2011–12 KHL season

Expansion to Slovakia

With the admission of Lev Poprad from Poprad, Slovakia the league expanded beyond the borders of the former Soviet Union.[4] This brought the number of teams to 24. However, following a plane crash that claimed the lives of the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl squad (with the exceptions of forward Maxim Zyuzyakin and goaltending coach Jorma Valtonen), Lokomotiv withdrew from the season, leaving only 23 teams as in the previous season.

On 7 September 2011, the day of the season opening, a tragic airplane accident occurred in Yaroslavl in which the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team was killed. After the news broke in Ufa, where the Opening Cup game between Salavat Yulaev Ufa and Atlant Moscow Oblast was already underway, the match was abandoned.[1] Later, the KHL announced that the start of the season would be postponed to 12 September, and that pre-game ceremonies would be held to honour the Lokomotiv team, while arena entertainment would be cancelled.[6] On 10 September, at Lokomotiv's public memorial service team president Yuri Yakovlev announced that they would not participate in the 2011–12 KHL season.[7]

The All-star weekend took place on 20–21 January 2012 in Riga, Latvia.[5] Team Fedorov defeated Team Ozoliņš with 15–11.

Source: KHL.ru[8]

Points are awarded as follows:

• 3 Points for a win in regulation ("W")
• 2 Points for a win in overtime ("OTW") or a penalty shootout ("SOW")
• 1 Point for a loss in overtime ("OTL") or a penalty shootout ("SOL")
• 0 Points for a loss in regulation ("L")

The conference standings determined the seedings for the play-offs. The first two places in each conference are reserved for the division winners.

Note: Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

y – Won division; z – Won conference (and division);
BOB - Bobrov Division, TAR - Tarasov Division

Source: khl.ru[9]

y – Won division; c – Won Continental Cup (best record in KHL);
CHE - Chernyshev Division, KHA - Kharlamov Division

Source: khl.ru[9]

Updated as of the end of the regular season. Source: khl.ru[10]

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus-minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Updated as of the end of the regular season. Source: khl.ru[11]

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SOL = Shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

The following players lead the league in points at the conclusion of the playoffs. Source: khl.ru[12]

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus-minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

The following players lead the league in points at the conclusion of the playoffs. Source: khl.ru[13]

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SOL = Shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Best KHL players of each month.

Month	Goaltender	Defense	Forward	Rookie
September[14]	Jakub Štěpánek (SKA)	Aleksandr Osipov (Amur)	Vadim Schipachev (Severstal)	Andrei Sergeev (CSKA)
October[15]	Michael Garnett (Traktor)	Vitaly Shulakov (Amur)	Vladimir Tarasenko (Sibir)	Nikita Tochitsky (Vityaz)
November[16]	Michael Garnett (Traktor)	Alex Riazantsev (Traktor)	Vadim Schipachev (Severstal)	Sergei Barbashev (CSKA)
December[17]	Ari Ahonen (Metallurg Mg)	Yevgeny Medvedev (Ak Bars)	Alexander Radulov (Salavat Yulaev)	Dmitry Lugin (Amur)
January[18]	Teemu Lassila (Metallurg Nk)	Kevin Dallman (Barys)	Evgeny Kuznetsov (Traktor)	Stanislav Bocharov (Yugra)
February[19]	Alexander Eremenko (Dynamo Msc)	Guntis Galviņš (Riga)	Robert Nilsson (Torpedo)	Roman Tatalin (Vityaz)
March[20]	Michael Garnett (Traktor)	Ilya Gorokhov (Dyn. Moscow)	Vladimir Tarasenko (SKA)	not awarded
April[21]	Alexander Eremenko (Dynamo Msc)	Martin Škoula (Omsk)	Mikhail Anisin (Dynamo Msc)	not awarded

On 23 May 2012, the KHL held their annual award ceremony. A total of 20 different awards were handed out to teams, players, officials and media. The most important trophies are listed in the table below.[22]

Golden Stick Award (regular season MVP)	Alexander Radulov (Ufa)
Best coach	Oļegs Znaroks (Dynamo Msc)
Alexei Cherepanov Award (best rookie)	Dmitry Lugin (Khabarovsk)

The league also awarded six "Golden Helmets" for the members of the all-star team:

Forwards	Alexander Radulov Salavat Yulaev Ufa		Roman Červenka Avangard Omsk		Mikhail Anisin Dynamo Moscow
Defense	Dmitri Kalinin SKA Saint Petersburg			Kevin Dallman Barys Astana
Goalie	Alexander Eremenko Dynamo Moscow