HC Donbass is a professional ice hockey team based in Donetsk, a city in the Donets Basin region of Ukraine. The only Ukrainian club playing outside of the Professional Hockey League (PHL), Donbass plays in Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Borys Kolesnikov, a prominent Ukrainian politician and businessman, purchased the team in 2010,[1] and since this time the organization has become the most successful in Ukraine.
Donbass played home games at Leader Arena from 2006 to 2010. In 2011, the team permanently moved to the Druzhba Palace of Sports after its renovations were complete.[2]
The club was founded in 2005 as Hockey Club Donetsk-Kolbyko and took part in the XIV Ukrainian Championship by competing in the First League. After 3 years of competing only in tournament play, the club returned to the Ukrainian Hockey Championship. In its 4 seasons of national competition beginning in 2008, the franchise won its first title in 2011, before joining the VHL. It was at this time that the organization founded a subsidiary club, Donbass-2, to compete in the Ukrainian Championship in its place. Donbass-2 won its first title in 2012 during the inaugural PHL season.
| Ukrainian Champion | League Leader | Division Leader |
| Season | League | Division | Regular season | Post season | Awards | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Div. Finish | League Finish | GP | W | OTW | T | OTL | L | Pts | GF | GA | GP | W | L | GF | GA | Result | |||||||||
| 2005–06 | First | B | 1st | 2nd | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | Won First League, 1–0 (SDYUSSHOR Kharkiv)[3] | — | |||||
| 2005–06 | Major | – | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | Lost promotion series, 0–2 (ATEK) | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 2006–07 | First | First League season cancelled | XV Ukrainian Championship playoff not held [4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–08 | First | First League season cancelled [5] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–09 | Major | Eastern | 1st | 6th | 19 | 14 | 0 | – | 0 | 5 | 6 | 134 | 66 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 13 | Won first qualifying round, 2–0 (Vorony Sumy) Won second qualifying round, 2–0 (Ekspres Lviv) Lost quarterfinal, 0–2 (HC Kharkiv)[6] | — | |||||
| 2009–10 | Major | A | 5th | – | 20 | 5 | 0 | – | 1 | 14 | 16 | 52 | 100 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 15 | Won qualifying round, 2–1 (Vatra Ivano-Frankivsk) Lost quarterfinals, 0–2 (Bilyi Bars)[7] | — | |||||
| 2010–11 | Major | – | 1st | 24 | 22 | 1 | – | 0 | 1 | 68 | 179 | 32 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 7 | Bye for quarterfinals Won semifinals, 2-0 (HC Kharkiv) Won Championship, 2–0 (Sokil Kyiv)[8] | — | ||||||
| First League totals | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 Playoff Appearance | ||||||||||
| Major League totals | 63 | 41 | 1 | – | 1 | 20 | 90 | 365 | 198 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 55 | 42 | 4 Playoff Appearances | ||||||||||
| Conference Leader |
| Season | League | Conference | Regular season | Post season | Awards | |||||||||||||||||
| Conf. Finish | League Finish | GP | W | OTW | SOW | OTL | SOL | L | Pts | GF | GA | GP | W | L | GF | GA | Result | |||||
| 2011–12 | VHL | Western | 1st | 3rd | 53 | 31 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 111 | 179 | 112 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 17 | Won conference quarterfinals, 3–0 (Titan Klin) Won conference semifinals, 3–0 (Neftyanik Almetyevsk) Lost league semi-finals, 0–4 (Toros Neftekamsk)[9] | Oleksandr Materukhin (FHU-POY, FHU-AST) Oleksandr Pobedonotsev (FHU-AST) Serhiy Varlamov (FHU-AST)[10] | |
| VHL totals | 53 | 31 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 111 | 179 | 112 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 17 | 1 Playoff Appearance | ||||||
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, OTW = Overtime wins, OTL = Overtime Losses, L = Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
| Won Tournament | Tournament Leader | Group Leader |
| Year | GP | W | OTW | T | OTL | L | GF | GA | Pts | Finish | Finals |
| 2007 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 3rd, Group A | Did not qualify[11] |
| Year | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts | Finish | Finals |
| 2007 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 7 | 6 | 1st, Group B | Won finals, 5:3 (Dnipro-Meteor Dnipropetrovsk) |
| Year | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts | Finish | Finals | |
| 2008 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 35 | 11 | 6 | 2nd, Group B | Lost 3rd place match, 6:4 (Piraty Dnipropetrovsk) |
| Year | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | Pts | Finish | |
| 2010 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 3rd[12] |
| Year | GP | W | OTW | T | OTL | L | GF | GA | Pts | Finish | |
| 2011 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 4th[13] | |
| 2012 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 3rd[14] |
| Year | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | Pts | Finish | Awards | |
| 2011–12 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 9 | 1st, Group E[15] | Vladimir Malevich (D) | |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 3rd, Super Final[16] | |||
| 2012–13 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 1st, Super Final[17] | Ján Laco (G) Clay Wilson (D) |