Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Континентальная Хоккейная Лига (Kontinental Hockey League)


Since it is the off season for European hockey, I’m going to start by talking about the various different hockey leagues in Europe.  This will basically be an introduction to the leagues for people who don’t know much about them but are curious.

Today, I am going to look at Russia’s KHL.

 

The Kontinental Hockey League became Russia’s top league on March 27, 2008.

 

The league plans to expand to 30 teams, but currently consists of 24 teams split up into 4 divisions.  They are:

 

Bobrov Division

            Salavat Yulaev Ufa

            Dynamo Minsk

            Spartak Moscow

            Metallurg Novokuznetsk

            Severstal Cherepovets

            Atlant Moscow

 

Tarasov Division

            Metallurg Magnitogorsk

            Khimik Voskresensk

            Traktor Chelyabinsk

            HC MVD

            SKA Saint Petersburg

            CSKA Moscow

 

Kharlamov Division

            Avangard Omsk

            Lada Togliatti

            Amur Khabarovsk

            Dinamo Riga

            Sibir Novosibirsk

            Lokomotiv Yaroslavl

 

Chernyshev Division

            Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk

            Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod

            AK Bars Kazan

            Barys Astana

            Vityaz Chekhov

            Dynamo Moscow

 

The regular season involves 56 games.  A team plays each team in their division 4 times and the other teams in the league twice each.  Teams earn 3 points for winning in regulation time, 2 points for winning in overtime or the shootout, and 1 point if they lost in overtime or the shootout.  The top 16 teams in the league compete in the playoffs.  Each divisions winners are ranked 1-4 with #1 being the division winner with the most overall points and #4 being the division winner with the least overall points.  The remaining 12 teams are ranked 5-16 depending on overall points.  The playoff winner is awarded the Gagarin Cup.

 

The 2008-09 Gagarin Cup champions are AK Bars Kazan.

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