Kontinental Hockey League

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; Russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), romanizedKontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs.

Kontinental Hockey League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2024–25 KHL season
FormerlyRussian Superleague (RSL)
SportIce hockey
Founded2008; 16 years ago (2008)
PresidentAlexei Morozov
MottoХоккей – наша игра! (Hockey is our game!)
Хакей – наша гульня!
Хоккей – біздің ойын!
冰球,就是我们的生活![1]
No. of teams23
Country
Most recent
champion(s)
Metallurg Magnitogorsk
(3rd title)
Most titlesHC CSKA Moscow
Ak Bars Kazan
Metallurg Magnitogorsk
(3 titles each)
TV partner(s)

KHL TV, KHL TV Prime (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 websiteKHL.ru

It was considered in 2015 to be the strongest professional ice hockey league in Europe and Asia, and tied for the second-strongest in the world with the American Hockey League behind North America's National Hockey League.[2][3] The KHL had in 2017 the highest total attendance in Europe with 15.32 million spectators in the regular season[4] and third-highest average attendance in Europe with 26,121 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

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History

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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 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash 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

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Finnish team Jokerit joined the league in 2014 and left in 2022

2009–2014

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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

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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

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On 24 February 2022, Finnish club 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, Latvian club Dinamo Riga announced that they too would withdraw for the same reasons.[21] In the 2023/24 season HC Lada Togliatti rejoined the KHL.

Season structure

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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

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Western conference teams (Divisions:  : Bobrov,  : Tarasov,  : Moscow and Moscow Oblast: see separate Map)
Moscow and Moscow Oblast teams (Divisions:  : Bobrov,  : Tarasov)
Overview of Kontinental Hockey League teams
Conference Division Team City Arena Capacity Founded Joined Head Coach Captain
Western Conference Bobrov SKA Saint Petersburg   Saint Petersburg SKA Arena 21,542 1946 2008   Roman Rotenberg   Alexander Nikishin
HC Sochi   Sochi, Krasnodar Krai Bolshoy Ice Dome 12,035 2014   Dmitri Kokorev   Nikita Tochitsky
Spartak Moscow   Moscow Megasport Arena 12,616 1946 2008   Alexei Zhamnov   Sergei Shirokov
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod   Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Trade Union Sport Palace 5,500 1947 2008   Igor Larionov   Ziyat Paigin
HC Vityaz   Balashikha, Moscow Oblast Balashikha Arena 5,678 1996 2008   Dmitry Ryabykin   Fyodor Malykhin
Tarasov CSKA Moscow   Moscow CSKA Arena 11,880 1946 2008   Sergei Fedorov   Nikita Nesterov
Dinamo Minsk   Minsk, Belarus Minsk-Arena 15,086 2004 2008   Dmitri Kvartalnov   Dmitry Korobov
Dynamo Moscow   Moscow VTB Arena 10,721 1946 2008   Alexei Kudashov   Vadim Shipachyov
Red Star Kunlun   Beijing, China (Mytishchi, Moscow Oblast) Mytishchi Arena[a] 7,114 2016   Viktors Ignatjevs   Brandon Yip
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl   Yaroslavl, Yaroslavl Oblast Arena 2000 9,070 1959 2008   Igor Nikitin   Alexei Marchenko
Severstal Cherepovets   Cherepovets, Vologda Oblast Ice Palace 5,583 1956 2008   Andrei Kozyrev   Yegor Morozov
Eastern Conference Kharlamov Ak Bars Kazan   Kazan, Tatarstan Tatneft Arena 8,895 1956 2008   Zinetula Bilyaletdinov   Danis Zaripov
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg   Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast KRK Uralets 5,545 2006 2009   Nikolai Zavarukhin   Nikita Tryamkin
Lada Togliatti   Tolyatti, Samara Oblast Lada Arena 6,122 1976 2023   Oleg Bratash   Mikhail Fisenko
Metallurg Magnitogorsk   Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast Arena Metallurg 7,704 1950 2008   Andrei Razin   Egor Yakovlev
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk   Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan SCC Arena 5,500 1968 2008   Oleg Leontyev   Marat Khairullin
Traktor Chelyabinsk   Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast Traktor Ice Arena 7,500 1947 2008   Alexei Zavarukhin   Sergei Kalinin
Chernyshev Admiral Vladivostok   Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai Fetisov Arena 5,678 2013   Leonīds Tambijevs   Dmitry Lugin
Amur Khabarovsk   Khabarovsk, Khabarovsk Krai Platinum Arena 7,100 1966 2008   Andrei Martemyanov   Michal Jordan
Avangard Omsk   Omsk, Omsk Oblast G-Drive Arena 12,011 1950 2008   Mikhail Kravets   Alexei Emelin
Barys Astana   Astana, Kazakhstan Barys Arena 11,040 1999 2008   Oleg Bolyakin   Roman Starchenko
Salavat Yulaev Ufa   Ufa, Bashkortostan Ufa Arena 8,522 1957 2008   Viktor Kozlov   Grigori Panin
Sibir Novosibirsk   Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Oblast Sibir-Arena 10,634 1962 2008   Sergei Krivokrasov   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.
Overview of former Kontinental Hockey League teams
Name City Arena Creation Seasons
  Khimik Voskresensk Voskresensk, Moscow Oblast Podmoskovie Ice Palace 2005 2008–2009
  HC MVD Balashikha, Moscow Oblast Balashikha Arena 2004 2008–2010
  Lev Poprad Poprad, Slovakia Poprad Ice Stadium 2010 2011–2012
  HC Donbass Donetsk, Ukraine Druzhba Arena 2001 2012–2014
  Lev Praha Prague, Czech Republic Tipsport Arena 2012 2012–2014
  Atlant Mytichtchi Mytishchi, Moscow Oblast Mytishchi Arena 1953 2008–2015
  Metallurg Novokuznetsk Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo Oblast Kuznetsk Metallurgists Sports Palace 1949 2008–2017
  Medveščak Zagreb Zagreb, Croatia Dom Sportova 1961 2013–2017
  Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug Arena Ugra 2006 2010–2018
  Slovan Bratislava Bratislava, Slovakia Ondrej Nepela Arena 1921 2012–2019
  Jokerit Helsinki Helsinki, Finland Hartwall Arena 1967 2014–2022
  Dinamo Riga Riga, Latvia Arena Riga 2008 2008–2022

Players

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KHL match between CSKA Moscow and Dynamo Moscow at CSKA Arena, Moscow
 
KHL match between HC Lev Praha and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl at 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 players Markus Granlund, Nick Shore, Geoff Platt, Kenny Agostino, Teemu Hartikainen, Philip Larsen, Sakari Manninen, Harri Säteri, Jyrki Jokipakka, Joakim Nordström, Lucas Wallmark, and Juho Olkinuora.[9][32]

Nationalities of players

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During the 2013–2014 season, players representing 16 nations 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 represented about 30–35% of the KHL players and were 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 1
  Belarus (1 team) 33 43 50 41 38 39 35 49 50
  Belgium 1
  Canada 32 63 51 35 53 51 58 60 47
  China (1 team) 3 2
  Croatia 1 4 4 4 6 2 1
  Czech Republic 45 47 29 35 35 33 28 20 23
  Denmark 1 2 4 3 5 6 4 3
  Finland 40 37 51 48 51 42 45 46 54
  France 1 1 2 3 1 1
  Germany 1 2 2 1 2 3
  Italy 2 2
  Israel 1
  Kazakhstan (1 team) 33 37 34 40 37 38 33 38 30
  Latvia 35 34 29 34 33 33 29 35 34
  Lithuania 2 1 1
  Norway 3 3 3 1 1
  Russia (19 teams) 569 599 613 657 678 661 596 586 659
  Slovakia 53 44 32 28 28 24 24 6 6
  Slovenia 2 4 4 4 4 3
  South Korea 1 1
  Sweden 24 21 27 26 23 25 24 30 33
  Switzerland 1 1
  Ukraine[a] 12 17 2 2 4 2
  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

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Gagarin Cup

The winner of the playoff is awarded the Gagarin Cup. The highest placed Russian team is awarded the Championship of Russia. 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 2011 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

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Season Teams   Gagarin Cup Winner   Gagarin Cup finalist Final score Continental Cup Winner Top scorer
2008–09 24 Ak Bars Kazan Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4–3 Salavat Yulaev Ufa[b] (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)
2021–22 24 CSKA Moscow Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4–3 Not determined Vadim Shipachyov (67 points: 24 G, 43 A)
2022–23 22 CSKA Moscow Ak Bars Kazan 4–3 SKA Saint Petersburg (105 points) Dmitrij Jaškin (62 points: 40 G, 22 A)
2023–24 23 Metallurg Magnitogorsk Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4–0 Dynamo Moscow (98 points) Nikita Gusev (89 points: 23 G, 66 A)
Season Opening Cup Winner Nadezhda Cup Winner Golden Stick (Regular Season MVP) Playoff MVP
2008–09 Salavat Yulaev Ufa Nadezhda Cup not yet introduced Danis Zaripov Alexei Morozov
2009–10 Ak Bars Kazan Alexander Radulov Ilya Nikulin
2010–11 Dynamo Moscow Alexander Radulov Konstantin Barulin
2011–12 Salavat Yulaev Ufa Alexander Radulov Alexander Yeryomenko
2012–13 Dynamo Moscow Dinamo Riga Sergei Mozyakin Alexander Yeryomenko
2013–14 Dynamo Moscow Avangard Omsk Sergei Mozyakin Sergei Mozyakin
2014–15 Metallurg Magnitogorsk Cancelled due to economic reasons Alexander Radulov Ilya Kovalchuk
2015–16 CSKA Moscow Not contested Sergei Mozyakin Sergei Mozyakin
2016–17 Metallurg Magnitogorsk Sergei Mozyakin Vasily Koshechkin
2017–18 SKA Saint Petersburg Nikita Gusev Justin Azevedo
2018–19 SKA Saint Petersburg Kirill Kaprizov Ilya Sorokin
2019–20 Avangard Omsk Dmitrij Jaškin Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 Ak Bars Kazan Vadim Shipachyov Sergey Tolchinsky
2021–22 Avangard Omsk Vadim Shipachyov Aleksandr Popov
2022–23 CSKA Moscow Dmitrij Jaškin Mikhail Grigorenko
2023–24 Ak Bars Kazan Nikita Gusev Ilya Nabokov

Statistics

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Single season records

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Regular season

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[49]

Record Name Season
Points 89   Nikita Gusev (Dynamo Mo.) 2023-24
Goals 48   Sergei Mozyakin (Magnitogorsk) 2016–17
Assists 66   Nikita Gusev (Dynamo Mo.) 2023-24
Shots on goal 253   Darren Dietz (Barys) 2018–19
Plus/minus +48   Vladislav Gavrikov (SKA) 2018–19
Penalty minutes 374   Darcy Verot (Vityaz) 2009–10
Wins 38   Jakub Kovář (Avtomobilist) 2018–19
Shutouts 13   Alexei Murygin (Lokomotiv) 2015–16

Playoffs

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[49]

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

Career records

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Regular season

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[49]

Record Name Years
Points 756   Sergei Mozyakin (Atlant, Magnitogorsk) 2008–2021
Goals 351   Sergei Mozyakin (Atlant, Magnitogorsk) 2008–2021
Assists 506   Vadim Shipachyov (Cherepovets, Saint Petersburg, Dynamo Moscow, Ak Bars Kazan, Dinamo Minsk) 2008–2022
Games played 745   Yevgeny Biryukov (Ufa, Magnitogorsk) 2008–2022
Plus/minus +201   Vadim Shipachyov (Cherepovets, Saint Petersburg, Dynamo Moscow, Ak Bars Kazan, Dinamo Minsk) 2008–2022
Penalty minutes 1088   Evgeny Artyukhin (Saint Petersburg, Atlant, CSKA Moscow, Novosibirsk, Dynamo Moscow, Vityaz, Admiral, Neftekhimik) 2008–2022
Wins 281   Vasily Koshechkin (Togliatti, Magnitogorsk, Cherepovets) 2008–2022
Shutouts 73   Vasily Koshechkin (Togliatti, Magnitogorsk, Cherepovets) 2008–2022

Playoffs

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[49]

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

KHL's longest match

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

All-time team records

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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.

Attendance statistics

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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

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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, it is now run in a similar format to the NHL All-Star Game, where the four divisions face off in 3v3 matches

See also

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Preceded by Kontinental Hockey League
2008—present
Succeeded by
none

Footnotes

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  1. ^ For further information, see List of Ukrainians in the KHL.
  2. ^ In the first season, Salavat Yulaev Ufa was the winner of the regular season, but the Continental Cup was not yet awarded.
  3. ^ Conference semifinals cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
  4. ^ Includes record of Dynamo Moscow before the merger with HC MVD in 2010
  5. ^ Did not participate in the 2011–12 season due to the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash of 7 September 2011, that killed the entire team

References

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  1. ^ Новый игровой ролик КХЛ "Пробка" (in Russian). khl.ru. Archived from the original on 9 August 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  2. ^ "World of difference for KHL?". iihf.com. 7 May 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  3. ^ "Ranking the Top Ten Hockey Leagues". The Hockey Writers. 10 January 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Хоккей. КХЛ. Регулярный чемпионат 2016/2017 – Факты". Championat.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  5. ^ "KHL is on the 3rd place by attendance". IIHF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  6. ^ "About the KHL". khl.ru. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  7. ^ "Day of Remembrance in honor of Lokomotiv". 7 September 2013. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
  8. ^ "Russian professional hockey league mounts challenge to NHL". The Hockey News. 11 September 2008. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  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.
  11. ^ "Medveščak to join the league from 2013–14 season". khl.ru. 29 April 2013.
  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.
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  19. ^ "Slovan Bratislava officially leaves KHL". Eurohockey.com.
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