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Kontinental Hockey League

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Kontinental Hockey League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2013–14 KHL season
File:KHL logo 2012.png
FormerlyRussian Superleague
SportIce hockey
Founded2008
CEOAlexander Medvedev
MottoХоккей – наша игра! Khokkey - nasha igra! (Hockey is our game!)[1]
No. of teams28 (for 2013–14)
Country Russia (21 teams)
 Belarus (1 team)
 Kazakhstan (1 team)
 Latvia (1 team)
 Ukraine (1 team)
 Czech Republic (1 team)
 Slovakia (1 team)
 Croatia (1 team)
Most recent
champion(s)		Russia Dynamo Moscow (2nd title)
Most titlesRussia Ak Bars Kazan,
Russia Dynamo Moscow (2 each)
TV partner(s)KHL-TV (Russia (as part of the NTV Plus package), USA and Canada (part of ViaNetTV),[2] Latvia and international through KHL's website)
Russia 2, Sport 1 (Russian TV channel) (Russia)[3]
Viasat (Finland, Sweden,[3] Norway, Denmark, Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia)[4]
TV6 (Latvia) (Latvia)
Nova Sport (Czech Republic, Slovakia)[5]
Sport 1, Sport 2 (Czech Rep., Slovakia, Hungary, Moldova)
Sportdigital.tv (Germany)
ESPN2, ESPN3, MSG Network (United States)
ESPN (UK) (United Kingdom, Ireland)
Premier Sports (United Kingdom)
Eurosport Asia-Pacific (Asia,Oceania)
Sportitalia 2 (Italy)
Hockey TV(Ukraine)
DigiSport (Romania)
RDS (Canada)
Yle (Finland)
Sportklub (Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia)
Related
competitions		Russian Championship
Higher Hockey League (VHL)
Minor Hockey League (MHL)
Official websiteKHL.ru (English)

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) (Template:Lang-ru) is an international professional ice hockey league based in Russia and founded in 2008. It is commonly considered to be the strongest hockey league in Eurasia, and the second-best in the world.[6]

The league was formed in 2008, from a predecessor organization, the Russian Superleague (RSL). The KHL began its operations with 24 teams, 21 of them from Russia and one each from Belarus, Latvia and Kazakhstan . After minor changes in the composition of teams and even a reduction to 23 teams for two seasons, the league started to expand to 26 teams in 2012 with the addition of Slovan Bratislava from Slovakia, Lev Praha from Czech Republic and HC Donbass from Donetsk, Ukraine. In 2013 the league expanded further, both west-ward (with Medveščak Zagreb from Croatia) as well as east-ward (with Admiral Vladivostok at the Pacific coast). Thus, the league currently consists of 28 teams, of which 21 are based in Russia and 7 more are located in Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Slovakia and Ukraine.

The winner of the 16-team playoff after the end of the regular season is awarded the Gagarin Cup, named after the first man to reach space and orbit the Earth, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. The title of Champion of Russia is given to the highest ranked Russian team.[7]

Russians constitute a large majority of the players in the KHL because most teams are located in Russia. Players not from Russia represent a minority of about a third of the KHL players, and are mostly Eastern European, Scandinavian, and North American. In 2012–13, more than 800 players played in the league.

Despite the word "Continental" being spelled with a C and not a K in the English language, the KHL transliterates the word with a K to distinguish it from numerous leagues that are abbreviated as CHL, such as the Canadian Hockey League and the Central Hockey League, and so that its abbreviation can look similar in both the Cyrillic and Roman alphabets.

Season structure

In 2013-14, the league is divided into two conferences, East and West with 14 teams each, and further into two divisions per conference. During the regular season, each team plays 54 games: two games against each of the other teams.

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.[8] 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 preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympics.[9]

History

Founding (2008)

Ak Bars Kazan winning the Gagarin Cup

The KHL was founded in 2008 with 24 teams, the 20 teams from the last season of the Russian Superleague as well as the champion of the 2007–08 season of the second division. In addition, one team each from Latvia, Belarus and Kazakhstan were included. 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.

Introduction of conferences (2009)

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.

Merger of two Moscow region teams (2010)

Before the third season, a new team was created by merging HC MVD with HC Dynamo Moscow to form UHC Dynamo Moscow. Later, the new team was re-branded Dynamo Moscow again.

Yaroslavl air disaster (2011)

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.

Expansion to Central Europe (since 2011)

After several failed attempts of 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 HC Donbass joined the KHL as expansion teams.[10] Lev and Slovan managed to draw considerable public interest and qualified for the play-offs in their first KHL season. In 2013 KHL Medveščak from Croatia is joining the league for the 2013–14 KHL season.[11] The Finnish team Jokerit is joining the league for the season 2014-15.[12]

NHL lockout players (2012–13)

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.[13] More than 40 NHL players, the majority of them Russians, played in the KHL during the lockout.

Seasons overview

Season Duration Gagarin Cup Winner Gagarin Cup finalist Continental Cup Winner Top scorer
2008–09 2 September 2008 -
12 April 2009		 Russia Ak Bars Kazan Russia Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Russia Salavat Yulaev Ufa* (129 points) Russia Sergei Mozyakin (76 points: 34 G, 42 A)
2009–10 10 September 2009 -
27 April 2010		 Russia Ak Bars Kazan Russia HC MVD Russia Salavat Yulaev Ufa (129 points) Russia Sergei Mozyakin (66 points: 27 G, 39 A)
2010–11 8 September 2010 -
16 April 2011		 Russia Salavat Yulaev Ufa Russia Atlant Moscow Oblast Russia Avangard Omsk (118 points) Russia Alexander Radulov (80 points: 20 G, 60 A)
2011–12 12 September 2011 -
25 April 2012		 Russia Dynamo Moscow Russia Avangard Omsk Russia Traktor Chelyabinsk (114 points) Russia Alexander Radulov (63 points: 25 G, 38 A)
2012–13 4 September 2012 -
17 April 2013		 Russia Dynamo Moscow Russia Traktor Chelyabinsk Russia SKA Saint Petersburg(115 points) Russia Sergei Mozyakin (76 points: 35 G, 41 A)

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

Players

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.[14]

Prior to the inaugural season, several KHL teams signed several players from the NHL.[15] 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),[16] leading to an investigation by the International Ice Hockey Federation.[17] On October 4, 2010, the conflict between the leagues was settled when both signed a new agreement to honor one another's contracts.[18]

KHL players are represented by the Kontinental Hockey League Players' Trade Union.[19]

Notable active players

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

During the last season, players representing 13 nations played at least one game in the KHL.[20] 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."[21] 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.

Country Players active
(2012–13)
Russia Russia (20 teams) 510
Slovakia Slovakia (1 team) 50
Czech Republic Czech Republic (1 team) 44
Finland Finland 37
Canada Canada 37
Latvia Latvia (1 team) 33a
Belarus Belarus (1 team) 29
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan (1 team) 28
Sweden Sweden 24
United States United States 13
Ukraine Ukraine (1 team) 11b
Norway Norway 3
Germany Germany 1
TOTAL 821

a - For further information, see: List of Latvians in the KHL

b - For further information, see: List of Ukrainians in the KHL

Teams

class=notpageimage|
Western conference teams (Divisions: : Bobrov, : Tarasov, : Moscow and Moscow Oblast: see separate Map)
class=notpageimage|
Moscow Oblast teams (Divisions: : Bobrov, : Tarasov)
class=notpageimage|
Eastern conference teams (Divisions: :Kharlamov, : Chernyshev)



Template:KHL teams organization

Statistics

Single season records

Regular season[22]

Record Name Season
Points 80 Russia Alexander Radulov (Ufa) 2010–11
Goals 35 Czech Republic Jan Marek (Magnitogorsk)
Czech Republic Pavel Brendl (N. Novgorod)
Slovakia Marcel Hossa (Riga)
Russia Sergei Mozyakin (Magnitogorsk) 		2008–09
2008–09
2009–10
2012–13
Assists 60 Russia Alexander Radulov (Ufa) 2010–11
Shots on goal 234 Canada Kevin Dallman (Astana) 2011–12
Plus/minus +45 Norway Patrick Thoresen (Ufa) 2009–10
Penalty minutes 374 Canada Darcy Verot (Chekhov) 2009–10
Wins (goaltender) 33 Finland Karri Rämö (Omsk) 2010–11
Shutouts 9 United States Robert Esche (St. Petersburg) 2008–09

Playoffs[22]

Record Name Season
Points 22 Czech Republic Josef Vašíček (Yaroslavl) 2010–11
Goals 14 Russia Mikhail Anisin (Dyn. Moscow) 2011–12
Assists 15 Czech Republic Josef Vašíček (Yaroslavl)
Slovakia Pavol Demitra (Yaroslavl)
Norway Patrick Thoresen (Ufa)
Russia Alexander Radulov (Ufa)
Russia Denis Kokarev (Dynamo Msc) 		2010–11
2010–11
2010–11
2010–11
2012–13
Shots on goal 82 Russia Evgeny Kuznetsov (Chelyabinsk) 2012–13
Plus/minus +16 Slovakia Dominik Graňák (Dynamo Msc) 2012–13
Penalty minutes 69 Russia Grigori Panin (Kazan) 2008–09
Wins (goaltender) 16 Russia Alexander Eremenko (Dyn. Moscow) 2011–12
2012–13
Shutouts 5 Russia Georgi Gelashvili (Yaroslavl)
Canada Michael Garnett (Chelyabinsk) 		2008–09
2012–13

Career records

Regular season[22]

Record Name Years
Points 322 Russia Alexander Radulov (Ufa) 2008–2013
Goals 143 Russia Sergei Mozyakin (Mytishchi, Magnitogorsk) 2008–2013
Assists 209 Russia Alexander Radulov (Ufa) 2008–2013
Games played 269 Russia Anton Glinkin (Chelyabinsk)

Russia Denis Sokolov (Nizhnekamsk, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, N. Novgorod)

2008–2013
Plus/minus +110 Russia Alexander Radulov (Ufa) 2008–2013
Penalty minutes 798 Canada Darcy Verot (Chekhov, CSKA) 2008–2012
Wins (goaltender) 101 Canada Michael Garnett (HC MVD, Dynamo M, Chelyabinsk) 2008–2013
Shutouts 32 Russia Vasily Koshechkin (Togliatti, Magnitogorsk, Cherepovets) 2008–2013

Playoffs[22]

Record Name Years
Points 61 Russia Aleksey Morozov (Kazan) 2008–2013
Goals 28 Russia Aleksey Morozov (Kazan) 2008–2013
Assists 41 Russia Alexander Radulov (Ufa, CSKA) 2008–2013
Games played 84 Russia Ilya Gorokhov (Yaroslavl, Ufa, Atlant, Dynamo Msc) 2008–2013
Plus/minus +37 Russia Ilya Gorokhov (Yaroslavl, Ufa, Atlant, Dynamo Msc) 2008–2013
Penalty minutes 182 Russia Fedor Fedorov (Nizhnekamsk, Magnitogorsk, Atlant, SKA) 2008–2013
Wins (goaltender) 41 Russia Alexander Eremenko (Ufa, Dynamo Msc) 2008–2013
Shutouts 8 Russia Georgi Gelashvili (Yaroslavl, Magnitogorsk)

Russia Alexander Eremenko (Ufa, Dynamo Msc)

2008–2013

All-time team records

Since its foundation in 2008, 30 different clubs have played in the KHL, and 25 of them have at least once qualified for the playoffs. Of the current 26 teams, only three 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.

 [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

Total and average attendance in seasons.[23][24][25][26]

Season Total Attendance Average Attendance
2008-09 3,883,947 5,298
2009-10 4,219,305 5,474
2010-11 4,288,666 5,785
2011-12 4,321,518 5,891
2012-13 4,775,366 6,106

Trophies and awards

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[27] (Template:Lang-ru). The winners of the conference finals are awarded the Eastern Conference Champion Cup (Template:Lang-ru) and the Western Conference Champion Cup (Template:Lang-ru).[28]

The KHL presents annual awards to its most successful players. In 2013, a total of 23 trophies in various categories were awarded. Among the winners were Sergei Mozyakin (regular season MVP), Oleg Znarok (coach of the year for the second time in a row) and Valeri Nichushkin (rookie of the year).[29]

The KHL also awards the Lokomotiv Cup annually to the winner of the first game between the Gagarin Cup winner and the runner-up of the previous season. The Cup, originally known as the Opening Cup, was renamed in the wake of the plane crash that killed 36 Lokomotiv players and staff in 2011.

Season Lokomotiv Cup Winner Gold Stick Award (MVP)
2008–09 Russia Salavat Yulaev Ufa Russia Danis Zaripov
2009–10 Russia Ak Bars Kazan Russia Alexander Radulov
2010–11 Russia Dynamo Moscow Russia Alexander Radulov
2011–12 Russia Salavat Yulaev Ufa Russia Alexander Radulov
2012–13 Russia Dynamo Moscow Russia Sergei Mozyakin

All-Star Game

The Kontinental Hockey League All-Star Game is an exhibition game held annually in January or February. Two competing teams consist of the best league's players, which are voted on by fans.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Новый игровой ролик КХЛ "Пробка"" (in Russian). khl.ru. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
  2. ^ "Crossing the Atlantic". khl.ru. 2010-04-20.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Kontinental Hockey League Signed An Agreement With Viasat". khl.ru. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
  5. ^ "Jágr a KHL budou v televizi. Práva koupil Nova sport". Týden.cz. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  6. ^ "World of difference for KHL?". iihf.com. 2012-05-07.
  7. ^ "About the KHL". khl.ru.
  8. ^ "KHL Championship – Russian Ice Hockey Championship 2012/2013. Stage 2 Guidelines" (PDF). khl.ru. 2012-06-27.
  9. ^ "Cup of Hope". khl.ru. 22 January 2013.
  10. ^ "Lev from Slovakia to Prague". IIHF.com. 2012-03-30.
  11. ^ "Medveščak to join the league from 2013-14 season". khl.ru. 2013-04-29.
  12. ^ "Jokerit to join KHL in 2014". www.iihf.com. 2013-07-02.
  13. ^ "Door opens for NHL men". khl.ru. 2012-09-17.
  14. ^ "Навстречу Федерации, во имя Сочи". khl.ru. 2012-04-11.
  15. ^ Emery signs one-year deal with Russian team - tsn.ca
  16. ^ Radulov on His Return to Russia - NHL FanHouse
  17. ^ Predator inks debatable deal - iihf.com
  18. ^ "NHL signs agreement with KHL". ESPN.com. 2010-10-04. Retrieved 2010-10-05. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ "Kontinental Hockey League Players' Trade Union" (in Russian). Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  20. ^ "KHL Totals by Nationality – 2012-13 Stats". quanthockey.com.
  21. ^ "QuantHockey FAQ: How is player nationality determined?". quanthockey.com.
  22. ^ a b c d "Kontinental Hockey League Records".
  23. ^ Attendance figures in European hockey leagues 2009-2010
  24. ^ Attendance in Europe and health of the fan culture 10/11
  25. ^ Regular-Season average attendance Europe & Asia 2011-2012
  26. ^ Regular-Season average league attendance Europe & Asia 2012-2013
  27. ^ "Ufa's first trophy". khl.ru. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
  28. ^ "Новые трофеи Лиги". khl.ru. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
  29. ^ "High Five. Season closing ceremony". KHL.ru. 2013-05-22.
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