Who won the Gagarin Cup?

The first week of the 2025/26 season of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) has passed. RBC Sport tells about all the final series of the Gagarin Cup and the trophy winners. Hockey players and Lokomotiv head coach Igor Nikitin after winning the Gagarin Cup

The Continental Hockey League (KHL) was officially founded in September 2008 for clubs in Russia and countries in Europe and Asia. The KHL replaced the Russian Super League.

All winners of the Gagarin Cup:

2009 - Ak Bars (Kazan)
2010 - Ak Bars (Kazan)
2011 - Salavat Yulaev (Ufa)
2012 - Dynamo ( Moscow )
2013 - Dynamo (Moscow)
2014 - Metallurg (Magnitogorsk)
2015 - SKA ( St. Petersburg )
2016 - Metallurg (Magnitogorsk)
2017 - SKA (St. Petersburg)
2018 - Ak Bars (Kazan)
2019 - CSKA (Moscow)
2020 - The Cup was not played
2021 - Avangard (Omsk)
2022 - CSKA (Moscow)
2023 — CSKA (Moscow)
2024  — Metallurg (Magnitogorsk)
2025 — Lokomotiv (Yaroslavl)

Season 2008/09: Ak Bars - Lokomotiv - 4-3 (series score) 00:00 Advertisement 00:00 00:00 / 02:03 You can skip the advertisement in More details

The first finalists in the history of the league were Kazan's Ak Bars and Yaroslavl's Lokomotiv. To reach the final, Kazan beat Barys in the first round of the playoffs, then managed to beat Omsk's Avangard in a difficult series, and in the semi-finals they were stronger than Moscow's Dynamo. Yaroslavl, in turn, beat Neftekhimik, Spartak and Metallurg.

On Cosmonautics Day, the decisive seventh match was held in Kazan, determining the winner of the first Gagarin Cup. The fate of the match was decided by the only goal scored by forward Alexei Morozov in the middle of the third period. The match ended with a score of 1:0 in favor of Ak Bars.

The best scorer of the 2009 Gagarin Cup was Ak Bars forward Alexei Morozov, who scored 19 (8+11) points in 21 games. His teammate, Finn Jukka Hentunen, won the playoff sniper race, scoring 9 goals in 21 games.

Season 2009/10: HC MVD - Ak Bars - 3–4

The following season, the Kazan club, under the leadership of Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, again found itself in the final of the Gagarin Cup, beating Barys, Magnitogorsk Metallurg, and in the semi-finals, beating the winner of the regular championship, Salavat Yulaev.

In the final, Kazan's Ak Bars' opponent was HC MVD, a club that existed from 2004 to April 2010 and was based primarily in Balashikha. In the 2009/10 season, the team was led by Oleg Znarok, under whose leadership HC MVD won victories over Moscow CSKA, Riga Dynamo and Yaroslavl Lokomotiv.

The Kazan team started the final series confidently, winning two matches in a row, but later unexpectedly encountered resistance from HC MVD, losing three matches. The turning point was the sixth meeting in Kazan, where Ak Bars crushed the opponent with a score of 7:1, and in the decisive match won dry (2:0) and won the second consecutive Gagarin Cup. For HC MVD, the season ended with a merger with Moscow Dynamo, and the club ceased to exist independently.

Then the best scorer of the Gagarin Cup was Salavat Yulaev forward Alexander Radulov, who scored 19 (8+11) points in 16 matches. The best sniper of the playoffs was Alexey Ugarov from HC MVD, who scored nine goals in 22 matches.

Season 2010/11: Salavat Yulaev - Atlant - 4-1

The Ufa Salavat Yulaev team led by Vyacheslav Bykov made it to the finals, beating Sibir, Ak Bars and Metallurg. The other finalist was Atlant from the Moscow region, which was led by Milos Riha during the season, having beaten Severstal, SKA and Lokomotiv in the playoffs.

In the Gagarin Cup final, the Ufa team was much stronger than its opponent, and the series ended in the fifth game at home with a score of 3:2. For Salavat Yulaev, the trophy was the first and so far the only one, and Mytishchi's Atlant stopped playing in the Kontinental Hockey League a few years later due to financial problems.

The best scorer of the 2011 Gagarin Cup was Lokomotiv forward Josef Vasicek, who scored 22 (7+15) points in 18 games. The best sniper of the playoffs was Metallurg Magnitogorsk forward Gleb Klimenko, who scored 10 goals in 20 games.

Season 2011/12: Avangard - Dynamo (Moscow) - 3-4

In 2012, Moscow Dynamo won the Gagarin Cup for the first time under the leadership of Oleg Znarok. In the first round of the playoffs, the Muscovites beat Minsk Dynamo without scoring, then Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo and St. Petersburg SKA. In the final series, Znarok's team met Omsk Avangard under the leadership of Finnish coach Raimo Summanen. On the way to the final, the Omsk club met Khabarovsk Amur, Magnitogorsk Metallurg and Chelyabinsk Traktor, losing only two matches.

The 2012 final series was dramatic: after an even start (1–1), Avangard unexpectedly won twice in Moscow, finding itself one step away from victory. However, before the fifth game, Omsk's leading defenseman Anton Belov was suspended due to doping, which affected the team. Without him, Avangard lost three games, and Dynamo snatched victory in the series. In the seventh game, the winning goal was scored by Czech hockey player Jakub Klepiš, who had previously played for Avangard. The match ended with a score of 1–0.

After the match, Omsk fans, throwing bottles, coins and various paraphernalia, prevented Dynamo players from making a lap of honour with the trophy.

In the 2012 Gagarin Cup, the top scorer was Roman Cervenka of Avangard, who scored 21 points (11 goals + 10 assists) in 20 games. Mikhail Anisin of Dynamo Moscow was named the top scorer of the playoffs, scoring 14 goals in 21 games.

Season 2012/13: Dynamo Moscow - Traktor - 4-2

In the 2012/13 season, Dynamo Moscow dominated the Kontinental Hockey League and reached the finals again. In the Western Conference, they were unable to put up any worthy resistance against Slovan Bratislava, CSKA and SKA.

In the final, Dynamo's opponent was Chelyabinsk's Traktor, led by Valery Belousov. The Chelyabinsk team's path to the final was not easy: in the 1/8 finals, they barely beat Barys in the seventh, decisive match. In the next stage, Traktor confidently beat Avangard, and in the semi-finals they again met serious resistance and were only able to snatch victory from Ak Bars in the seventh match.

In a tense final series, Dynamo was leading Traktor 3-1. The Chelyabinsk team managed to win the fifth game, but in the sixth game, Muscovites' forward Alexei Tsvetkov scored the winning goal in overtime (3-2). This goal became the first in the history of the KHL finals to bring victory in overtime. Thanks to this, Dynamo became the second club to win the Gagarin Cup twice.

The top scorer of the 2013 Gagarin Cup was Finnish forward Petri Kontiola from Traktor, who scored 19 points (10 goals + 9 assists) in 25 games. SKA forward Viktor Tikhonov was recognized as the top sniper of the playoffs, he scored 10 goals in 15 games.

Season 2013/14: Metallurg (Magnitogorsk) — Lev — 4–3

The 2014 Gagarin Cup final was the first to feature a foreign team, Prague's Lev. This playoff was also the most international in KHL history: Lev, led by Finn Kari Jalonen, beat Croatia's Medvescak and Ukraine's Donbass, and Lokomotiv in the conference final.

Under the leadership of Canadian specialist Mike Keenan, Magnitogorsk Metallurg confidently passed all rounds of the playoffs, beating Admiral (4:1 in the series), Sibir (4:0) and Salavat Yulaev (4:1).

The final of that season was distinguished by high scoring and entertainment due to the large number of goals scored in each match. In the decisive, seventh game, Metallurg defeated Lev with a score of 7:4 and became the owner of the Gagarin Cup for the first time.

Then the top scorer was Sergei Mozyakin from Metallurg, who scored 33 points (13 goals + 20 assists) in 21 games. The top snipers of the playoffs with 13 goals were Mozyakin and Canadian forward of Lev Justin Azevedo.

Season 2014/15: Ak Bars - SKA - 1-4

In the 2014/15 season, head coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov returned to Ak Bars, which immediately led to the Kazan club reaching the final of the Gagarin Cup. On the way to the final, the team won against Avtomobilist, Avangard and Sibir.

Under the leadership of Vyacheslav Bykov, SKA reached the KHL final for the first time, confidently beating Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo and Moscow Dynamo. In the third round of the playoffs, losing to Moscow CSKA (0-3 in the series), the Petersburgers made a historic comeback, becoming the first Russian team to win a series after such a deficit.

The expected intense battle in the Gagarin Cup final between Ak Bars and SKA did not happen. Having lost once in the series, SKA triumphantly finished it in the fifth match, defeating Ak Bars with a score of 6:1 and winning the Gagarin Cup. This trophy was the second for Vyacheslav Bykov.

The top scorer that season was Alexander Radulov of CSKA, who scored 21 points (8 goals + 13 assists) in 16 games. SKA forward Evgeny Dadonov was the top sniper, scoring 15 goals in 22 games.

Season 2015/16: CSKA - Metallurg (Magnitogorsk) - 3-4

In 2016, CSKA and Metallurg met in the Gagarin Cup final. CSKA was the favorite, as it confidently won the championship and easily advanced to the playoffs, and then to the final. Magnitogorsk Metallurg, with head coach Ilya Vorobyov, also managed to reach the final series, albeit with difficulty.

In the first match, CSKA won a convincing victory, but Metallurg was able to turn the tide of the series. The seventh match was held in Moscow and ended with a 3:1 victory for the Magnitogorsk club. Forward Evgeny Timkin made a decisive contribution to the victory, scoring two goals. Metallurg became a two-time winner of the Gagarin Cup, and Ilya Vorobyov became the youngest coach to win this trophy (at that time, the specialist was 41 years old).

Magnitogorsk Metallurg forward Sergei Mozyakin became the top scorer of the 2016 Gagarin Cup, scoring 25 points (11 goals and 14 assists) in 23 games. He also became the top sniper.

Season 2016/17: SKA - Metallurg (Magnitogorsk) - 4-1

In 2017, the two Gagarin Cup winners met in the final. St. Petersburg SKA, led by Oleg Znarok, confidently passed the playoffs, without encountering serious resistance from Vityaz, Minsk Dynamo and Lokomotiv. A similar situation developed for Magnitogorsk Metallurg, which suffered only one defeat on the way to the final, beating Kunlun Red Star, Barys and Ak Bars.

The first match of the final series was productive: the teams scored nine goals between them. SKA won the opening game, but Metallurg quickly bounced back, tying the series. In St. Petersburg, the home team won both home games. As a result, SKA won the fifth game with a score of 5:3, winning its second Gagarin Cup.

In 2017, Metallurg's Czech forward Jan Kovar became the Gagarin Cup's top scorer, scoring 25 points (10+15) in 18 games. His teammate Danis Zaripov became the playoff's top scorer, scoring 15 goals in 18 games.

Season 2017/18: CSKA - Ak Bars - 1–4

Under Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, Ak Bars confidently reached the final in 2018, confidently beating Amur, Metallurg and Traktor, losing only two matches (one each in the series with the Khabarovsk and Magnitogorsk clubs). CSKA also did not experience any serious difficulties, beating Spartak, Finnish Jokerit and SKA.

The Gagarin Cup final series was dominated by Ak Bars. Having won both home games, the Kazan team later exchanged victories with CSKA in Moscow. Returning home with a 3-1 series lead, Bilyaletdinov's team won the Gagarin Cup, winning the decisive match thanks to the only goal by Canadian forward Rob Klinkhammer (1:0). Thus, Ak Bars became the first KHL club to win the league's main trophy three times.

The top scorer was Canadian forward of Ak Bars Justin Azevedo, who scored 24 points (9 goals + 15 assists) in 19 games. His teammate Stanislav Galiev won the sniper race, scoring 10 goals in 19 games.

Season 2018/19: CSKA - Avangard - 4-0

CSKA reached the Gagarin Cup final for the second year in a row, this time under the leadership of Igor Nikitin. The army club confidently won the quarterfinal series against Vityaz, then defeated Moscow Dynamo. In the semifinals, CSKA beat SKA in a tough fight with a score of 4:3 in the series.

CSKA's opponent was Omsk's Avangard, which also confidently beat Ak Bars, Barys and Salavat Yulaev.

In the final series, the Muscovites dominated from the first match (5:2), but the decisive game required maximum effort to win. The game went to overtime, where forward Maxim Mamin scored the winning goal, setting the final score at 3:2. CSKA became the winner of the Gagarin Cup for the first time, and also the first in the history of the KHL to win both the regular championship and the playoffs in the same season.

Also, for the first time in the history of the KHL, the winner of the Gagarin Cup was determined in just four games of the final series.

The top scorer of the 2019 Gagarin Cup was CSKA forward Mikhail Grigorenko, who scored 21 points (13 goals + 8 assists) in 20 games. Grigorenko also became the top sniper of the playoffs with 13 goals scored.

Season 2019/20: Final did not take place

In 2020, the Gagarin Cup became impossible to hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. The KHL regular championship was stopped at the first round of the playoffs.

Season 2020/21: CSKA - Avangard - 2–4

Avangard, led by Canadian coach Bob Hartley, reached the final after beating Avtomobilist, Metallurg and Ak Bars in the Gagarin Cup semifinals. The Omsk team's home arena in the 2020/21 season was temporarily the Sports Palace in Balashikha, Moscow Region, due to the construction of a new arena in Omsk.

The final opponent of the Omsk team was CSKA. The club, led by Igor Nikitin, won Spartak, Lokomotiv and SKA in the playoffs of that season.

The series started with a victory for Avangard, but CSKA quickly tied the score. As soon as CSKA took the lead, Avangard quickly fought back, and after four games the series was tied again — 2–2. In the fifth game, Avangard snatched victory in overtime, and the Omsk team won the final two games against the army club with a clean score (2:0, 1:0), winning the Gagarin Cup for the first time in their history.

Avangard forward Konstantin Okulov was named the top scorer of the 2020/21 playoffs, scoring 20 (6+14) points in 23 games. The title of the playoffs' top sniper was won by CSKA player Maxim Shalunov, who scored 12 goals in 22 games.

Season 2021/22: CSKA - Metallurg - 4-3

Because of the pandemiccovid-19 and the Olympic Games in Beijing, the KHL regular season in 2022 ended early, as a result of which the teams' standings were determined by the percentage of points scored.

CSKA became the finalist of the Gagarin Cup for the second time in a row, winning two series without scoring against Lokomotiv and Dynamo, and also beating SKA in the semi-finals. In the final, the Muscovites' opponent was Metallurg, which became the winner of the regular championship both in its conference and in the entire league, having scored 71 points. On the way to the final, Magnitogorsk Metallurg beat Barys and the current champion Avangard, and in the semi-finals, they defeated Traktor.

The meeting between CSKA and Metallurg in the Gagarin Cup final was the second in the history of the KHL - before that, the clubs played together in 2016, which was a victory for Metallurg.

Despite the fact that CSKA took the lead in the series after the first meeting, Metallurg won the next three games. The Muscovites managed to turn the tide of the final confrontation only in the fifth game, winning in overtime. After that, CSKA won the two remaining games (2:1, 4:1), finishing the series with a score of 4-3.

Metallurg's Canadian forward Philippe Maillet became the Gagarin Cup's top scorer, having scored 21 points in 23 games (8+13). Magnitogorsk's Canadian forward Brandon Leipsic was recognized as the top sniper, having scored 11 goals in 24 games.

Season 2022/23: CSKA - Ak Bars - 4-3

In the 2022/23 season, Moscow CSKA reached the Gagarin Cup final for the third time in a row. The army club, led by Sergei Fedorov, played in the playoffs with Severstal and Lokomotiv, and also beat SKA in the semi-finals.

Ak Bars changed its coach during the season: after a series of unsuccessful performances in the regular championship, Oleg Znarok was replaced by Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, who had previously led the Kazan club to victory in the Gagarin Cup three times. On the way to the final, Kazan's opponents were Neftekhimik, Admiral and Avangard.

The final series began with a victory for Ak Bars, but then CSKA took the initiative, winning three matches, including both away games. Having found themselves one step away from defeat, the Kazan team managed to even the score in the series and transfer it to the seventh match. However, in the decisive game, CSKA turned out to be stronger, winning with a score of 3:2 and becoming the owner of the Gagarin Cup for the third time.

CSKA forward Mikhail Grigorenko scored 25 (12+13) points in 27 games of the Gagarin Cup and became the tournament's top scorer. In addition, Grigorenko was recognized as the top sniper, demonstrating the result of 12 goals scored in 25 games.

Season 2023/24: Metallurg - Lokomotiv - 4-0

The final series of the 2023/24 season between Lokomotiv and Metallurg was the second confrontation between the teams in the Gagarin Cup playoffs. Previously, the clubs met in the semifinals of the 2008/09 season.

On the way to the Gagarin Cup final, Metallurg, led by Andrei Razin, beat Amur and Spartak, and in the semi-final series, they broke the resistance of Avtomobilist in seven games. In the playoffs, Lokomotiv, led by Igor Nikitin, beat CSKA, Avangard and Traktor, winning a clean sweep in the semi-final series against the Chelyabinsk team.

During the final series, Metallurg beat Lokomotiv 4-0 and became the winner of the Gagarin Cup for the third time (the last match ended with a score of 2-1). The team from Yaroslavl set an anti-record for the scoring of the Gagarin Cup finals in this series, scoring only three goals in four games.

At the end of the season, Avtomobilist forward Anatoly Golyshev became the top scorer of the playoffs with 18 (9+9) points in 16 games. The title of top sniper was awarded to Metallurg player Denis Zernov: he scored 12 goals in 23 games.

Season 2024/25: Lokomotiv - Traktor - 4-1

Lokomotiv performed consistently both in the regular championship and in the Gagarin Cup playoffs. On the way to the final, the Yaroslavl team confidently beat Torpedo, winning the series without a win. Later, they beat Avangard in a tense fight in the seventh match, and in the semifinals they had no particular problems with Salavat Yulaev.

For the first time in 12 years, Traktor, led by Canadian specialist Benoit Groux, reached the final. The Chelyabinsk club beat such rivals as Admiral, Minsk and Moscow Dynamo on its way to the final.

At the start of the final series, the Yaroslavl team lost to Traktor with a score of 2:1, and then won three games in a row with a good margin. In the fifth game of the series, Igor Nikitin's team met resistance from the Chelyabinsk team, which led to overtime, where the goal of the Yaroslavl forward Maxim Shalunov became decisive (2:1). The team became the owner of the Gagarin Cup for the first time, despite the fact that it reached the final three times (seasons 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2023/24).

Lokomotiv forward Alexander Radulov was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the KHL playoffs. In 21 playoff games, the 38-year-old hockey player scored 16 (7+9) points, taking fourth place in the list of top scorers. This result became a new KHL record for scoring for players over 37 years old in the playoffs.