Opening Cup

The Opening Cup (Russian: Кубок Открытия, Kubok Otkrytiya), is the trophy awarded to the winner of the first game of every regular season of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). This match is played between the previous season's playoff champion (Gagarin Cup Winner) and the previous season's Continental Cup winner. The game is played on the home ice of the previous season's playoff champion.

Opening Cup

Sport	Ice hockey
Awarded for	Team winning the first game of the regular season of the Kontinental Hockey League
History
First award	2008
Most recent	CSKA Moscow

History

During the first season of the KHL, the match was played between the winner and runner-up of the 2007–08 playoffs of the Russian Superleague.

The Western Conference in the 2010 Opening Cup game was represented by UHC Dynamo because the 2009–10 Western Conference champion, HC MVD, merged with Dynamo Moscow to form the new team after the 2009–10 season.^[1] On September 10, 2011, three days after the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash disaster, the KHL head office decided to honor the deceased in the 2011 Opening Cup.^[2]

Winners

Key to colors

W	Western Conference member
E	Eastern Conference member
N/A	N/A, KHL conferences established during the second season of competition

Season	Match date	Previous season Gagarin Cup Winner		Previous season Continental Cup Winner[3]		Result	Venue	Ref
2008–09	2 September 2008	N/A	Salavat Yulaev Ufa	N/A	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	4–1	Ufa Arena, Ufa
2009–10	10 September 2009	E	Ak Bars Kazan	W	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	3–2 (OT)	TatNeft Arena, Kazan
2010–11	8 September 2010	E	Ak Bars Kazan	W	Dynamo Moscow[4]	1–3	TatNeft Arena, Kazan	[1]
2011–12	12 September 2011[5]	E	Salavat Yulaev Ufa	W	Atlant Moscow Oblast	5–3	Ufa Arena, Ufa
2012–13	4 September 2012	W	Dynamo Moscow	E	Avangard Omsk	3–2 (SO)	Megasport Arena, Moscow
2013–14	4 September 2013	W	Dynamo Moscow	E	Traktor Chelyabinsk	5–1	Minor Arena Luzhniki, Moscow
2014–15	3 September 2014	E	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	W	Dynamo Moscow[6]	6–1	Arena Metallurg, Magnitogorsk
2015–16	24 August 2015	W	SKA Saint Petersburg	W	CSKA Moscow	3–4 (OT)	Ice Palace, Saint Petersburg	[7]
2016–17	22 August 2016	E	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	W	CSKA Moscow	3–2	Arena Metallurg, Magnitogorsk
2017–18	21 August 2017	W	SKA Saint Petersburg	W	CSKA Moscow	4–2	Ice Palace, Saint Petersburg	[8]
2018–19	1 September 2018	E	Ak Bars Kazan	W	SKA Saint Petersburg	1–6	TatNeft Arena, Kazan
2019–20	1 September 2019	W	CSKA Moscow	E	Avangard Omsk[9]	1–3	CSKA Arena, Moscow
2020–21	2 September 2020	E	Ak Bars Kazan	W	CSKA Moscow[10]	3–2 (OT)	CSKA Arena, Moscow	[11]
2021–22	1 September 2021	E	Avangard Omsk	W	CSKA Moscow	4–0	Balashikha Arena, Balashikha
2022–23	1 September 2022	W	CSKA Moscow	E	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	6–2	CSKA Arena, Moscow
2023–24	1 September 2023	W	CSKA Moscow	E	Ak Bars Kazan	2–5	CSKA Arena, Moscow
2024–25	3 September 2024	E	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	W	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	2–3	Arena Metallurg, Magnitogorsk

Appearances

Apps	Team	Wins	Losses	Win %
8	CSKA Moscow	2	6	.250
5	Ak Bars Kazan	3	2	.600
4	Dynamo Moscow	3	1	.750
3	SKA Saint Petersburg	2	1	.667
3	Avangard Omsk	2	1	.667
3	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	2	2	.500
3	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	1	2	.333
2	Salavat Yulaev Ufa	2	0	1.000
1	Atlant Moscow Oblast	0	1	.000
1	Traktor Chelyabinsk	0	1	.000

Notes and references

1. "Calendar 2010/2011". khl.ru. Third season of the Kontinental Hockey League starts September 8th with Gagarin Cup holders Ak Bars entertaining UHC Dynamo Moscow in Kazan in a clash for Opening Cup.
2. "Официальное заявление КХЛ". khl.ru (in Russian). KHL.
3. Since 2015
4. 2009–10 season's finalist HC MVD united with HC Dynamo after the 2009–10 season, thus Dynamo Moscow participated in the 2010 Opening Cup.
5. Game originally was scheduled for 7 September 2011; because of the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash during the playing of the Opening Cup, the game was abandoned and rescheduled for 12 September 2011.
6. 2014 playoff runner-up HC Lev Praha ceased operations for the 2014–15 season. Dynamo Moscow took their place as Continental Cup holders.
7. "KHL 2015-16 Schedule Announced". 2015-06-30. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
8. "KHL Schedule 2017-18 – Fewer days without hockey". 2017-07-12. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
9. As CSKA Moscow won both trophies, Avangard Omsk took the other place as Gagarin Cup runner-up
10. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gagarin Cup was not awarded in 2019-20. CSKA Moscow were, however, the Continental Cup winners
11. "Game summary: CSKA - Ak Bars : Kontinental Hockey League (KHL)". 2020-09-02. Retrieved 2020-09-04.

External links

• Official September 2013 Opening Cup match gallery (photo contains the trophy)
• Official September 2013 Opening Cup match gallery (photo contains the trophy)