The Gazprom Neft Cup is the biggest children’s ice-hockey tournament for under-11 teams in Europe, and uses a group format. The tournament is growing in size, thanks to the children’s teams of the Kontinental Hockey League clubs. Teams from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia, and Finland now take part in the tournament.

The Gazprom Neft Cup boasts an unprecedented level of organisation for a children’s competition: professional referees manage the games, which are played in ice arenas certified for professional KHL games, and the competition is covered by leading sports publications. The trophy itself has been made by the same craftsmen as the Gagarin Cup. Every year the name of the winning team is engraved on the Cup, and that team keeps the Cup until the next tournament. Since the Gazprom Neft Cup received its status as the official KHL Kids Hockey Tournament, winners have included Avangard (2010), Traktor (2011), Ak Bars (2012), CSKA (2013, 2014), Dynamo (Moscow) (2015), and Lokomotiv (2016).

The multimedia opening show could compete with those staged by the leading KHL clubs, and the tournament’s opening ceremony and Super Final will be shown live on KHL TV. The tournament’s main partner is Match TV; its information partners are the Avtoradio radio station and the Sport Express newspaper. The tournament is also partnered with CCM, Honka, and the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Foundation.

All costs associated with the tournament, including accommodation and meals for the players, transport, organisation of the opening and closing shows, the games, advertising and media coverage, prizes, souvenirs, training seminars for coaches and excursions for the teams are covered by Gazprom Neft.