SKA Saint Petersburg

SKA Saint Petersburg
CitySaint Petersburg, Russia
LeagueKHL
ConferenceWestern
DivisionBobrov
Founded1946
Home arenaSKA Arena
(capacity: 21,500)
ColoursRed, blue
   
Owner(s)Gazprom Export
PresidentGennady Timchenko
General managerDmitry Konstantinov[1]
Head coachRoman Rotenberg[1]
CaptainEvgeny Kuznetsov
AffiliatesSKA-Neva (VHL)
SKA-1946 (MHL)
SKA-Yunior Krasnogorsk (MHL)
Khors-Kareliya Kondopoga (MHL)
SKA-Kareliya Kondopoga (YHL)
Websiteska.ru
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Franchise history
Kirov LDO
1946–1953
ODO Leningrad
1953–1957
SKVO Leningrad
1957–1959
SKA Leningrad
1959–1991
SKA Saint Petersburg
1991–present
Current season

Hockey Club SKA (Russian: Хоккейный клуб СКА), often referred to as SKA Saint Petersburg and literally as the Sports Club of the Army, is a Russian professional ice hockey club based in Saint Petersburg. They are members of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The club never competed in a league final until the 2014–15 KHL season, where they defeated Ak Bars Kazan winning the Gagarin Cup. They won their second Gagarin Cup in 2017, defeating Metallurg Magnitogorsk. In 2012, with an average of 10,126 spectators, the SKA became the first Russian club ever to average a five-digit attendance.[2]

SKA is owned by Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom. The club used its immense wealth to gather almost all elite Russian KHL players under its umbrella to prepare them for the 2018 Winter Olympics. The success of Russian team in winning gold at the first Olympics since 1994 that did not feature any active NHL players were attributed to players' chemistry developed in SKA.[3]

In 2023, Roman Rotenberg, the General Manager of the Russian team, thanked Russian state-owned Gazprom for their contribution to Russia's victory at the 2018 Winter Olympics.[4]

  1. ^ a b "Ротенберг продлил контракт в качестве главного тренера СКА на пять лет". Sportrbc.ru (in Russian). 21 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Swiss club and Swedish league lead European attendance rankings". INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  3. ^ "Геннадий Тимченко: СКА – это базовый клуб сборной России, и ЦСКА – тоже". Sovetsky Sport. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  4. ^ Ротенберг о победе на Олимпиаде-2018: «Без «Газпрома» она была бы невозможной. Мы вернули многих игроков из НХЛ – за счет бюджета компании»