Sev. 체레포베츠

Founded in 1956, the club was originally known as Stroitel (Builder) Cherepovets. The name was changed to Metallurg (Metallurgist) Cherepovets in 1959. During the Soviet times, Metallurg played in the low and mid-level divisions of the ice hockey championship. But since the 1990s, not without the financial support of its parent company Severstal (Northsteel), the club joined the ranks of the major professional teams starting with the first season of the then newly established International Hockey League. The club eventually changed its name after the owner in 1994. The biggest success of Severstal to date was in the 2002-2003 Superleague season when they advanced to the final with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.^[] The home arena is the Ice Palace where home matches are played since 2006/2007 Russian Superleague season. Earlier the Sports-Concert Hall Almaz was the home arena.^[]