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. 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. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Uritskogo Kazan became
Itil Kazan in 1990 and participated in the IHL. Itil was only mildly successful, narrowly avoiding relegation to the
Vysshaya Liga in 1991 and 1992. It was following the establishment of the
Russian Superleague (RSL) in 1996 that the golden age of hockey in Tatarstan began. Renamed
Ak Bars Kazan after the traditional symbol of the Tatars, the snow leopard. Benefiting from the resources boom in the
Urals, Ak Bars began its history in fine form, finishing first in their respective divisions in 1997 and 1998 along with winning the RSL in 1998. In the 2004–05 season, Kazan signed 11
National Hockey League players, including Russian superstars
Alexei Kovalev and
Ilya Kovalchuk and Canadians
Vincent Lecavalier and
Dany Heatley, in an attempt to celebrate Kazan's 10th anniversary with a championship. They did not succeed, however, as a lack of continuity and chemistry saw them finish in fourth place and were upset in the first round of the playoffs by
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Since then, Ak Bars Kazan dominated the RSL, winning the league in 2006. In 2007, Kazan paced the league with 35 wins and 214 goals in 54 games before falling at the final hurdle to
Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Ak Bars has been led in recent years by the dominant "ZZM" line of
Sergei Zinovjev,
Danis Zaripov, and
Aleksey Morozov, who have established themselves as one of the most dominant lines in recent history. Combined with veterans such as Vitaly Proshkin and
Vladimir Vorobiev, and imports, such as
Ray Giroux,
Petr Čajánek, and
Jukka Hentunen, Kazan has remained one of the top teams in the league. However, they have been at times criticized for lacking consistency and relying too heavily on star players such as Morozov. Ak Bars Kazan are strong rivals with
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and the neighboring team of
Salavat Yulaev Ufa. However, Ak Bars was the strongest rival with
Dynamo Moscow in the 1990s. ==Honors==