, Stanley Cup win vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Alexei Gusarov, D, 1984–91, inducted 10 June 1996, Stanley Cup win vs. Florida Panthers

Valeri Kamensky, LW, 1985–91, inducted 10 June 1996, Stanley Cup win vs. Florida Panthers

Igor Larionov, C, 1981–89, inducted 7 June 1997, Stanley Cup win vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Vladimir Malakhov, D, 1988–92, inducted 10 June 2000, Stanley Cup win vs. Dallas Stars

Alexander Mogilny, RW, 1986–89, inducted 10 June 2000, Stanley Cup win vs. Dallas Stars

Pavel Datsyuk, C, 2012–13, inducted 25 February 2018, Olympic gold win vs. Germany

First-round draft picks

2009: Mikhail Pashnin (1st overall)

2010: none

2011: Alexander Timirev (3rd overall), Mikhail Grigorenko (8th overall)

2012: Nikita Zadorov (4th overall), Vladislav Boiko (6th overall), Andrei Filonenko (18th overall), Sergei Tolchinsky (28th overall)

2013: Maxim Tretiak (12th overall), Ivan Nikolishin (29th overall)

List of CSKA players selected in the NHL Amateur Draft

1978: Viacheslav Fetisov (Montreal Canadiens) (201st overall)

List of CSKA players selected in the NHL entry draft

1982: Viktor Zhluktov (Minnesota North Stars) (143rd overall)

1983: Vladislav Tretiak (Montreal Canadiens) (138th overall), Viacheslav Fetisov (New Jersey Devils) (145th overall), Alexei Kasatonov (New Jersey Devils) (225th overall), Sergei Makarov (Calgary Flames) (231st overall)

1985: Igor Larionov (Vancouver Canucks) (214th overall)

1986: Vladimir Krutov (Vancouver Canucks) (238th overall)

1987: Igor Vyazmikin (Edmonton Oilers) (252nd overall)

1988: Alexander Mogilny (Buffalo Sabres) (89th overall), Valeri Kamensky (Quebec Nordiques) (129th overall)

1989: Sergei Fedorov (Detroit Red Wings) (74th overall), Pavel Bure (Vancouver Canucks) (113th overall), Sergei Starikov (New Jersey Devils) (152nd overall), Vyacheslav Bykov (Quebec Nordiques) (169th overall), Andrei Khomutov (Quebec Nordiques) (190th overall), Vladimir Konstantinov (Detroit Red Wings) (221st overall), Evgeny Davydov (Winnipeg Jets) (235th overall)

1990: Sergei Zubov (New York Rangers) (85th overall), Vyacheslav Butsayev (Philadelphia Flyers) (109th overall), Andrei Kovalenko (Quebec Nordiques) (148th overall)

1991: Igor Kravchuk (Chicago Blackhawks) (71st overall), Dmitri Motkov (Detroit Red Wings) (98th overall), Oleg Petrov (Montreal Canadiens) (127th overall), Evgeny Belosheikin (Edmonton Oilers) (232nd overall)

1992: Sergei Krivokrasov (Chicago Blackhawks) (12th overall), Boris Mironov (Winnipeg Jets) (27th overall), Dmitri Starostenko (New York Rangers) (120th overall), Artur Oktyabrev (Winnipeg Jets) (155th overall)

Stanley Cup Winners

Players

Builders

Vyacheslav Fetisov, assistant coach, 1978–89, 2009, won 2000

Note: Only counts if the players or builders have played for CSKA before the NHL.

Olympic Champions

Players

Builders

Anatoly Tarasov, Coach, 1947–60, 1961–70, 1970–74, champion 1964, 1968, 1972

Viktor Tikhonov, Coach, 1977–96, 2002–04, champion 1984, 1988, 1992

Igor Nikitin, Coach, 2014–21, champion 2018

Canada Cup Winners

Players

Builders

Viktor Tikhonov, Coach, 1977–96, 2002–04, won 1981

NHL Awards

Hart Trophy (NHL MVP)

Sergei Fedorov, C, 1986–90, 1993–94

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

Alexander Mogilny, RW, 1986–89, 2002–03

Calder Memorial Trophy

Pavel Bure, LW, 1987–91, 1991–92

Sergei Makarov, RW, 1978–89, 1989–90

Sergei Samsonov, LW, 1994–96, 1997–98

Kirill Kaprizov, LW, 2017–20, 2020–21

Ted Lindsay Award

Sergei Fedorov, C, 1986–90, 1993–94

Frank J. Selke Trophy

Sergei Fedorov, C, 1986–90, 1993–94, 1995–96

NHL Plus-Minus Award

Vladimir Konstantinov, D, 1984–91, 1995–96

Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy

Pavel Bure, LW, 1987–91, 1999–00, 2000–01

Note: Only counts if the players or builders played in the CSKA before the NHL.

All-Star game

Players

Note: Only counts if the players or builders has played in the CSKA before NHL.

Players

Konstantin Barulin, G, 2008–10, 2009

Pavel Datsyuk, C, 2012–13, 2013

Denis Denisov, D, 1996–97, 2012–17, 2014

Mikhail Grabovski, C, 2012–13, 2013

Konstantin Korneyev, D, 2006–10, 2009, 2010

Denis Parshin, LW, 2003–12, 2010

Nikolai Prokhorkin, LW, 2010–12, 2012–15, 2014

Alexander Radulov, RW, 2012–16, 2013, 2014

Oleg Saprykin, LW, 2004–05, 2007–09, 2009

Sergei Shirokov, RW, 2004–09, 2011–13, 2012

Builders

Vyacheslav Bykov, assistant coach, 2004–09, 2009

Igor Zakharkin, assistant coach, 2008–09, 2009

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten-point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed Soviet/CIS/IHL/RUS 2/RSL/KHL regular season.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game

Awards and trophies

Soviet / Russian MVP

Scoring Champion

Goal Scoring Champion

Soviet / Russian League First Team

Best Line

Best Rookie