Channel One Cup (ice hockey)

Channel One Cup
The Channel One Cup trophy in 2010
Status	active
Genre	sporting event
Date(s)	December
Frequency	annual
Location(s)	Moscow
Country	Russia
Inaugurated	1967 (1967)

The Channel One Cup (Russian: Кубок Первого канала, formerly Izvestia Trophy) is an annual ice hockey event held in Russia under the auspices of Channel One. It is an open tournament of teams representing various nations, composed of professionals playing in European professional hockey leagues.

The tournament started in 1967 in Moscow in the Soviet Union. The first edition of the tournament was held in 1967, in honour of the 50th anniversary of the so-called Great October Socialist Revolution. It was the only time when the tournament was held in different cities at one time, namely in Moscow, Leningrad and Voskresensk. Six teams participated back then; two USSR teams, two ČSSR teams, as well as Canada and Poland. Sweden and Germany declined the invitation.

The tournament is played in December every year, except for 1974 to 1975 when its matches were spread out during the season. In 1992, the tournament was played in Saint Petersburg and as of 2000 some of its matches have been played in other European countries of the participating teams. During the 1970s and 1980s, the cup was often commonly referred to as "The Little World Championships". Since 1996 it is part of the Euro Hockey Tour.

The name of the tournament has changed several times during its entire history:

Winner, runner-up and third place is determined by total standing after a round-robin style of play. If teams are tied in points, the standing is determined by won games between the tied teams.