Kontinental Hockey League
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 member clubs based in Belarus (1), China (1), Finland (1), Latvia (1), Kazakhstan (1) and Russia (19) for a total of 24. It is widely considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in Europe and Asia, and second in the world behind the National Hockey League.[7][8] KHL has the third-highest average attendance in Europe with 6,121 spectators per game in the regular season,[9] and the highest total attendance in Europe with 5.32 million spectators in the regular season.[10]
Current season, competition or edition: | |
 | |
| Formerly | Russian Superleague |
|---|---|
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Founded | 2008 |
| President | Alexei Morozov |
| Motto | Хоккей – наша игра! Khokkey – nasha igra! Jääkiekko on meidän peli! (Hockey is our game!)[1] |
| No. of teams | 24 |
| Country | |
| Most recent champion(s) | CSKA Moscow (1st title) |
| Most titles | Ak Bars Kazan (3) |
| TV partner(s) | |
| Related competitions |
|
| Official website | en.KHL.ru |
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.[11]
History
Establishment
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.
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 suspended. In memory of the disaster, 7 September remained a day of mourning on which no KHL regular season games took place,[12] 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.[13]
Team changes
In the 2009–10 season, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg joined the KHL and Khimik Voskresensk was transferred to a lower league. Next 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.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16] However, HC Donbass did not play in the league for the 2014–15 season, due to the political instability in Ukraine, but had intended to rejoin later.[17] Two other teams, Lev Praha and Spartak Moscow, also withdrew from the 2014–15 season due to financial problems.[18][19]
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.[20]
The newly created Chinese club HC Kunlun Red Star from Beijing was admitted for the 2016–17 season.[21]
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.[22]
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.[23]
Season structure
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.[24]
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.[25]
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.[26]
Teams
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An asterisk (*) denotes a franchise relocation. See the respective team articles for more information.
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 countries. Foreign goaltenders on Russian teams are subject to a limit regarding their total seasonal ice time.[27]
Prior to the inaugural season, several KHL teams signed several players from the NHL.[28] 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),[29] leading to an investigation by the International Ice Hockey Federation.[30] On 4 October 2010, the conflict between the leagues was settled when both signed a new agreement to honor one another's contracts.[31]
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.[32] 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.[33]
Nationalities of players
During the current season, players representing 16 nations have played at least one game in the KHL.[34] 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".[35] 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. limit on foreigners in the KHL
| 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] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg.png){kind=small} | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – |
.svg.png){kind=small} | 36 | 69 | 56 | 41 | 52 | 53 | 61 |
 | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | 2 |
 | – | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
 | 46 | 47 | 29 | 35 | 35 | 33 | 28 |
 | – | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
 | 40 | 37 | 50 | 47 | 51 | 42 | 45 |
 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | 3 |
 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | – | – | – |
 | – | – | – | 1 | 2 | – | – |
 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 36 | 40 | 38 | 34 |
 | 35 | 34 | 29 | 34 | 33 | 34 | 34 |
 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 |
 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | – | 1 | – |
 | 540 | 573 | 594 | 634 | 679 | 663 | 605 |
 | 51 | 43 | 32 | 27 | 28 | 24 | 24 |
 | – | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
 | 24 | 22 | 28 | 27 | 23 | 25 | 25 |
 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – |
 | 11 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | – |
 | 13 | 20 | 27 | 21 | 23 | 20 | 20 |
| Total | 863 | 938 | 936 | 957 | 1,027 | 913 | 918 |
- a – For further information, see: List of Ukrainians in the KHL
Trophies and awards
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[43] (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).[44]
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.[45] The League gives the Andrey Starovoytov Award annually to its referees of the year, also called the "Golden Whistle".[46]
Seasons overview
*: 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 | TBD |
Statistics
Single season records
Regular season
| Record | Name | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 85 | |
2016–17 |
| Goals | 48 | |
2016–17 |
| Assists | 65 | |
2018–19 |
| Shots on goal | 253 | |
2018–19 |
| Plus/minus | +48 | |
2018–19 |
| Penalty minutes | 374 | |
2009–10 |
| Wins | 38 | |
2018–19 |
| Shutouts | 13 | |
2015–16 |
Playoffs
| Record | Name | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 33 | |
2013–14 |
| Goals | 15 | |
2014–15 |
|
2016–17 | ||
| Assists | 20 | |
2013–14 |
|
2016–17 | ||
| Shots on goal | 82 | |
2012–13 |
| Plus/minus | +16 | |
2012–13 |
|
2016–17 | ||
| Penalty minutes | 69 | |
2015–16 |
| Wins | 16 | |
2011–12, 2012–13 |
|
2013–14 | ||
|
2014–15 | ||
|
2017–18 | ||
|
2018–19 | ||
| Shutouts | 6 | |
2014–15 |
Career records
Regular season
| Record | Name | Years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 735 | |
2008–2020 |
| Goals | 341 | |
2008–2020 |
| Assists | 394 | |
2008–2020 |
| Games played | 647 | |
2008–2020 |
| Plus/minus | +194 | |
2008–2016 |
| Penalty minutes | 1026 | |
2010–2020 |
| Wins | 259 | |
2008–2020 |
| Shutouts | 69 | |
2008–2020 |
Playoffs
| Record | Name | Years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 162 | |
2009–2020 |
| Goals | 64 | |
2009–2020 |
| Assists | 98 | |
2009–2020 |
| Games played | 152 | |
2009–2020 |
| Plus/minus | +52 | |
2009–2020 |
| Penalty minutes | 296 | |
2009–2020 |
| Wins | 68 | |
2009–2020 |
| Shutouts | 16 | |
2015–2020 |
KHL's longest match
| Match time | Date | Match | Home | Visitor | Result | Overtime goal scorer |
| 142:09 mins | 22 March 2018 | 5. Conference Semi-Finals | CSKA | Jokerit | 1-2 | |
All-time team records
Since its foundation in 2008, 35 different clubs have played in the KHL, and 32 of them have at least once qualified for the playoffs. 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.
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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 7 September 2011, that killed the entire team
[c]: Conference semifinals cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Attendance statistics
Total and average attendance by season, including play-offs:[49]
| 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
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
- Ice Hockey Federation of Russia
- List of Soviet and Russian ice hockey champions
- List of Soviet and Russian ice hockey scoring champions
- List of Soviet and Russian ice hockey goal scoring champions
- List of current KHL team rosters
| Preceded by Russian Superleague |
Kontinental Hockey League 2008—present |
Succeeded by none |
References
- Новый игровой ролик КХЛ "Пробка" (in Russian). khl.ru. Archived from the original on 9 August 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
- "Crossing the Atlantic". khl.ru. 20 April 2010.
- "Kontinental Hockey League And TV Channel Sport Ratified An Agreement On KHL Championship Games Broadcast In 2009/2010 Season". en.khl.ru. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
- "Kontinental Hockey League Signed An Agreement With Viasat". khl.ru. Archived from the original on 13 May 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
- "Jágr a KHL budou v televizi. Práva koupil Nova sport". Týden.cz. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
- "KHL Creates Hockey Premier League". 22 March 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
- "World of difference for KHL?". iihf.com. 7 May 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
- "Ranking the Top Ten Hockey Leagues". The Hockey Writers. 10 January 2015.
- "KHL is on the 3rd place by attendance". IIHF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
- "Хоккей. КХЛ. Регулярный чемпионат 2016/2017 - Факты". Championat.com.
- "About the KHL". khl.ru. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
- "Day of Remembrance in honor of Lokomotiv". 7 September 2013. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
- "Russian professional hockey league mounts challenge to NHL". The Hockey News. 11 September 2008. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
- "Lev from Slovakia to Prague". IIHF.com. 30 March 2012. Archived from the original on 24 August 2013.
- "Medveščak to join the league from 2013–14 season". khl.ru. 29 April 2013.
- "Welcome, Jokerit and Sochi; welcome back, Lada". 30 April 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
- "Donbass to miss 2014–15 season". 19 June 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
- "Naděje vyhasla. Lev Praha definitivně končí v KHL". 1 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
- "У министра конструктивная позиция по легионерам". 22 April 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- League confirms format for 2015–16 season
- KHL (25 June 2016). "It's Official! Kunlun Red Star joins the KHL". en.KHL.ru. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
- "League confirms list of participant clubs for 2017-18 Championship". Khl. 25 May 2017.
- "Slovan Bratislava officially leaves KHL". Eurohockey.com.
- "League confirms structure, conference, and divisions for the new season". 7 May 2019.
- "KHL Championship – Russian Ice Hockey Championship 2012/2013. Stage 2 Guidelines" (PDF). khl.ru. 27 June 2012.
- "Cup of Hope". khl.ru. 22 January 2013.
- "Навстречу Федерации, во имя Сочи". khl.ru. 11 April 2012.
- "404". TSN. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- "Sports News & latest headlines from AOL". AOL.com. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- Predator inks debatable deal – iihf.com Archived 16 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- "NHL signs agreement with KHL". ESPN.com. 4 October 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
- "Door opens for NHL men". khl.ru. 17 September 2012.
- "Kontinental Hockey League Players' Trade Union". Kontinental Hockey League (in Russian). Archived from the original on 11 January 2010. 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
- 2015–16 KHL season, Quanthockey, Retrieved 28 April 2016
- 2016–17 KHL season, Quanthockey, Retrieved 5 March 2019
- 2017–18 KHL season, Quanthockey, Retrieved 5 March 2019
- 2018–19 KHL season, Quanthockey, Retrieved 5 March 2019
- "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.
- "KHL Names Olenin, Sadovnikov as 2018 Golden Whistle Winners". Scouting the Refs. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- "Kontinental Hockey League Records". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
- "A day for the history books. Helsinki Ice Challenge. December 2". en.khl.ru. 2 December 2017.
- "Хоккей. КХЛ. Регулярный чемпионат 2016/2017 - Факты". Championat.com.
External links
- Official KHL
- Kontinental Hockey League official website
- Kontinental Hockey League official website (in Russian)
- Kontinental Hockey League official website (in Chinese)
- Kontinental Hockey League on Facebook
- Kontinental Hockey League on Twitter
- Kontinental Hockey League on Twitter (in Russian)
- Kontinental Hockey League's channel on YouTube
- Third party
- KHL vs NHL exhibition games official homepage
- KHL news and stats from Eurohockey
- Kontinental Hockey League Players' Trade Union (in Russian)
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