Kontinental Hockey League

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Kontinental Hockey League
File:Kontinental Hockey League.svg
Countries Belarus
 Kazakhstan
 Latvia
 Russia
Founded2008
Divisions4
No. of teams24
Feeder League(s)Vysshaya Liga
ChampionshipGagarin Cup
Associated Title(s)Opening Cup
Silver Stone Trophy
Governor Cup
WebsiteKHL.ru

The Kontinental Hockey League [sic] (Russian: Континентальная Хоккейная Лига), commonly abbreviated as KHL, is a new international ice hockey league in Eurasia. It consists of teams from Russia, Belarus, Latvia and Kazakhstan. The championship trophy of the league is the Gagarin Cup. The KHL replaced the Russian Super League (RSL) after the 2007–2008 season. Three teams from outside of Russia joined the league for its inaugural season, and it is likely that more will join in subsequent years.

Players

The KHL is expected to operate at a high skill level, as its precursor the Russian Super League was commonly considered the second-best league in the world after North America's elite professional league, the National Hockey League (NHL), [1] and it is only accepting elite teams from existing leagues as new members. In addition, KHL teams have signed several players from the NHL, including Ray Emery, Jaromír Jágr[2], Jozef Stumpel, Alexander Radulov, Branko Radivojevič, Andrei Zyuzin, Wade Dubielewicz, Niko Kapanen, Sergei Brylin, and Ladislav Nagy. A dispute between the two leagues over some of these signings was supposed to have been resolved by an agreement signed on July 10th whereby each league would honour the contracts of the other, but the signing of Radulov was made public one day after the agreement (though it was actually signed two days prior to the agreement taking effect)[3], leading to an investigation by the International Ice Hockey Federation[4].

Teams

2008–09

In its inaugural season, the KHL has 24 teams, including all 20 teams from the RSL; Barys Astana from Kazakhstan; Khimik Voskresensk from Russia; Dynamo Minsk from Belarus; as well as Riga based Latvian team Dinamo Riga. The opening round began on September 2nd, 2008. The regular season is scheduled to come to a close on February 26, 2009. Playoffs will begin on March 1, 2009[5] and will end on April 12 at the latest.[6]

Division Team City Arena Founded Joined KHL
Bobrov Russia Salavat Yulaev Ufa Ufa, Bashkortostan Ufa Arena 1957 2008
Belarus HC Dinamo Minsk Minsk Minsk Sports Palace 2004 2008
Russia Spartak Moscow Moscow LDS Sokolniki 1946 2008
Russia Metallurg Novokuznetsk Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo Kuznetskie Metallurgi Sports Palace 1949 2008
Russia Severstal Cherepovets Cherepovets, Vologda Ice Palace 1956 2008
Russia Atlant Moscow Mytishchi, Moscow Mytishchi Arena 1953 2008
Tarasov Russia Metallurg Magnitogorsk Magnitogorsk, Russia Magnitogorsk Arena 1950 2008
Russia Khimik Voskresensk Voskresensk, Moscow Podmoskovie Sports Palace 2005 2008
Russia Traktor Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk Yunost Sport Palace 1947 2008
Russia HC MVD Balashikha, Moscow Balashikha Arena 1949 2008
Russia SKA Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg Ice Palace 1946 2008
Russia CSKA Moscow Moscow CSKA Universal Sports Hall 1946 2008
Kharlamov Russia Avangard Omsk Omsk, Omsk Omsk Arena 1950 2008
Russia Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Yaroslavl, Yaroslavl Arena 2000 1949 2008
Russia Lada Togliatti Togliatti, Samara Volgar Sports Palace 1976 2008
Russia Sibir Novosibirsk Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Ice Sports Palace Sibir 1962 2008
Russia Amur Khabarovsk Khabarovsk, Khabarovsk Krai Platinum Arena 1966 2008
Latvia Dinamo Riga Riga, Latvia Arena Riga 2008
Chernyshev Russia Ak Bars Kazan Kazan, Tatarstan Tatneft Arena 1956 2008
Kazakhstan Barys Astana Astana, Akmola Alatau Sports Palace 1999 2008
Russia Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny, Nizhny Novgorod Trade Union Sport Palace 1947 2008
Russia Vityaz Chekhov Chekhov, Moscow Ice Hockey Center 2004 1998 2008
Russia Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan SCC Arena 1968 2008
Russia Dynamo Moscow Moscow Luzhniki Palace of Sports 1946 2008

2009–10 Expansion

Avtomobilist Ekaterinburg failed to enter the league for the 2008-09 season due to financial problems; however, the club plans to re-enter the league in the 2009-10 season.

The Czech Republic's HC Energie Karlovy Vary [7][8] has signed letters of intent with the KHL. Barring budget and payroll issues, they should be able to compete for the 2009-10 season.[9]

Possible Expansion

It has been reported that the league seeks to expand to 30 teams for the 2009–10 season.[10] Two of the teams who have been invited are Swedish sides Frölunda HC and Färjestads BK, neither club has accepted nor rejected the offer as of yet.[10] Ukraine's HC Sokil Kyiv may join in the near future. According to Russia Today News, Finland's Kärpät is also interested[11], as well as German teams Eisbären Berlin [12] and Kölner Haie [13]. The league also wants to expand to Austria by affiliating EC Red Bull Salzburg. SKA Saint Petersburg General manager Barry Smith said that an affiliation may be possible in three or four years. Red Bull and team owner Dietrich Mateschitz, however, favours playing in the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga.[14]. The Belarus Ice Hockey Federation has announced that it plans to include four Belarussian teams in the KHL.[15] Junost Minsk, currently playing in the Belarusian Extraliga, is also taking steps to join the KHL.[16]

Season structure

During the regular season, each team will play fifty-six games: four games against each of the teams in their own division, and two games against each of the other teams.[6] The sixteen top-ranked teams will receive playoffs berths. The division winners are seeded 1 through 4, based on their ranking relative to one another (like in the NHL), and the other twelve are seeded 5 through 16 based on ranking, regardless of their division.[5] The top seed plays the sixteenth seed, the second plays the fifteenth, and so on. The first two playoff rounds will be best-of-five series, and the final two rounds will be best-of-seven series.[5] After each round, the top remaining seed will always be paired against the lowest remaining seed.[5] The league champion will be awarded the Gagarin Cup.


References

  1. ^ [http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=278991 NHL.com - Across the Pond
  2. ^ [http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=242925 tsn.ca
  3. ^ http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2008/07/11/radulov-on-his-return-to-russia/
  4. ^ [http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/article/radulov-inks-debatable-deal.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=955&cHash=7ad8380bb7 iihf.com
  5. ^ a b c d KHL Calendar for 2008–09 "Calendar of KHL for a season 2008/2009". Russia Hockey Federation. 2008-06-30. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  6. ^ a b "New Kontinental Hockey League takes shape, sets rules". Eurohockey.net. 2008-03-13.
  7. ^ ЮРИН, Владимир (2008-05-16). "ЧЕРЕЗ ГОД БУДЕМ ИГРАТЬ С "КАРЛОВЫМИ ВАРАМИ"" (in Russian). Sport-Express.
  8. ^ "Jaromír Jágr now world's best-paid hockey player". Prague Daily Monitor. 2008-09-03. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
  9. ^ "КХЛ и «Энергия» (Карловы Вары) подписали протокол о намерениях" (in Russian). KHL. 2008-10-10.
  10. ^ a b Umicevic, Dusan (2008-04-20). "Frölunda överväger flytt till ryska ligan" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
  11. ^ Russian league set to rival NHL (Television News Production). YouTube. 2008-04-10.
  12. ^ "KHL lockt Berlin — Verlassen die Eisbären die DEL?" (in German). 2008-08-12.
  13. ^ "KHL - eine neue NHL-Ost?" (in German). 2008-08-28.
  14. ^ "Russische KHL will Salzburg" (in German). Suedtirol online. 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  15. ^ "Эксклюзив. Александр Медведев: я как Лукашенко" (in Russian). Pressball. 2008-05-30. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
  16. ^ [1]

External links

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