to play on the first line, and the team found it difficult to achieve the results that fans expected. On January 9, 2010, a massive brawl broke out in a game against Vityaz Chekhov. The initial conflict began during pre-game warm-ups, when Darcy Verot intentionally shot a puck at Lasse Kukkonen, prompting Alexander Svitov to stand up for his teammate, Kukkonen. Soon after the game began, Brandon Sugden challenged Svitov to a fight, which then escalated to involve all other eight skaters on the ice. A number of other fights then ensued, resulting in a bench- and penalty-box clearing brawl. The officials were forced to suspend the game just after three minutes and 39 seconds in the first period as only four players between the two sides were left to play the game. A world-record total of 840 penalty minutes were incurred during the game. In the game's wake, the KHL imposed heavy fines on both organizations, multiple players on both teams and both clubs' head coaches, as well as deciding to suspend six Vityaz players and Avangard's Dmitri Vlasenkov, who was first to leave the bench during a fight. The KHL also credited the game as a 5–0 defeat for both teams, with no points being awarded. The brawl, however, appeared to give the team a morale boost as they went on to win the next six games. Nonetheless, mediocrity soon returned, and Nikitin was fired and replaced by Raimo Summanen just hours before the playoffs started. The new head coach failed to deliver as the team suffered three-straight defeats at the hands of Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk and was eliminated in the first round. Season-by-season record Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, OTW = Overtime/shootout wins, OTL = Overtime/shootout losses, L = Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points Players and personnel Current roster Head coaches Honored members Sponsors and partners In 2009, Gazprom Neft started partnership cooperation with Avangard hockey club, which includes support and development of youth and children teams. During the 12-year period of cooperation, the main team regularly played in the Gagarin Cup play-offs, made it to the finals twice, and won the KHL Championship and got the Gagarin Cup in 2020-2021 season. Within the framework of this cooperation, Gazprom Neft promotes the company's brands, supports the development of the club academy, and in 2020 it started the construction