The tournament started in 1967 on November 30 in the
Soviet Union. The first edition of the tournament was held in honour of the 50th anniversary of the Soviet state. Six teams participated in that tournament; two
Soviet teams, two
Czechoslovak teams, a
Canadian team and a
Polish team.
Swedish and Western
German teams declined the invitation. It has typically been held every year in December in
Moscow. No matches were held in the capital in 2013 and 2014, when most of the games were held in
Sochi; in 2023 and 2024, when the tournament was held in
Saint Petersburg; in 2025, when the tournament was held in
Novosibirsk; and in 1991, when the tournament was not held at all due to the
collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1967, some games were held in
Leningrad and
Voskresensk. In 1992, Moscow and Saint Petersburg split the tournament's hosting. Saint Petersburg also hosted one game each in 2018 and 2019. The 2002, 2005–2019, and 2021 tournaments each featured one game held outside of Russia. They were hosted in various cities in the
Czech Republic,
Finland, and
Sweden. The tournament during the 1974/1975 season had a different format, with games spread out during the season since September to March (except October and January) and equally divided between the
USSR, Sweden, Finland, and
Czechoslovakia. During the 1970s and 1980s, the cup was often commonly referred to as "The Little World Championships". From 1996 to 2021 it was part of the
Euro Hockey Tour. In 2022, due to the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, the tournament was removed from the Euro Hockey Tour. To replace the countries that had pulled out, Kazakhstan made its tournament debuts, and Belarus played in the tournament alongside a Russian team.
Tournament name The name of the tournament has changed several times during its history: • International Ice Hockey Tournament (1967–1968) •
Izvestia Trophy (1969–1996) • Baltica Brewery Cup (1997–2003) • Rosno Cup (2004–2005) • Channel One Cup (2006–present) == Results ==