History
The club was established in 1946 as a top level club of the USSR hockey championship to participate in its first season. The original name the club was LDO Kirova (Leningrad Kirov Officers’ Club). It was subsequently changed to ODO (District Officers' Club) in 1953, SKVO (Sports Club of the Military District) in 1957 and finally Sportivnyi Klub Armii (Sport Club of the Army) in 1959. During the Soviet era SKA (along with CSKA Moscow) belonged to the Ministry of Defense sports club system and consisted of Leningrad Military District officers.
After finishing last in their group during the first season LDO skipped the next season and was downgraded to the second level of the championhsip in 1948. The club returned to the Soviet Class A in 1950–51 and remained in the top division of the Soviet league until 1991. The highest achievements of the club during that time were 1968 and 1971 USSR Cup Finals (the former was lost to CSKA 7–1, the latter to Spartak 5–1) as well as the bronze medals of the 1970–71 and 1986–87 Soviet Championships.
After one season in the second level division of the Soviet League (the first and the only CIS Championship) SKA joined the International Ice Hockey League established by the top ice hockey teams of the former USSR. During its 1993–94 season SKA managed to advance to the IHL Cup semi-finals but lost to that year's champion Lada Togliatti. The club was less successful in the Russian Superleague that replaced IHL as the main Russian championship since 1996 failing to get further than the first playoff rounds.
The formation of the KHL marked the beginning of a new era for the team. SKA got into their first conference finals during the 2011–12 season and finishing first during the regular season won the 2012–13 Continental Cup.
Read more about this topic: SKA Saint Petersburg
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