1996–97 Vysshaya Liga season
The 1996–97 Vysshaya Liga season was the fifth season of the Vysshaya Liga, the second level of ice hockey in Russia. 17 teams participated in the league. CSKA Moscow won the Western Conference, and Metchel Chelyabinsk won the Eastern Conference. UralAZ Miass won the Cup competition. | Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1. | HC CSKA Moscow | 32 | 24 | 3 | 5 | 143 | 59 | 51 |
| 2. | HC Lipetsk | 32 | 23 | 2 | 7 | 140 | 67 | 48 |
| 3. | HC Voronezh | 32 | 20 | 4 | 8 | 112 | 65 | 44 |
| 4. | Olimpiya Kirovo-Chepetsk | 32 | 19 | 4 | 9 | 115 | 82 | 42 |
| 5. | Avangard Tambov | 32 | 12 | 2 | 18 | 68 | 119 | 26 |
| 6. | Motor Zavolzhye | 32 | 10 | 5 | 17 | 75 | 110 | 25 |
| 7 | Izhorets St. Petersburg | 32 | 9 | 4 | 19 | 62 | 103 | 22 |
| 8. | Khimik Engels | 32 | 7 | 7 | 18 | 74 | 107 | 21 |
| 9. | Gornyak Olenogorsk | 32 | 3 | 3 | 26 | 50 | 127 | 9 |
Eastern Conference
| Club | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1. | Mechel Chelyabinsk | 28 | 21 | 2 | 5 | 112 | 61 | 44 |
| 2. | Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk | 28 | 20 | 1 | 7 | 148 | 77 | 41 |
| 3. | Neftyanik Almetyevsk | 28 | 17 | 4 | 7 | 92 | 64 | 38 |
| 4. | UralAZ Miass | 28 | 17 | 2 | 9 | 110 | 63 | 36 |
| 5. | Kedr Novouralsk | 28 | 8 | 4 | 16 | 70 | 110 | 20 |
| 6. | Progress Glazov | 28 | 6 | 4 | 18 | 52 | 117 | 16 |
| 7 | Izhstal Izhevsk | 28 | 6 | 3 | 19 | 67 | 116 | 15 |
| 8. | Metallurg Serov | 28 | 6 | 2 | 20 | 66 | 109 | 14 |
Second round
Western Conference
Eastern Conference
Cup
