The Belarusian Extraleague (abbreviated BXL, also known as the Belarusian Open Championship), officially formed in 2006, is the top ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 league in Belarus

Belarus

Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

. In its past it has switched several times between being and not being an open league (in reference to allowing foreign teams), but for the 2008-2009 season, the Belarus Ice Hockey Federation

Belarus Ice Hockey Federation

Belarusian Ice Hockey Association is the Belarusian national ice hockey federation. It was founded on March 6, 1992 and became a member of the IIHF in two months ....

 has decided to open the Extraleague, the Belarusian Vysshaya Liga, and the Belarusian junior leagues.

The Extraleague championship for the 2008-2009 season was won by Yunost Minsk.

Teams for 2010–11

Team	City/Area	Arena	Capacity
Current Teams
HK Brest HK Brest HK Brest is an ice hockey team in Brest, Belarus. The team competes in the Belarusian Extraliga ....	Brest Brest, Belarus Brest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...	Brest Ice Sports Palace	2,000
HK Vitebsk HK Vitebsk HK Vitebsk is an ice hockey team in Vitebsk, Belarus. The team competes in the Belarusian Extraliga ....	Vitebsk Vitebsk Vitebsk, also known as Viciebsk or Vitsyebsk , is a city in Belarus, near the border with Russia. The capital of the Vitebsk Oblast, in 2004 it had 342,381 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth largest city...	Vitebsk Ice Sports Palace	1,900
HK Gomel HK Gomel HK Homiel is an ice hockey team in Homiel in Belarus. The team was founded in 2000, and participates in the Belarusian Extraliga.- Honours :*Belarusian Extraliga:**Winners : 2003*Belarusian Cup :...	Gomel	Gomel Ice Palace of Sports	2,760
Metallurg Zhlobin Metallurg Zhlobin Metallurg Zhlobin is an ice hockey team in Zhlobin, Belarus. The team competes in the Belarusian Extraliga ....	Zhlobin Zhlobin Zhlobin is a city in the Homiel Voblast of Belarus, on the Dnieper river. As of 2005, the population is 75.866. The town was first mentioned in writing in 1492....	Ice Palace "Metalurg"	2,018
HK Liepājas Metalurgs HK Liepajas Metalurgs HK Liepājas Metalurgs is a Belarusian Extraliga team based in Liepāja, Latvia. The club's 2nd team plays in the Latvian Hockey League.-History:The club was founded in 1997. In 1998 their current home arena - Olimpiskā ledus halle was built...	Liepāja Liepaja Liepāja ; ), is a republican city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea directly at 21°E. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region of Latvia, the third largest city in Latvia after Riga and Daugavpils and an important ice-free port...	Ice Arena Liepajas Metalurgs	1,700
HK Neman Grodno HK Neman Grodno HK Neman Grodno is a professional ice hockey team from Grodno, Belarus that plays in the Belarusian Extraliga....	Grodno	Ice Sports Palace Grodno	2,550
Sokil Kyiv	Kiev Kiev Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....	Ice Arena TEC Terminal (Brovary)	1,500
Khimvolokno Mogilev Khimvolokno Mogilev Khimvolokno Mogliev is an ice hockey team in Mogilev, Belarus. The team competes in the Belarusian Extraliga ....	Mogilev Mogilev Mogilev is a city in eastern Belarus, about 76 km from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and 105 km from the border with Russia's Bryansk Oblast. It has more than 367,788 inhabitants...	Sports Palace Mogilev	3,048
Khimik-SKA Novopolotsk Khimik-SKA Novopolotsk Khimik-SKA Novopolotsk is an ice hockey team in Novopolotsk, Belarus. The team competes in the Belarusian Extraliga ....	Novopolotsk	Palace of Sports and Culture	1,200
Shakhtar Soligorsk Shakhtar Soligorsk Shakhtyor Soligorsk is an ice hockey club, based in Soligorsk, Belarus. It was founded in 2009. It is playing in the Belarusian Extraliga. The team was formed to act as farm club for HC Dynamo Minsk of the KHL.-Roster:...	Soligorsk	Ice Sports Palace Soligorsk	1,759
Shinnik Bobruisk Shinnik Bobruisk Shinnik Bobruisk is an ice hockey team in Bobruisk, Belarus. The team competes in the Belarusian Extraliga ....	Bobruisk	Bobruisk Arena	7,191
Yunost Minsk	Minsk Minsk - Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...	Indoor rink Youth/Yunost Minsk	767

Belarusian League Champions

• 1993: Tivali Minsk
  Tivali Minsk
  Tivali Minsk is an ice hockey club based in Minsk, Belarus.- History :Formed in 1946, this Minsk based hockey team went through several identity changes all the while playing amongst several hockey leagues in Europe. It went bankrupt in 2001...
  
  
• 1994: Tivali Minsk
  Tivali Minsk
  Tivali Minsk is an ice hockey club based in Minsk, Belarus.- History :Formed in 1946, this Minsk based hockey team went through several identity changes all the while playing amongst several hockey leagues in Europe. It went bankrupt in 2001...
  
  
• 1995: Tivali Minsk
  Tivali Minsk
  Tivali Minsk is an ice hockey club based in Minsk, Belarus.- History :Formed in 1946, this Minsk based hockey team went through several identity changes all the while playing amongst several hockey leagues in Europe. It went bankrupt in 2001...
  
  
• 1996: Polimir Novopolotsk
• 1997: Polimir Novopolotsk
• 1998: HK Neman Grodno
  HK Neman Grodno
  HK Neman Grodno is a professional ice hockey team from Grodno, Belarus that plays in the Belarusian Extraliga....
  
  
• 1999: HK Neman Grodno
  HK Neman Grodno
  HK Neman Grodno is a professional ice hockey team from Grodno, Belarus that plays in the Belarusian Extraliga....
  
  
• 2000: Tivali Minsk
  Tivali Minsk
  Tivali Minsk is an ice hockey club based in Minsk, Belarus.- History :Formed in 1946, this Minsk based hockey team went through several identity changes all the while playing amongst several hockey leagues in Europe. It went bankrupt in 2001...
  
  
• 2001: HK Neman Grodno
  HK Neman Grodno
  HK Neman Grodno is a professional ice hockey team from Grodno, Belarus that plays in the Belarusian Extraliga....
  
  
• 2002: Keramin Minsk
  Keramin Minsk
  Keramin Minsk is an ice hockey team from Minsk in Belarus. It plays in the Ekstraliga.-History:The club was created in 1998 under the name HC Minsk. In 2001, the club changed name to Keramin Minsk...
  
  
• 2003: HK Gomel
  HK Gomel
  HK Homiel is an ice hockey team in Homiel in Belarus. The team was founded in 2000, and participates in the Belarusian Extraliga.- Honours :*Belarusian Extraliga:**Winners : 2003*Belarusian Cup :...
  
  
• 2004: Yunost Minsk
• 2005: Yunost Minsk
• 2006: Yunost Minsk
• 2007: Dynamo Minsk
• 2008: Keramin Minsk
  Keramin Minsk
  Keramin Minsk is an ice hockey team from Minsk in Belarus. It plays in the Ekstraliga.-History:The club was created in 1998 under the name HC Minsk. In 2001, the club changed name to Keramin Minsk...
  
  
• 2009: Yunost Minsk
• 2010: Yunost Minsk
• 2011: Yunost Minsk

Titles by team

Titles	Club	Years
6	Junost Minsk Junost Minsk HC Yunost-Minsk is a Belarusian ice hockey team that currently plays in the Belarusian Extraliga. They play their home games at "Yunost Minsk Arena", located in Minsk....	2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011
4	Tivali Minsk Tivali Minsk Tivali Minsk is an ice hockey club based in Minsk, Belarus.- History :Formed in 1946, this Minsk based hockey team went through several identity changes all the while playing amongst several hockey leagues in Europe. It went bankrupt in 2001...	1993, 1994, 1995, 2000
3	HK Neman Grodno HK Neman Grodno HK Neman Grodno is a professional ice hockey team from Grodno, Belarus that plays in the Belarusian Extraliga....	1998, 1999, 2001
2	Polimir Novopolock Khimik-SKA Novopolotsk Khimik-SKA Novopolotsk is an ice hockey team in Novopolotsk, Belarus. The team competes in the Belarusian Extraliga ....	1996, 1997
2	Keramin Minsk Keramin Minsk Keramin Minsk is an ice hockey team from Minsk in Belarus. It plays in the Ekstraliga.-History:The club was created in 1998 under the name HC Minsk. In 2001, the club changed name to Keramin Minsk...	2002, 2008
1	HC Dynamo Minsk	2007
1	HK Gomel HK Gomel HK Homiel is an ice hockey team in Homiel in Belarus. The team was founded in 2000, and participates in the Belarusian Extraliga.- Honours :*Belarusian Extraliga:**Winners : 2003*Belarusian Cup :...	2003

External links

• Belarusian Extraleague website
• Belarus Ice Hockey Federation
• Belarus hockey website