MHC Chaika — a youth hockey club from Nizhny Novgorod, a farm club of Torpedo, and a two-time winner of the Kharlamov Cup — the top trophy of the Junior Hockey League (JHL) [7][10]. The official website of HC Chaika is hc-chaika.ru; the same editorial team also maintains it at chaika.hctorpedo.ru, and the club is legally registered as the autonomous non-profit organization "Hockey Club Chaika" [1]. The club's mailing address is 603004, Nizhny Novgorod, Loskutova Street, 10 [31]. The team has competed in the JHL since September 2009 [2], plays its home games at the KRK Nagorny sports and concert complex on Gagarin Avenue, and in the autumn of 2026 inaugurated the new Volga Arena on the Strelka with a JHL match [26][28]. Chaika won the Kharlamov Cup in the 2014/2015 and 2022/2023 seasons and claimed bronze three years running, from 2024 through 2026 [6][10][16].

Official website and contacts

The official website of HC Chaika (Nizhny Novgorod) is hc-chaika.ru. It is also accessible at chaika.hctorpedo.ru: the youth team and Torpedo share the same club editorial team and website platform. Sections include news, roster, coaches, staff, JHL match schedule, standings, player statistics, live text commentary, video and photos, ticket and season-pass prices, a loyalty program, and box office hours [1].

The general inquiries phone number is +7 (831) 465-16-60, email office@hctorpedo.ru; ticketing service — +7 (920) 006-05-34, tickets@hctorpedo.ru; press office — +7 (930) 800-1946, pressa@hctorpedo.ru. The club's footer gives its full official name: Autonomous Non-Profit Organization "Hockey Club 'Chayka'" [1]. Postal address — 603004, Nizhny Novgorod, Loskutova Street, 10, in Avtozavodsky District, next to the hockey school rink [31].

In Brief

  • Full name — Autonomous Non-Profit Organization "Hockey Club Chaika"; official website — hc-chaika.ru [1].
  • City — Nizhny Novgorod; the club's postal address is 603004, Loskutova Street, 10 [31].
  • League — Major Hockey League, Golden Division of the Eastern Conference [22][23].
  • First MHL match — September 7, 2009, away against Moscow's MHC Spartak, 2:7 [2].
  • Kharlamov Cup winner — seasons 2014/2015 and 2022/2023 [6][10].
  • Kharlamov Cup finalist — season 2015/2016; Eastern Conference champion — season 2020/2021 [7][9].
  • MHL bronze medalist three seasons in a row — 2023/2024, 2024/2025, and 2025/2026 [16].
  • Colors — white and blue [4]; arenas — KRK "Nagorny", Palace of Sport named after V. S. Konavalenko, and Volga Arena [1][26][28].
  • Head coach since January 19, 2026 — Aleksey Podalinsky, contract extended through 2028 [14][17].
  • Club attendance record — 5,433 spectators, set in the 2026 playoff semifinals [18].

How the team came to be

The Youth Hockey League launched its first championship in the autumn of 2009, and Torpedo entered their own club under the name Chayka. The start was inauspicious: on 7 September 2009, the Nizhny Novgorod side lost away to Moscow's MHK Spartak 2:7, with goals scored by I. Baskakov and N. Bulychev [2]. Revenge came the following day, 8 September: 3:2, with S. Tyurin scoring twice and N. Manakhov netting the winning goal [3].

Chayka played their first home matches at the V. S. Kovalenko Sports Palace: it was there, for example, that the second match against Chekhov's Russkiye Vityazi was played on 13 October 2009 [32]. Since then, the youth team has remained the main stepping stone between the hockey academy and the senior squad: both players and coaches pass through it on their way to Torpedo and the farm club HC Torpedo-Gorky [30].

The first Kharlamov Cup, 2015

In the spring of 2015, Chayka reached the final for the first time. In the semi-final series, the Nizhny Novgorod side eliminated Yaroslavl's Loko, winning the fifth and decisive match 1:0; the Yaroslavl team took bronze, while the "blue-and-whites" advanced to the Kharlamov Cup final for the first time [4]. Their opponents were St. Petersburg's SKA-1946.

The first match of the series, on 19 April 2015 in Nizhny Novgorod, ended in a rout — 8:0. Goals were scored by Artyom Alyayev, Roman Gorbunov, Ilya Yamkin, Igor Rudenkov, Denis Shurakov, and Artur Gizdatullin, who completed a hat-trick [5]. Chayka won the series 4:1; they clinched the decisive game on the road — opening the scoring in the 17th minute and sealing it with a second goal 26 seconds before the buzzer, when the St. Petersburg side had already pulled their goaltender, 2:0 [6]. The Nizhny Novgorod team thus became the first club from beyond the Volga to win the country's top youth trophy [7].

That same summer, in August 2015, Chayka under the guidance of Vyacheslav Ryanov won their first match at the World Cup for youth club teams, defeating Bobruisk's Dinamo 3:1; in the group stage, the Nizhny Novgorod side also played against Swedish club Djurgården and Finnish club TPS [8].

In the following season, Chayka again reached the final but lost to Yaroslavl's Loko and finished with silver — second place in the 2015/2016 MHL Championship [7]. Earlier still, on 1 February 2014, Nizhny Novgorod's KRK "Nagorny" hosted the MHL Challenge Cup — the league's All-Star Game, in which the West defeated the East 5:3 [7].

The GAZ automobile plant supports the club; our employees cheer passionately for the guys, and the players' victories on the sporting arena give us extra emotion and drive to win on our own production floors.

— Andrey Sofonov, Managing Director of the GAZ automobile plant, at the presentation of the Conference Winner's Cup to Chayka, 10 March 2021 [9]

Eastern Conference Cup, 2021

In the 2020/2021 season, Chayka won the MHL Eastern Conference regular-season championship for the first time in its history. The Conference Winner's Cup was presented to the team on 10 March 2021 before the first game of the 1/8 final series against Sputnik; the ceremony was attended by KHL Vice President for Youth Hockey Development Alexander Guskov, GAZ automobile plant Managing Director GAZ Andrey Sofonov, and Torpedo General Director Alexander Kharlamov. The Nizhny Novgorod team's captain, Andrey Galushkin, following hockey tradition, did not touch the trophy — the fight for the Kharlamov Cup still lay ahead [9].

The Second Kharlamov Cup, 2023

Chayka and the Omsk Hawks finished the 2022/2023 season level on 78 points, in first and second place in the Zolotoy Division, and met in the Kharlamov Cup Final — for the first time since 2010, the final was contested by two clubs from the East [11]. The Nizhny Novgorod side won the opening game in Omsk 6:2, with 19-year-old Yegor Vinogradov scoring a hat-trick [12]. The teams then traded victories: in Omsk the Hawks replied with the same scoreline of 6:2 and won the fifth game in overtime, while in Nizhny Novgorod Chayka won 4:2 and 5:2 [11].

The decisive sixth game took place on April 25, 2023, at KRK "Nagorny" before a full house. Regulation time ended 2–2, and at the 71st minute Yegor Vinogradov scored the winning puck — 3–2 OT, 4–2 in the series [11]. The team was coached by Nikolay Voyevodin; Governor Gleb Nikitin cheered them on from the stands [10]. Following that season, Chayka forward Vasily Atanasov was named the best athlete of Nizhny Novgorod Region by the newspaper Nizhegorodsky Sport [29].

I think this will be the brightest moment of the year of Russia's Youth Capital! Guys, thank you!!! Nizhny Novgorod residents are the best fans!

— Gleb Nikitin, Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region, after the final match on April 25, 2023 [10]

Three bronze medals in a row, 2024–2026

After winning the championship, Chayka reached the semi-finals three seasons in a row and took bronze [16]. In 2025, the Nizhny Novgorod residents finished the regular season in fourth place in the Zolotoy Division with 75 points, and in the semi-finals lost to the eventual champions — Moscow's Spartak; the sixth game of the series on 6 May 2025 at the V. S. Konovalenko Sports Palace was lost by one puck, with goals scored by Yan Melnikov and Ivan Chesnokov. The team was coached at the time by Dmitry Gogolev, and the roster included nine players born in 2008 [13].

Chayka began the 2025/2026 season under Aleksey Tomilov, who coached the team for 39 games before stepping down in January; on 19 January 2026, 52-year-old Aleksey Podalinsky became head coach, having previously worked with Sibirskie Snaypery, Russkie Vityazi, Kapitan, and the CSKA system [14].

In the play-in round the Nizhny Novgorod side eliminated Ladya; in the round of 16 they knocked out Kazan's Irbis; in the quarter-finals they defeated Omskiye Yastrebы — Avangard's youth team — 3–1 in the series; the deciding match in Nizhny Novgorod ended 2–0, with goals scored by Gleb Pugachev in the fifth minute and Artyom Matyuk, while goalkeeper Marat Sabitov kept a clean sheet [15][21][17]. In the semi-finals, Chayka faced Yaroslavl's Loko — the top team in the Western Conference. The series did not go in the Nizhny Novgorod side's favor: Loko led 3–0, on 3 May Chayka won one game in overtime (2–1 OT), but lost the sixth game on 5 May 3–5 and finished the season with a series score of 2–4.

In that match the home side's standouts were Viktor Fyodorov, Timur Mukhanov, and Lev Salnikov [16][19]. A prominent role in the series was played by Timur Mukhanov, who recorded 6 points (2 goals and 4 assists) in the third, fourth, and fifth games; Torpedo defenseman and Sarov native Anton Silaev, who played for Chayka for the first time that season, was also called up to strengthen the squad [19][18].

Until the very end we saw the team playing the combination hockey that is so beloved in Nizhny Novgorod Region. That is precisely why the fans did not leave the arena, and why you came to the locker room so late after signing autographs. You are waited for, you are loved, and you are believed in. That is what matters most.

— Evgeniy Zabuga, General Manager and Acting CEO of Torpedo, after the 2025 semi-finals [13]

Awards and season standings

Chayka's best results in MHL championships
SeasonResultDetails
2009/2010first season in the leaguedebut match on September 7, 2009, 2:7 against MHK Spartak [2]
2014/2015Kharlamov Cupvictory in the final series over SKA-1946 — 4:1 [6][7]
2015/2016second placedefeat in the final against Yaroslavl's Loko [7]
2020/2021Eastern Conference championsthe club's first-ever Conference Winner's Cup [9]
2022/2023Kharlamov Cupvictory over Omskiye Yastrebы (Avangard's youth team) — 4–2 in the series [11]
2023/2024bronzereached the Kharlamov Cup semifinals [16]
2024/2025bronzesemifinal, defeat against MHK Spartak; 4th place in the division, 75 points [13]
2025/2026bronzesemifinal, defeat against Loko — 2–4 in the series [16]

Arenas

Chayka's home venues are KRK "Nagorny" on Gagarin Avenue, the V. S. Konovalenko Sports Palace, and, from 2026, Volga Arena [1]. The 2026 playoff games were played at "Nagorny," and, as Torpedo General Director Yevgeniy Zabuga emphasized at a press conference on May 18, the ice palace on Gagarin Avenue remains the primary home for the youth team [18]. The same was stated by Nizhny Novgorod Region Minister of Sport Dmitriy Kabaylo: "Nagorny" will continue to operate, Chayka will keep playing there, and the palace is due for inspection and renovation at a later date [26].

VOLGA Arena at Strelka received its certificate of occupancy in August 2026. The complex, covering 95,700 square meters, consists of a main arena seating 12,000 spectators and two training rinks with a capacity of 250 [24]. The youth team was given the honor of inaugurating it: the first official hockey match at the new arena was the Chayka vs. Irbis game on September 7, 2026 [25][28].

Ice rinks where Chayka plays
VenueWhat is known
KRK "Nagorny"the club's main arena, an ice palace on Gagarin Avenue; here Chayka won the 2023 Kharlamov Cup and set a club attendance record of 5,433 spectators [11][18]
V. S. Konovalenko Sports Palacehere Chayka played its first home games in the MHL in autumn 2009 and the 2025 semifinal [32][13]
Volga Arenaopened in 2026 at Strelka: 12,000 spectators, 95,700 square metres, two practice rinks [24]

"Nagorny", whatever you say, is outdated. It couldn't fit all the Torpedo fans. Here the capacity is sufficient. I think the fans will say: thank you to everyone who built this arena. I envy all the guys who will play here — and I mean that in the best possible way."

— Aleksandr Guskov, KHL Vice President for Youth Hockey Development, at the opening of VOLGA Arena on September 7, 2026 [27]

Fans and records

Youth hockey in Nizhny Novgorod draws crowds comparable to those of adult leagues. In the 2026 semifinal, KRK "Nagorny" hosted 5,250 and 5,315 spectators, making Chayka the MHL playoff attendance leader [19]. The club record — 5,433 spectators — was set in the sixth game of that same series; over the course of the playoffs, the team drew more than five thousand fans on three separate occasions. The 2025/2026 season ranked second in MHL history by total attendance [18]. The enthusiasm of Nizhny Novgorod's stands had been noted before: in 2023, during the playoff games, Nizhny Novgorod fans could fit into neither Nagorny nor the Konovalenko Sports Palace [10]; the Nizhny Novgorod fan scene is also described in the article on the Torpedo fan movement.

The same season also holds the league record for match duration: in the fourth game of the round of 16, Chayka and Kazan's Irbis played 142 minutes and 49 seconds of net time — the longest game in MHL history. The Nizhny Novgorod side lost in the fifth overtime period, 2:3 [18].

A Player Development Pipeline

Chayka serves as the stepping stone between hockey school and the professional leagues: from there, players move on to the farm club HC Torpedo-Gorky and to the main roster of Torpedo [30]. Defenseman Artyom Alyayev, who scored in the 2015 final, received the Aleksey Cherepanov Award the following year — the prize given to the best rookie of the KHL season [5][18]. Forward Vasily Atanasov, the top scorer of the 2023 playoffs, was named Athlete of the Year in Nizhny Novgorod Region in a poll conducted by the newspaper Nizhegorodsky Sport [29]. At the end of the 2025/2026 season, two Chayka players were nominated for league awards — defenseman Aleksandr Yatsenko and rookie Sergey Skvortsov [18].

Coaches also pass through the youth team. Alexey Isakov served as head coach of Chayka, then in the summer of 2024 took charge of the newly created HC Torpedo-Gorky, and subsequently of the main Torpedo squad [30][18]. Dmitry Gogolev, who led Chayka to a bronze medal, later joined the coaching staff of the main team [13][14].

Chayka coaches under whom the team achieved its greatest results
CoachPeriodResult
Vyacheslav Ryanov2014/2015 season and onwardKharlamov Cup 2015, victory at the World Cup among youth clubs [5][8]
Nikolay Voyevodin2022/2023 seasonKharlamov Cup 2023 [10]
Alexey Isakovuntil summer 2024bronze medal 2024; then Torpedo-Gorky and Torpedo [30]
Dmitry Gogolev2024/2025 seasonbronze medal 2025 [13]
Alexey Tomilovuntil January 202639 matches of the 2025/2026 season [14]
Alexey Podalinskyfrom January 19, 2026bronze medal 2026, contract extended for two seasons [14][17]

2026/2027 Season

In the eighteenth MHL championship, all 34 clubs play 54 games each — 27 at home and 27 away. Chayka remained in the Zolotoy Division of the Eastern Conference [23]. The Nizhny Novgorod residents opened their season on September 7, 2026, with a home game against Kazan's Irbis — and it was the first official hockey match at the VOLGA Arena [23][28].

The match drew around 3,500 spectators and ended in a home defeat — 3:5. The first goal in the arena's history was scored by Kazan's Askar Kamalov; the first Chayka player to score at the new venue was Nikolay Izmaylov, who leveled the score 43 seconds before the first intermission. Vladimir Laptev and Mark Fogelnest also found the net later [28].

The team then headed out on a road trip: on September 15, they defeated Reaktor in Nizhnekamsk 4:3, and on September 17, they beat Sputnik in Almetyevsk 1:0. The only goal, scored in the 44th minute by Artyom Kulyabin off passes from Kirill Shcherbakov and Vladislav Mishin, was accompanied by the MHL debut of 16-year-old Dobrynya Suchkov in goal: he recorded a shutout, stopping 26 shots; Marat Sabitov served as the backup goaltender [22]. A year earlier, on December 17, 2019, Chayka had beaten the same Sputnik at home in overtime — 3:2; Maxim Rastvorov scored a brace that day, Denis Nikulin netted the winning goal on a power play, and that victory was the team's fifth in a row [20].

The official OLIMPBET MHL match at the VOLGA Arena will provide an opportunity to test all organizational details before the KHL games begin. Hosting an MHL game before the main team moves to the new arena is a tried-and-true practice that the league adheres to.

— Alexander Guskov, KHL Vice President for Youth Hockey Development, September 2, 2026 [25]

Place in Nizhny Novgorod Sports

"Chayka" is part of the hockey vertical of the auto plant and Torpedo, with roots tracing back to HC Torpedo-Gorky and its goalkeeper Viktor Konovalenko. Among the clubs of Sport in Nizhny Novgorod, the youth team is one of the few to have won a national trophy twice, and the only one entrusted with inaugurating the city's new arena [6][11][28].

Sources

  1. hc-chaika.ru — official website of HC Chaika (Nizhny Novgorod): news, roster, schedule, contacts (archive)
  2. web.archive.org — hc-chaika.ru (web archive) — club report on the first match in the MHL championship, September 7, 2009 — Chaika makes its MHL debut (archive)
  3. web.archive.org — hc-chaika.ru (web archive) — club report on the first MHL victory, September 8, 2009 — Chaika gets revenge (archive)
  4. Pro Gorod Nizhny Novgorod — Pro Gorod NN, April 14, 2015 — Chaika reaches the Kharlamov Cup final for the first time — Nizhny Novgorod's Chaika reaches the Kharlamov Cup final for the first time
  5. sovsport.ru — Sovetsky Sport, April 19, 2015 — first match of the Kharlamov Cup final — Chaika defeats SKA-1946 8–0 in the Kharlamov Cup final
  6. Pro Gorod Nizhny Novgorod — Pro Gorod NN, April 26, 2015 — victory in the decisive match of the final series — Nizhny Novgorod's Chaika wins the Kharlamov Cup
  7. hockeyarchives.ru — summary tables of Kharlamov Cup holders and MHL Challenge Cup matches — MHL Championship and NMHL — Kharlamov Cup holders (archive)
  8. web.archive.org — hc-chaika.ru (web archive), August 26, 2015 — the club's first victory at the World Junior Club Cup — A historic victory! (archive)
  9. web.archive.org — hctorpedo.ru (web archive), March 10, 2021 — presentation of the MHL Eastern Conference Winners' Cup — Chaika receives the Eastern Conference Winners' Cup (archive)
  10. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — April 26, 2023 — second Kharlamov Cup — Nizhny Novgorod's MHC Chaika wins the Kharlamov Cup (archive)
  11. sports.ru — April 25, 2023 — match sheet of the decisive game in the final series — Chaika wins the Kharlamov Cup for the 2nd time in the club's history, defeating the Omsk Hawks 4–2 in the series (archive)
  12. sports.ru — April 15, 2023 — first match of the final series in Omsk — Kharlamov Cup. Final. Omsk Hawks lose to Chaika (2:6), Vinogradov scores a hat-trick (archive)
  13. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — May 7, 2025 — bronze in the 2024/2025 season — Nizhny Novgorod's Chaika takes bronze at the MHL championship (archive)
  14. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — January 19, 2026 — head coach change — Alexey Podalinsky becomes new head coach of Nizhny Novgorod's Chaika (archive)
  15. hctorpedo.ru — HC Torpedo, April 20, 2026 — advance to the Kharlamov Cup semi-finals — Chaika is in the MHL Championship semi-finals! (archive)
  16. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — May 5, 2026 — third consecutive bronze — Nizhny Novgorod's Chaika wins bronze at the MHL for the third year in a row (archive)
  17. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — May 7, 2026 — new head coach contract — Alexey Podalinsky to continue coaching Chaika for two more seasons (archive)
  18. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — Nizhny Novgorod Sport / Nizhegorodskaya Pravda, June 3, 2026 — MHL season wrap-up, attendance records, and the league's longest match (archive)
  19. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — Nizhegorodskaya Pravda, May 2026 — semi-final series against Loko and attendance at KRK Nagorny — MHC Chaika plays Loko in the MHL semi-finals (archive)
  20. Vremya N — home overtime victory over Sputnik — HC Chaika defeats Almetyevsk's Sputnik in the second match (archive)
  21. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — April 2026 — quarter-final series against the Omsk Hawks — Nizhny Novgorod's Chaika advances to the Kharlamov Cup semi-finals (archive)
  22. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — Nizhegorodskaya Pravda, September 2026 — away victory over Sputnik and debut of Dobryna Suchkov — Chaika wins second match of the 18th MHL season
  23. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — July 31, 2026 — 2026/2027 regular season schedule — Full schedule of Nizhny Novgorod Chaika's games in the 2026/2027 season published
  24. RIA Novosti — September 2, 2026 — VOLGA Arena specifications and test match — Date of the test match at the arena in Nizhny Novgorod revealed (archive)
  25. sport-express.ru — Sport-Express, September 2, 2026 — the practice of opening new arenas with an MHL match — MHL match Chaika vs. Irbis to be held at VOLGA Arena in Nizhny Novgorod
  26. allhockey.ru — September 2026 — statement by the regional sports minister on the future of KRK Nagorny — Chaika to continue playing at the Nagorny ice palace (archive)
  27. allhockey.ru — September 7, 2026 — KHL vice-president's assessment of the new arena — Guskov: I genuinely envy the guys who will play at VOLGA Arena
  28. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — September 7, 2026 — first official match at VOLGA Arena — Nizhny Novgorod's Chaika loses to Irbis in the first match at Volga Arena (archive)
  29. hctorpedo.ru — HC Torpedo, December 30, 2023 — results of the Nizhny Novgorod Sport newspaper poll — Vasily Atanasov — athlete of the year in Nizhny Novgorod Region! (archive)
  30. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — July 10, 2024 — coaching staffs of Chaika and Torpedo-Gorky — HC Torpedo forms coaching staffs for Chaika and Torpedo-Gorky (archive)
  31. web.archive.org — hctorpedo.ru (web archive) — contact page of the Chaika youth team with the club's mailing address — Contacts of the Chaika youth team (archive)
  32. web.archive.org — hc-chaika.ru (web archive) — club match reports for October 2009 games at the Konovalenko Sports Palace (archive)