HC CSKA Moscow

For the whole sports club, see CSKA Moscow.

HC CSKA Moscow (, ) is a Russian ice hockey club that plays in the Kontinental Hockey League. It is referred to in the West as "Central Red Army" or the "Red Army Team" for its past affiliation with the Soviet Army, popularly known as the Red Army. HC CSKA Moscow won more Soviet championships and European cups than any other team in history.

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) in 1952 - 1954, as CSK MO (Central Sports Club of the Moscow Military District) in 1955 - 1959, and acquired its current name in 1960.

A Russian hockey powerhouse

CSKA won 32 Soviet regular season championships during the Soviet League's 46-year existence, including all but six from 1955 to 1989 and 13 in a row from 1977 to 1989.

CSKA was almost 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...
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