Kontinental Hockey League
Current season, competition or edition: 2015–16 KHL season |
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| Formerly | Russian Superleague |
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| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Founded | 2008 |
| President | Dmitry Chernyshenko |
| Motto | Хоккей – наша игра! Khokkey - nasha igra! (Hockey is our game!)[1] |
| No. of teams | 28 |
| Country |  Belarus (1 team) Croatia (1 team) Finland (1 team) Kazakhstan (1 team) Latvia (1 team) Russia (22 teams) Slovakia (1 team) |
| Most recent champion(s) | SKA Saint Petersburg (1st title) |
| Most titles | Ak Bars Kazan (2) Dynamo Moscow (2) |
| TV partner(s) |
List of TV stations
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| Related competitions | Supreme Hockey League (VHL) Junior Hockey League (MHL) |
| Official website | en.KHL.ru |
The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) (Russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya hokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises 28 member clubs based in Belarus, Croatia, Finland, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Russia and Slovakia and it is planned to expand to more countries. It is widely considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in Europe and Asia, and second in the world behind the NHL.[6]
The Gagarin Cup is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season. The title of Champion of Russia is given to the highest ranked Russian team.[7]
Contents
History[edit]
Establishment[edit]
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 4 divisions, based on the performance in previous seasons. The first season ended in April 2009 with Ak Bars Kazan becoming the first ever winner of the Gagarin Cup. In an effort to reduce the large travel distances for the teams, the second season saw the introduction of two conferences (East and West) and the re-alignment of the divisions according to geographical criteria. In the Gagarin Cup finals, teams from the East dominated with Ak Bars Kazan winning twice and Salavat Yulaev Ufa once.[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 under way when news of the disaster arrived, was abandoned and the start of the season postponed by five days. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl was forced to withdraw from the KHL season, but later played part of the VHL season and returned to the KHL in 2012. In memory of the disaster, 7 September remains a day of mourning on which no KHL regular season games are held.[8]
Team changes[edit]
In the 2009-10 season, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg joined the KHL and Khimik Voskresensk was transferred to a lower league. Next season HC Yugra joined.
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 Slovakia and Ukraine's Donbass joined the KHL as expansion teams.[9] Lev and Slovan managed to draw considerable public interest and qualified for the play-offs in their first KHL season.
In 2013 Medveščak from Croatia and Russian Admiral Vladivostok joined the league, thus expanding the league even further.[10] The league comprised 28 teams during the 2013-14 season, of which 21 are based in Russia and 7 more are 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.[11] However, HC Donbass is not playing in the league this season, due to the political instability in Ukraine, but intends to rejoin later.[12] Two other teams, Lev Praha and Spartak Moscow, also withdrew from the 2014-2015 season due to financial problems.[13][14]
Prior to the 2015–16 season, Atlant Moscow Oblast withdrew from the KHL and Spartak Moscow returned.[15]
Season structure[edit]
Since 2009, the league is divided into East and West conferences. In the current season, each conference includes 14 teams divided into two divisions, 7 teams per division. During the regular season, each team plays 60 games: four games against each team in their own division, two games against each of the remaining teams in the same conference, one game against each team of the other conference and 8 extra games against selected opponents.
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.[16] In the playoffs, overtime periods last 20 minutes (or until a goal is scored). The number of overtime periods is not limited.
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 Championship.[17]
Teams[edit]
: Bobrov, 
: Tarasov, 
: Moscow and Moscow Oblast: see separate Map)
a HC Donbass unable to play in 2015/16 due to military conflict in Donbass region.
b Lada Togliatti formerly played in Kontinental Hockey League from 2008/09 to 2009/10.
An asterisk (*) denotes a franchise relocation. See the respective team articles for more information.
Players[edit]
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 country. Foreign goaltenders on Russian teams have a limit regarding total seasonal ice time.[18]
Prior to the inaugural season, several KHL teams signed several players from the NHL.[19] A dispute between the two leagues over some of these signings was supposed to have been resolved by an agreement signed on July 10, 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),[20] leading to an investigation by the International Ice Hockey Federation.[21] On October 4, 2010, the conflict between the leagues was settled when both signed a new agreement to honor one another's contracts.[22]
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, among them at most one foreign player.[23] 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.[24]
Notable active players[edit]
The top five point scoring players in the 2011–12 season were Alexander Radulov (63 pts), Tony Mårtensson and Vadim Schipachev (59 pts each), Brandon Bochenski (58 pts) and Kevin Dallman (54 pts). The top goal scorers were Brandon Bochenski with 27, followed by Alexander Radulov and Danis Zaripov (25 each), Maxim Pestushko (24) and Tony Mårtensson with 23. The top plus-minus rating went to Tony Mårtensson who was a +35. The top goaltenders (by wins) were Michael Garnett (29), Jakub Štěpánek (21), Rastislav Staňa and Chris Holt (20 each) and Karri Rämö (19).
Nationalities of players[edit]
During the current season, players representing 16 nations have played at least one game in the KHL.[25] 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".[26] 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 40% of the KHL players, and are mostly Central European, Nordic, and North American. In 2013–14, more than 900 players played in the league (see table below).
| Country (current number of teams) | Players active (2012–13)[27] |
Players active (2013–14)[28] |
Players active (2014–15)[29] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belarus (1 team) |
33 | 40 | 45 |
 Canada |
36 | 69 | 56 |
| Croatia (1 team) |
– | 3 | 2 |
 Czech Republic |
46 | 47 | 29 |
 Denmark |
– | 1 | 2 |
| Finland (1 team) |
40 | 37 | 50 |
 France |
- | - | 1 |
 Germany |
1 | 3 | 3 |
| Kazakhstan (1 team) |
30 | 29 | 28 |
| Latvia (1 team)a |
35 | 32 | 29 |
 Norway |
3 | 3 | 3 |
| Russia (22 teams) |
540 | 573 | 594 |
| Slovakia (1 team) |
51 | 43 | 32 |
 Slovenia |
– | 2 | 4 |
 Sweden |
24 | 22 | 28 |
 Ukraineb |
11 | 12 | 3 |
 United States |
13 | 20 | 27 |
| Total | 863 | 909 | 936 |
a - For further information, see: List of Latvians in the KHL
b - For further information, see: List of Ukrainians in the KHL
Trophies and awards[edit]
The winner of the playoff is awarded the Gagarin Cup, the KHL Champion title and the Russian Champion title, regardless of the country the club represents. The team ranked first in the standings after the regular season, i.e. the winner of the regular season, is awarded the Continental Cup[30] (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).[31]
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 September 10, 2011, three days after the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster, the KHL head office decided to honor the deceased in the 2011 Opening Cup.[32]
Seasons overview[edit]
| Season |  Gagarin Cup Winner |
 Gagarin Cup finalist |
Continental Cup Winner | Top scorer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | Ak Bars Kazan | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl | Salavat Yulaev Ufa* (129 points) | Sergei Mozyakin (76 points: 34 G, 42 A) |
| 2009–10 | Ak Bars Kazan | HC MVD | Salavat Yulaev Ufa (129 points) | Sergei Mozyakin (66 points: 27 G, 39 A) |
| 2010–11 | Salavat Yulaev Ufa | Atlant Moscow Oblast | Avangard Omsk (118 points) | Alexander Radulov (80 points: 20 G, 60 A) |
| 2011–12 | Dynamo Moscow | Avangard Omsk | Traktor Chelyabinsk (114 points) | Alexander Radulov (63 points: 25 G, 38 A) |
| 2012–13 | Dynamo Moscow | Traktor Chelyabinsk | SKA Saint Petersburg (115 points) | Sergei Mozyakin (76 points: 35 G, 41 A) |
| 2013–14 | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | HC Lev Praha | Dynamo Moscow (115 points) | Sergei Mozyakin (73 points: 34 G, 39 A) |
| 2014–15 | SKA Saint Petersburg | Ak Bars Kazan | CSKA Moscow (139 points) | Alexander Radulov (71 points: 24 G, 47 A) |
| 2015–16 |
*: 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 | Gold Stick Award (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 |
Statistics[edit]
Single season records[edit]
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Regular season[33]
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Playoffs[33]
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Career records[edit]
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Regular season[33]
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Playoffs[33]
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All-time team records[edit]
Since its foundation in 2008, 34 different clubs have played in the KHL, and 30 of them have at least once qualified for the playoffs. Of the current 28 teams, only two have not yet played in the playoffs. 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.[citation needed]
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[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 September 7, 2011, that killed the entire team
Attendance statistics[edit]
Total and average attendance in seasons.[34][35][36][37][38][39]
| Season | Total Attendance | Average Attendance |
|---|---|---|
| 2008-09 | 3,883,947 | 5,298 |
| 2009-10[40] | 4,219,305 | 5,474 |
| 2010-11 | 4,288,666 | 5,785 |
| 2011-12[41] | 4,321,518 | 5,891 |
| 2012-13 | 4,775,366 | 6,106 |
| 2013-14 | 4,596,836 | 6,081 |
| 2014-15 | 5,395,035 | 6,422 |
All-Star Game[edit]
The Kontinental Hockey League All-Star Game is an exhibition game held annually in January or February.[citation needed]
See also[edit]
- Ice Hockey Federation of Russia
- Russian Elite Hockey Scoring Champion
- Russian Elite Hockey Goal Scoring Champion
- List of current KHL team rosters
References[edit]
- ^ Новый игровой ролик КХЛ "Пробка" (in Russian). khl.ru. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
- ^ "Crossing the Atlantic". khl.ru. 2010-04-20.
- ^ a b "Kontinental Hockey League And TV Channel Sport Ratified An Agreement On KHL Championship Games Broadcast In 2009/2010 Season". en.khl.ru. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
- ^ "Kontinental Hockey League Signed An Agreement With Viasat". khl.ru. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
- ^ "Jágr a KHL budou v televizi. Práva koupil Nova sport". Týden.cz. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- ^ "World of difference for KHL?". iihf.com. 2012-05-07. Retrieved 2014-06-14.
- ^ "About the KHL". khl.ru.
- ^ "Day of Remembrance in honor of Lokomotiv". 2013-09-07.
- ^ "Lev from Slovakia to Prague". IIHF.com. 2012-03-30.
- ^ "Medveščak to join the league from 2013-14 season". khl.ru. 2013-04-29.
- ^ "Welcome, Jokerit and Sochi; welcome back, Lada". 2014-04-30. Retrieved 2014-05-03.
- ^ "Donbass to miss 2014-15 season". 2014-06-19. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
- ^ "Naděje vyhasla. Lev Praha definitivně končí v KHL". 2014-07-01. Retrieved 2014-07-01.
- ^ "У министра конструктивная позиция по легионерам". 2014-04-22. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
- ^ League confirms format for 2015-16 season
- ^ "KHL Championship – Russian Ice Hockey Championship 2012/2013. Stage 2 Guidelines" (PDF). khl.ru. 2012-06-27.
- ^ "Cup of Hope". khl.ru. 22 January 2013.
- ^ "Навстречу Федерации, во имя Сочи". khl.ru. 2012-04-11.
- ^ "404". TSN. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ^ "Sports News & latest headlines from AOL". AOL.com. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ^ Predator inks debatable deal - iihf.com
- ^ "NHL signs agreement with KHL". ESPN.com. 2010-10-04. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
- ^ "Door opens for NHL men". khl.ru. 2012-09-17.
- ^ "Kontinental Hockey League Players' Trade Union" (in Russian). Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
- ^ "KHL Totals by Nationality – 2013-14 Stats". quanthockey.com.
- ^ "QuantHockey FAQ: How is player nationality determined?". quanthockey.com.
- ^ 2012-13 KHL season, Quanthockey, Retrieved 24 April 2015
- ^ 2013-14 KHL season, Quanthockey, Retrieved 24 April 2015
- ^ 2014-15 KHL season, Quanthockey, Retrieved 24 April 2015
- ^ "Ufa’s first trophy". khl.ru. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
- ^ "Новые трофеи Лиги". khl.ru. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
- ^ "Официальное заявление КХЛ : Континентальная Хоккейная Лига (КХЛ)". Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Kontinental Hockey League Records".
- ^ Attendance figures in European hockey leagues 2009–2010
- ^ Attendance in Europe and health of the fan culture 10/11
- ^ Regular-Season average attendance Europe & Asia 2011–2012
- ^ Regular-Season average league attendance Europe & Asia 2012–2013
- ^ Attendance KHL 2013/14
- ^ KHL attendance stats 2014-15
- ^ "Attendance 2009-2010". Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ^ Regular-Season average attendance Europe & Asia 2011-2012
External links[edit]
- Official KHL
- Kontinental Hockey League official website
- Kontinental Hockey League official website (Russian)
- Kontinental Hockey League on Facebook
- Kontinental Hockey League on Twitter
- Kontinental Hockey League's channel on YouTube‹The template YouTube user is being considered for deletion.›
- Third party
- KHL vs NHL exhibition games official homepage
- KHL news and stats from Eurohockey
- Kontinental Hockey League Players' Trade Union (Russian)
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