Kazan Ak-Bars
| Ak Bars Kazan Ак Барс Казань |
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| City | Kazan, Russia |
| League | Kontinental Hockey League |
| Conference | Eastern |
| Division | Kharlamov |
| Founded | 1956 |
| Home arena |
TatNeft Arena (capacity: 10,000) |
| Colours | |
| Owner(s) | Tatneft |
| General manager | Ravil Shavaleyev |
| Head coach | Zinetula Bilyaletdinov |
| Captain | Alexander Svitov |
| Affiliate(s) |
JHC Bars (VHL) JHC Irbis (MHL) |
| Website | www.ak-bars.ru |
 
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| Franchise history | |
| Hockey Club Ak Bars | |
Hockey Club Ak Bars (Russian: Ак Барс, Tatar: Cyrillic Ак Барс, Latin Aq Bars, English: Snow Leopard), also known as Ak Bars Kazan, is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Kazan, Tatarstan. They are a member of the Kontinental Hockey League.
The team's name, Ak Bars, is derived from the official symbol of Tatarstan, translated as Snow Leopard, a traditional symbol which has its origins with the Barsil, one of the Tatar tribes.
Founded as Mashstroy Kazan in 1956, the name was later changed to SC Uritskogo Kazan when it entered the Soviet Class B league in 1958. It was promoted to Soviet Class A2, where it gained promotion to the top tier of Soviet hockey. Kazan's performance was respectable, starting the season by winning 6 out of 19 games against the best of the Soviet teams before falling away in the second half of the season and was demoted.
From this point onward, SC Uritskogo Kazan established a reputation as a consistently strong team in the second tier leagues of the USSR. Renowned as a high scoring team, Kazan averaged over four goals a game throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Twice they won the USSR League (lower tiers), being named Champion of Russia in 1962 and 1976.
SC Uritskogo Kazan's most successful period occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The team was led by Russia's Sergei Stolbun; scoring ace Gennady Maslov (current coach of Ak Bars-2 Kazan), who enjoyed a short stint with the Soviet Wings and set a club record of 140 points in 76 games in 1982–83; and Ravil Shavaleev, who was regarded as one of the finest defenseman to ever come out of Tatarstan. During this period, Kazan was consistently among the top teams in the league but failed year after year to gain promotion to the top flight of Soviet hockey.
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