Kontinental Hockey League

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Kontinental Hockey League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2021–22 KHL season
KHL logo shield 2016.svg
FormerlyRussian Superleague (RSL)
SportIce hockey
Founded2008
PresidentAlexei Morozov
MottoХоккей – наша игра!
Хакей – наша гульня!
Хоккей – біздің ойын!
曲棍球是我们的游戏！[1]
No. of teams22
Country
Most recent
champion(s)		Avangard Omsk
(1st title)
Most titlesAk Bars Kazan
(3 titles)
TV partner(s)

KHL-TV (Russia (as part of the NTV Plus package), Russia and international through KHL's website)
Match TV (Russia)
Belarus 5 (Belarus)
Qazsport (Kazakhstan)
CCTV-5+ (China)

Related
competitions
Official websitewww.khl.ru

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; Russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), romanized: Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (19), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1) and China (1) for a total of 22.

It is widely considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in Europe and Asia, and the second strongest in the world behind North America's National Hockey League.[2][3] The KHL has the highest total attendance in Europe with 5.32 million spectators in the regular season[4] and third-highest average attendance in Europe with 6,121 spectators per game in the regular season.[5] The Gagarin Cup is awarded annually to the league's playoff champion at the end of each season. The title of Champion of Russia is given to the highest-ranked Russian team.[6]

History[edit]

History[edit]

Ak Bars Kazan after winning the Gagarin Cup in 2009

The league formed from the Russian Superleague (RSL) and the champion of the 2007–08 season of the second division, with 24 teams: 21 from Russia and one each from Belarus, Latvia, and Kazakhstan. The teams were divided into four divisions, based on the performance in previous seasons.[citation needed]

The start of the fourth season was overshadowed by the Yaroslavl air disaster on 7 September 2011 in which almost all members of the team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl lost their lives shortly after take-off for their flight to their season-opening game in Minsk. The Opening Cup game in Ufa, which was already underway when news of the disaster arrived, was suspended. In memory of the disaster, 7 September remained a day of mourning on which no KHL regular-season games took place,[7] until after the 2017–18 KHL season.

Journalist Vsevolod Kukushkin acted as the first press secretary for the league, after it evolved from the Superleague.[8]

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the National Hockey League suspended operation of its Memorandum of Understanding with the KHL.[9] An NHL memo instructed NHL teams to "immediately cease all dealings [direct or indirect] with the KHL and KHL Clubs [and all representatives of both], as well as with player agents who are based in and continue to do business in Russia."[9]

Team changes[edit]

Main articles: Kontinental Hockey League team changes and Potential Kontinental Hockey League expansion
Finnish team Jokerit joined the league in 2014

2009-2014[edit]

In the 2009–10 season, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg joined the KHL and Khimik Voskresensk was transferred to a lower league.

In the 2010-11 season, Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk joined the league.

After several attempts by teams from Central Europe and Scandinavia to join the KHL, expansion beyond the borders of the former Soviet Union was finally realized in 2011. Lev Poprad, a newly founded team based in Poprad, Slovakia was admitted to the league. But after only one season, Lev was replaced by a team of the same name, Lev Praha, from Prague, Czech Republic, while Slovan Bratislava from Bratislava, Slovakia and Ukraine's Donbass from Donetsk joined the KHL as expansion teams for the 2012–13 season.[10] Lev and Slovan qualified for the playoffs in their first KHL season.

In 2013, Medveščak from Zagreb, Croatia, previously playing in the Austrian Hockey League, and Russian expansion team Admiral Vladivostok joined the league, thus expanding the league even further.[11] The league comprised 28 teams during the 2013–14 season, of which 21 were based in Russia and 7 located in the other countries.

In 2014, Finnish team Jokerit from Helsinki, Lada Togliatti (which previously played in the league), and newly created team HC Sochi joined the league.[12] However, HC Donbass did not play in the league for the 2014–15 season, due to the Russian intervention in Ukraine, but had intended to rejoin later.[13] Two other teams, Lev Praha and Spartak Moscow, also withdrew from the 2014–15 season due to financial problems.[14][15]

2015-2019[edit]

Prior to the 2015–16 season, Atlant Moscow Oblast withdrew from the KHL due to financial issues, while Spartak Moscow returned after a one-year hiatus.[16]

The newly created Chinese club HC Kunlun Red Star from Beijing was admitted for the 2016–17 season.[17]

Prior to the 2017–18 season, Medveščak Zagreb withdrew from the league to rejoin the Austrian league and Metallurg Novokuznetsk was sent down to the VHL.[18]

After the end of the 2018–19 season, HC Slovan Bratislava withdrew from the KHL due to financial issues to rejoin the Slovak Tipsport Liga.[19]

2020-present[edit]

On 24 February 2022, Jokerit announced the team would withdraw from the league for the remainder of the season, including the playoffs, due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[20] On 27 February 2022, Dinamo Riga announced that they too would withdraw for the same reasons.[21]

Season structure[edit]

Portrait
Portrait
Original logo in Latin script and Cyrillic script until 2016

Since 2009, the league has been divided into East and West conferences. In the current season, both conferences include 12 teams divided into two divisions of 6 teams. Each team plays four games against each division opponent (20), three games against each non-division conference opponent (18), and two games against each non-conference opponent (24) for a total of 62 games.[22]

The eight top-ranked teams in each conference receive playoff berths. Within each conference quarterfinals, semifinals and finals are played before the conference winners play against each other for the Gagarin Cup. The division winners are seeded first and second in their conference, based on their regular-season record. All playoff rounds are played as best-of-seven series. In each round, the top-seeded remaining team is paired with the lowest-seeded team, etc.[23]

In the 2012–13 season, the Nadezhda Cup (Cup of Hope) was introduced, a consolation tournament for the teams who did not qualify for the playoffs. The winning team in the tournament wins the first overall pick in the KHL Junior Draft. The tournament is intended to extend the season and help maintain interest in hockey in the cities of these teams, and help players of national teams prepare for upcoming World Championships.[24]

Teams[edit]

class=notpageimage|
Western conference teams (Divisions: Red pog.svg: Bobrov, Gold pog.svg: Tarasov, Steel pog.svg: Moscow and Moscow Oblast: see separate Map)
class=notpageimage|
Moscow and Moscow Oblast teams (Divisions: Red pog.svg: Bobrov, Gold pog.svg: Tarasov)
class=notpageimage|
Eastern conference teams (Divisions: Blue pog.svg:Kharlamov, Green pog.svg: Chernyshev)
Division Team City Arena Capacity Founded Joined Head Coach Captain
Western Conference
Bobrov SKA Saint Petersburg Russia Saint Petersburg Ice Palace 12,300 1946 2008 Russia Roman Rotenberg Russia Anton Burdasov
HC Sochi Russia Sochi Bolshoy Ice Dome 12,000 2014 Russia Andrei Nazarov Russia Nikita Tochitsky
Spartak Moscow Russia Moscow Megasport Arena 12,126 1946 2008 Russia Boris Mironov Russia Sergei Shirokov
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod Russia Nizhny Novgorod Trade Union Sport Palace 5,500 1947 2008 Canada David Nemirovsky Russia Ziyat Paigin
HC Vityaz Russia Podolsk Vityaz Ice Palace 5,500 1996 2008 Russia Yuri Babenko Russia Fyodor Malykhin
Tarasov CSKA Moscow Russia Moscow CSKA Arena 12,100 1946 2008 Russia Sergei Fedorov Russia Sergei Andronov
Dinamo Minsk Belarus Minsk Minsk-Arena 15,086 2004 2008 Canada Craig Woodcroft Belarus Dmitry Korobov
Dynamo Moscow Russia Moscow VTB Arena 10,495 1946 2008 Russia Alexei Kudashov Russia Vadim Shipachyov
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Russia Yaroslavl Arena 2000 9,070 1959 2008 Kazakhstan Igor Nikitin Russia Alexei Marchenko
Severstal Cherepovets Russia Cherepovets Ice Palace 5,583 1956 2008 Russia Andrei Razin Russia Yegor Morozov
Eastern Conference
Kharlamov Ak Bars Kazan Russia Kazan TatNeft Arena 8,895 1956 2008 Russia Dmitri Kvartalnov Russia Danis Zaripov
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg Russia Yekaterinburg KRK Uralets 5,545 2006 2009 Russia Nikolai Zavarukhin Russia Nikita Tryamkin
Red Star Kunlun China Beijing (Mytishchi) Mytishchi Arena[a] 7,000 2016 Italy Ivano Zanatta China Brandon Yip
Metallurg Magnitogorsk Russia Magnitogorsk Arena Metallurg 7,704 1950 2008 Russia Ilya Vorobyov Russia Yegor Yakovlev
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk Russia Nizhnekamsk SCC Arena 5,500 1968 2008 Belarus Oleg Leontyev Russia Marat Khairullin
Traktor Chelyabinsk Russia Chelyabinsk Traktor Ice Arena 7,500 1947 2008 Russia Anvar Gatiyatulin Russia Sergei Kalinin
Chernyshev Admiral Vladivostok Russia Vladivostok Fetisov Arena 5,500 2013 Latvia Leonīds Tambijevs Russia Dmitry Lugin
Amur Khabarovsk Russia Khabarovsk Platinum Arena 7,100 1966 2008 Russia Mikhail Kravets Czech Republic Michal Jordan
Avangard Omsk Russia Omsk (Balashikha) Balashikha Arena[b] 5,678 1950 2008 Canada Bob Hartley Russia Alexei Emelin
Barys Nur-Sultan Kazakhstan Nur-Sultan Barys Arena 11,502 1999 2008 Kazakhstan Yuri Mikhailis Kazakhstan Roman Starchenko
Salavat Yulaev Ufa Russia Ufa Ufa Arena 8,070 1957 2008 Finland Tomi Lämsä Russia Grigori Panin
Sibir Novosibirsk Russia Novosibirsk Ice Sports Palace Sibir 7,420 1962 2008 Russia Andrei Martemyanov Russia Yevgeni Chesalin
  1. ^ Due to the on-going travel restrictions against the COVID-19 pandemic, Kunlun Red Star determined that they would be unable to play in Cadillac Arena situated in Beijing, China for the 2020–21 season. In August, the club signed a contract to play out of Mytishchi Arena located on the outskirts of Moscow.
  2. ^ In 2018, Avangard Omsk's former arena, Arena Omsk, was found to be structurally deficient, and had to be demolished. The club currently plays at Balashikha Arena temporarily until a new arena in Omsk is constructed.

Former KHL Teams[edit]

Name City Arena Creation Seasons
Russia Khimik Voskressensk Voskresensk Podmoskovie Ice Palace 2005 2008-2009
Russia HC MVD Balashikha Balashikha Arena 2004 2008-2010
Slovakia Lev Poprad Poprad Poprad Ice Stadium 2010 2011-2012
Ukraine HC Donbass Donetsk Druzhba Arena 2001 2012-2014
Czech Republic Lev Praha Prague Tipsport Arena 2012 2012-2014
Russia Atlant Mytichtchi Mytishchi Mytishchi Arena 1953 2008-2015
Croatia Medveščak Zagreb Zagreb Dom Sportova 1961 2013-2017
Russia Lada Togliatti Togliatti Volgar Sports Palace 1976 2008-2018
Russia Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk Arena Ugra 2006 2010-2018
Slovakia Slovan Bratislava Bratislava Ondrej Nepela Arena 1921 2012-2019
Finland Jokerit Helsinki Helsinki Hartwall Arena 1967 2014-2022
Latvia Dinamo Riga Riga Arena Riga 2008 2008-2022

Players[edit]

KHL match SKA Saint Petersburg vs. Dynamo Moscow
KHL match in O2 Arena, Prague

Though now not as restrictive in maintaining an exclusively Russian composition of players and teams, Russian teams are still not allowed to sign more than five foreign players, while non-Russian teams must have at least five players from their respective countries. Foreign goaltenders on Russian teams are subject to a limit regarding their total seasonal ice time.[25]

Prior to the inaugural season, several KHL teams signed several players from the NHL.[26] A dispute between the two leagues over some of these signings was supposed to have been resolved by an agreement signed on 10 July 2008, whereby each league would honor the contracts of the other, but the signing of Alexander Radulov was made public one day after the agreement (though it was actually signed two days prior to the agreement taking effect),[27] leading to an investigation by the International Ice Hockey Federation.[28] On 4 October 2010, the conflict between the leagues was settled when both signed a new agreement to honor one another's contracts.[29]

The league set up rules for the NHL lockout which lasted from 16 September 2012 to 12 January 2013. According to the special regulations, each KHL team was allowed to add up to three NHL players to its roster, with only one foreign player allowed.[30] More than 40 NHL players, the majority of them Russians, played in the KHL during the lockout.

KHL players are represented by the Kontinental Hockey League Players' Trade Union.[31]

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, some non-Russian players elected to leave their teams, at the risk of forfeiting their salaries. The departing players included former NHL forwards Markus Granlund, who had just won an Olympic gold medal, and Nick Shore, a 2022 U.S. Olympian, as well as Geoff Platt, Kenny Agostino, Teemu Hartikainen, Philip Larsen, Sakari Manninen, Harri Sateri, Jyrki Jokipakka, Joakim Nordstrom, Lucas Wallmark, and Juho Olkinuora.[9][32]

Nationalities of players[edit]

During the 2013-2014 season, players representing 16 nations have played at least one game in the KHL.[33] A player's nationality is for various reasons sometimes ambiguous. For the table presented below, the nationality "is determined based on the last country that the player represented in international competition. If a player has never played for a national team, usually the country of birth is chosen as the player nationality, unless there is strong evidence indicating otherwise".[34] For players born in former Soviet republics, the situation is often more complex due to dual citizenship and naturalization. Therefore, a list of players born in Ukraine gives case-by-case details for some of those players. In some cases, players can change their nationality registration with the league on a year-by-year basis, and their nationality with the league may not match that of their International Ice Hockey Federation registration. Non-Russians represent about 30-35% of the KHL players and are mostly Central European, Nordic, and North American. In 2015–16, more than 950 players played in the league (see table below). Russian teams are limited to a maximum of 5 foreign players per squad.[35]

Country (current number of teams) Players active
(2012–13)[36] 		Players active
(2013–14)[37] 		Players active
(2014–15)[38] 		Players active
(2015–16)[39] 		Players active
(2016–17)[40] 		Players active
(2017–18)[41] 		Players active
(2018–19)[42] 		Players active
(2019–20)[43] 		Players active
(2020–21)[44]
Austria Austria – – – – – – – – 1
Belarus Belarus (1 team) 33 43 50 41 38 39 35 49 50
Belgium Belgium – – – – 1 – – – –
Canada Canada 32 63 51 35 53 51 58 60 47
China China (1 team) – – – – 3 – 2 – –
Croatia Croatia 1 4 4 4 6 2 1 – –
Czech Republic Czech Republic 45 47 29 35 35 33 28 20 23
Denmark Denmark – 1 2 4 3 5 6 4 3
Finland Finland 40 37 51 48 51 42 45 46 54
France France – – 1 1 2 – 3 1 1
Germany Germany 1 2 2 1 – – – 2 3
Italy Italy – – – 2 2 – – – –
Israel Israel – – – – – 1 – – –
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan (1 team) 33 37 34 40 37 38 33 38 30
Latvia Latvia 35 34 29 34 33 33 29 35 34
Lithuania Lithuania – – – – – 2 1 1 –
Norway Norway 3 3 3 1 – 1 – – –
Russia Russia (19 teams) 569 599 613 657 678 661 596 586 659
Slovakia Slovakia 53 44 32 28 28 24 24 6 6
Slovenia Slovenia – 2 4 4 4 4 3 – –
South Korea South Korea 1 1 – – – – – – –
Sweden Sweden 24 21 27 26 23 25 24 30 33
Switzerland Switzerland – – – – 1 – – 1 –
Ukraine Ukrainea 12 17 2 2 4 2 – – –
United States United States 14 21 26 20 25 20 20 14 17
Total 896 976 960 983 1,027 983 908 893 961

Trophies and awards[edit]

Gagarin Cup

The winner of the playoff is awarded the Gagarin Cup. The highest placed Russian team is awarded the title of the Russian champion. The team ranked first in the standings after the regular season, i.e. the winner of the regular season, is awarded the Continental Cup[45] (Russian: Кубок Континента, Kubok Kontinenta). The winners of the conference finals are awarded the Eastern Conference Champion Cup (Russian: Кубок Победителю конференции Восток, Kubok Pobeditelyu konferentsii Vostok) and the Western Conference Champion Cup (Russian: Кубок Победителю конференции Запад, Kubok Pobeditelyu konferentsii Zapad).[46]

The KHL presents annual awards to its most successful players. The KHL also awards the Opening Cup annually to the winner of the first game between the Gagarin Cup winner and the runner-up of the previous season. On 10 September 2011, three days after the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash, the KHL head office decided to honor the deceased in the 2011 Opening Cup.[47] The League gives the Andrey Starovoytov Award annually to its referees of the year, also called the "Golden Whistle".[48]

Seasons overview[edit]

Season Teams Gold medal icon.svg Gagarin Cup Winner Silver medal icon.svg Gagarin Cup finalist Final score Continental Cup Winner Top scorer
2008–09 24 Ak Bars Kazan Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4–3 Salavat Yulaev Ufa* (129 points) Sergei Mozyakin (76 points: 34 G, 42 A)
2009–10 24 Ak Bars Kazan HC MVD 4–3 Salavat Yulaev Ufa (129 points) Sergei Mozyakin (66 points: 27 G, 39 A)
2010–11 23 Salavat Yulaev Ufa Atlant Moscow Oblast 4–1 Avangard Omsk (118 points) Alexander Radulov (80 points: 20 G, 60 A)
2011–12 23 Dynamo Moscow Avangard Omsk 4–3 Traktor Chelyabinsk (114 points) Alexander Radulov (63 points: 25 G, 38 A)
2012–13 26 Dynamo Moscow Traktor Chelyabinsk 4–2 SKA Saint Petersburg (115 points) Sergei Mozyakin (76 points: 35 G, 41 A)
2013–14 28 Metallurg Magnitogorsk HC Lev Praha 4–3 Dynamo Moscow (115 points) Sergei Mozyakin (73 points: 34 G, 39 A)
2014–15 28 SKA Saint Petersburg Ak Bars Kazan 4–1 CSKA Moscow (139 points) Alexander Radulov (71 points: 24 G, 47 A)
2015–16 28 Metallurg Magnitogorsk CSKA Moscow 4–3 CSKA Moscow (127 points) Sergei Mozyakin (67 points: 32 G, 35 A)
2016–17 29 SKA Saint Petersburg Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4–1 CSKA Moscow (137 points) Sergei Mozyakin (85 points: 48 G, 37 A)
2017–18 27 Ak Bars Kazan CSKA Moscow 4–1 SKA Saint Petersburg (138 points) Ilya Kovalchuk (63 points: 31 G, 32 A)
2018–19 25 CSKA Moscow Avangard Omsk 4–0 CSKA Moscow (106 points) Nikita Gusev (82 points: 17 G, 65 A)
2019–20 24 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic CSKA Moscow (94 points) Vadim Shipachyov (65 points: 17 G, 48 A)
2020–21 23 Avangard Omsk CSKA Moscow 4–2 CSKA Moscow (91 points) Vadim Shipachyov (66 points; 20 G, 46 A)

*: In the first season, Salavat Yulaev Ufa was the winner of the regular season, but the Continental Cup was not yet awarded.

Season Opening Cup Winner Nadezhda Cup Winner Priceless Player (MVP)
2008–09 Salavat Yulaev Ufa Nadezhda Cup not yet introduced Danis Zaripov
2009–10 Ak Bars Kazan Alexander Radulov
2010–11 Dynamo Moscow Alexander Radulov
2011–12 Salavat Yulaev Ufa Alexander Radulov
2012–13 Dynamo Moscow Dinamo Riga Sergei Mozyakin
2013–14 Dynamo Moscow Avangard Omsk Sergei Mozyakin
2014–15 Metallurg Magnitogorsk Cancelled due to economic reasons Alexander Radulov
2015–16 CSKA Moscow Not contested Sergei Mozyakin
2016–17 Metallurg Magnitogorsk Sergei Mozyakin
2017–18 SKA Saint Petersburg Nikita Gusev
2018–19 SKA Saint Petersburg Kirill Kaprizov
2019–20 Avangard Omsk none

Statistics[edit]

Single season records[edit]

Regular season[edit]

[49]

Record Name Season
Points 85 Russia Sergei Mozyakin (Magnitogorsk) 2016–17
Goals 48 Russia Sergei Mozyakin (Magnitogorsk) 2016–17
Assists 65 Russia Nikita Gusev (SKA) 2018–19
Shots on goal 253 Canada Darren Dietz (Barys) 2018–19
Plus/minus +48 Russia Vladislav Gavrikov (SKA) 2018–19
Penalty minutes 374 Canada Darcy Verot (Chekhov) 2009–10
Wins 38 Czech Republic Jakub Kovář (Avtomobilist) 2018–19
Shutouts 13 Russia Alexei Murygin (Yaroslavl) 2015–16

Playoffs[edit]

[49]

Record Name Season
Points 33 Russia Sergei Mozyakin (Magnitogorsk) 2013–14
Goals 15 Russia Evgenii Dadonov (SKA) 2014–15
Russia Danis Zaripov (Magnitogorsk) 2016–17
Assists 20 Russia Sergei Mozyakin (Magnitogorsk) 2013–14
Canada Chris Lee (Magnitogorsk) 2016–17
Shots on goal 82 Russia Evgeny Kuznetsov (Chelyabinsk) 2012–13
Plus/minus +16 Slovakia Dominik Graňák (Dynamo Moscow) 2012–13
Canada Chris Lee (Magnitogorsk) 2016–17
Penalty minutes 69 Russia Maxim Goncharov (Ufa) 2015–16
Wins 16 Russia Alexander Yeryomenko (Dynamo Moscow) 2011–12, 2012–13
Russia Vasily Koshechkin (Magnitogorsk) 2013–14
Finland Mikko Koskinen (SKA) 2014–15
Russia Emil Garipov (Kazan) 2017–18
Russia Ilya Sorokin (CSKA Moscow) 2018–19
Shutouts 7 Sweden Lars Johansson (CSKA Moscow) 2020–21

Career records[edit]

Regular season[edit]

[49]

Record Name Years
Points 756 Russia Sergei Mozyakin (Atlant, Magnitogorsk) 2008–2021
Goals 351 Russia Sergei Mozyakin (Atlant, Magnitogorsk) 2008–2021
Assists 477 Russia Vadim Shipachyov (Cherepovets, Saint Petersburg, Dynamo Moscow) 2008–2022
Games played 723 Russia Yevgeny Biryukov (Ufa, Magnitogorsk) 2008–2022
Plus/minus +201 Russia Vadim Shipachyov (Cherepovets, Saint Petersburg, Dynamo Moscow) 2008–2022
Penalty minutes 1088 Russia Evgeny Artyukhin (Saint Petersburg, Atlant, CSKA Moscow, Novosibirsk, Dynamo Moscow, Vityaz, Admiral, Neftekhimik) 2008–2022
Wins 281 Russia Vasily Koshechkin (Togliatti, Magnitogorsk, Cherepovets) 2008–2022
Shutouts 73 Russia Vasily Koshechkin (Togliatti, Magnitogorsk, Cherepovets) 2008–2022

Playoffs[edit]

[49]

Record Name Years
Points 172 Russia Sergei Mozyakin (Atlant, Magnitogorsk) 2008–2021
Goals 68 Russia Sergei Mozyakin (Atlant, Magnitogorsk) 2008–2021
Assists 104 Russia Sergei Mozyakin (Atlant, Magnitogorsk) 2008–2021
Games played 161 Russia Yevgeny Biryukov (Magnitogorsk, Ufa) 2008–2021
Plus/minus +52 Russia Danis Zaripov (Kazan, Magnitogorsk) 2008–2021
Penalty minutes 312 Russia Grigori Panin (Kazan, CSKA Moscow, Ufa) 2008–2021
Wins 71 Russia Vasily Koshechkin (Togliatti, Magnitogorsk, Cherepovets) 2008–2021
Shutouts 16 Russia Ilya Sorokin (CSKA Moscow) 2015–2020

KHL's longest match[edit]

Match time Date Match Home Visitor Result Overtime goal scorer
142:09 mins 22 March 2018 5. Conference Semi-Finals CSKA Jokerit 1-2 Finland Mika Niemi

All-time team records[edit]

Since its foundation in 2008, 35 different clubs have played in the KHL, with 32 having qualified for at least one postseason. Of the 24 founding teams, only Metallurg Novokuznetsk and Khimik Voskresensk had never qualified for the playoffs (both are no longer in the league). The table gives the final regular-season ranks for all teams, with the playoff performance encoded in colors. The teams are ordered by their best championship results.

 [a]: Includes record of Dynamo Moscow before the merger with HC MVD in 2010

 [b]: Did not participate in the 2011–12 season due to the deadly air disaster on 7 September 2011, that killed the entire team

 [c]: Conference semifinals cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Attendance statistics[edit]

Jokerit - SKA in Helsinki Ice Challenge 2017, with KHL-record attendance (17,645)[50]

Total and average attendance by season, including play-offs:[4]

Season Total Attendance Average Attendance
2008–09 3,886,948 6,233
2009–10 4,223,698 6,264
2010–11 4,293,271 6,944
2011–12 4,320,908 6,861
2012–13 4,775,086 6,912
2013–14 5,190,133 6,614
2014–15 6,066,093 7,405
2015–16 5,875,645 7,065
2016–17 5,892,889 7,210
2017–18 5,318,175 7,005
2018–19 5,644,804 7,544
2019–20 5,118,949 6,854

All-Star Game[edit]

Main article: Kontinental Hockey League All-Star Game

The Kontinental Hockey League All-Star Game is an exhibition game held annually at the midway point (usually January or February) of the season, with the league's star players playing against each other. Previously played in a "Russian players versus the rest of the world" format, now it is Eastern versus Western Conference.

See also[edit]

Preceded by Kontinental Hockey League
2008—present 		Succeeded by
none

References[edit]

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  4. ^ a b "Хоккей. КХЛ. Регулярный чемпионат 2016/2017 - Факты". Championat.com.
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  7. ^ "Day of Remembrance in honor of Lokomotiv". 7 September 2013. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
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  9. ^ a b c Schram, Carol. "NHL Suspends Dealings With KHL As Russia's Ukraine Invasion Impacts Hockey World". Forbes.
  10. ^ "Lev from Slovakia to Prague". IIHF.com. 30 March 2012. Archived from the original on 24 August 2013.
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  12. ^ "Welcome, Jokerit and Sochi; welcome back, Lada". 30 April 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  13. ^ "Donbass to miss 2014–15 season". 19 June 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  14. ^ "Naděje vyhasla. Lev Praha definitivně končí v KHL". 1 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  15. ^ "У министра конструктивная позиция по легионерам". 22 April 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  16. ^ "League confirms format for 2015-16 season". en.khl.ru.
  17. ^ KHL (25 June 2016). "It's Official! Kunlun Red Star joins the KHL". en.KHL.ru. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  18. ^ "League confirms list of participant clubs for 2017-18 Championship". Khl. 25 May 2017.
  19. ^ "Slovan Bratislava officially leaves KHL". Eurohockey.com.
  20. ^ "Finnish club leaving KHL ahead of playoffs amid Russian invasion of Ukraine". Yahoo! Sports. 24 February 2022.
  21. ^ "Latvia's Dinamo Riga withdraws from KHL amidst Ukraine invasion". p. 1. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  22. ^ "League confirms structure, conference, and divisions for the new season". 7 May 2019.
  23. ^ "KHL Championship – Russian Ice Hockey Championship 2012/2013. Stage 2 Guidelines" (PDF). khl.ru. 27 June 2012.
  24. ^ "Cup of Hope". khl.ru. 22 January 2013.
  25. ^ "Навстречу Федерации, во имя Сочи". khl.ru. 11 April 2012.
  26. ^ "Emery signs one-year deal with Russian team". TSN. 9 July 2008. Archived from the original on 15 July 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  27. ^ "Sports News & latest headlines from AOL". AOL.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  28. ^ "Predator inks debatable deal – iihf.com". Archived from the original on 16 December 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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External links[edit]

Official KHL
Third party
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