스파르타크 모스크바

One of the sections of the Spartak Moscow sports club, HC Spartak Moscow was established in 1946. They have won the Soviet Championship four times, and have also had European-level success in the Spengler Cup, which they have won five times.^[]

The financial state of the team became worse and worse since the beginning of 2006. After the season, a Russian businessman and huge Spartak fan, Vadim Melkov, volunteered to find suitable sponsorship for his favorite team. After negotiations, the Government of Moscow agreed to cover all of team debts. Some preliminary agreements about team sale were achieved as well. However, Melkov died during the S7 Airlines plane crash of July 9, 2006. All the deal proposals were cancelled. After a month of struggling to improve the financial situation, it was decided by Spartak management to disband the team for a year.