Kontinental Hockey League

The Continental Hockey League (short KHL, Russian Континентальная хоккейная лига / Continental Well Chokkejnaja League, briefly Russian КХЛ; marketed internationally under the English name Kontinental Hockey League) is the top division in hockey of Russia, with the participation of teams from other Central Asian and European countries participate. It replaced the 2008/09 season from the Super League and extends the existing participant countries: Kazakhstan, Croatia, Latvia, Russia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Ukraine and Belarus on the Eurasian continent. For the 2011/12 season came with the Slovak club HC Lev Poprad first time a team in the league at that is not located on the territory of a successor state of the Soviet Union.

The league started with 24 teams from four different countries in their inaugural season. The winner will receive at the end of the season the Gagarin Cup, named after the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. As president of the League acts Alexander Medvedev, who is also deputy chairman of the Russian energy giant Gazprom and Director General of the export company Gazprom Export.

• 4.1 Regular Season
• 4.2 Play-offs

• 7.1 Transfer Agreement with the National Hockey League

Mode

The regular season begins with the playout of the locomotive Cup -called opening match of the two previous finalists. The 28 teams play two times against each of the 27 other teams, so each team must deny 54 games. The team with the most points wins the Continental Cup.

Following the regular season, the play-offs, for which each point 8 best teams in both conferences qualify follow. The division winners take it on the set list, the first four positions. In the first two years, the first play-off round in the best- of-five mode, the following three up to and including the final series then in the mode best- of-seven was played out. Since the 2010/11 season all play-off rounds in the best- of-seven mode are played. The winner of the final series to win the Gagarin Cup.

Men

The 24 participants of the first season consisted of the previous 20 teams in the Super League and Chimik Woskressensk and Barys Astana, which last participated in the operation of the game Wysschaja League and last season took first and second place, together. These were joined by HK Dinamo Minsk and Dinamo Riga. Instead of Woskressensk first Awtomobilist Yekaterinburg should start in the KHL. Shortly before the start of training in July 2008, Yekaterinburg, however, was excluded due to ongoing financial problems from the league and replaced by the second-division champion Chimik Woskressensk. Since Woskressensk in the course of the season also overtook financial problems and always still outstanding salary payments at the end of the season, Woskressensk was taken to the 2009/10 season in the league. Awtomobilist Yekaterinburg now a new financing had put on the legs and replaced Chimik than 24 team.

The participants are divided into four divisions, which are named after the former Soviet Hockey sizes Vsevolod Bobrov, Anatoli Tarasov, Valery Kharlamov and Arkady Chernyshev of six teams. In the first season, the groups were divided so that they were athletic occupied the same. Since 2009, the divisions are divided regionally on and in two conferences.

Even before the start of the KHL in 2008, an expansion of the league was scheduled on 30 teams for the 2009/10 season. Among the teams, which a participation offer was submitted included the Swedish Elitserien clubs Färjestad BK and Frölunda HC, the Finnish club Kärpät Oulu, the HC Energie Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic, the Ukrainian team HK Sokol Kiev and polar bears Berlin from the German Ice Hockey League. After the start of the 2008/09 season, however KHL managing director Vladimir Schalajew relativized the various expansion rumors. According Schalajew the league will be gradually increased, first to 26, then to 30 and finally to a maximum number of 32 participants.

In the summer of 2009, there were renewed expressions that an extension will considered. Finally, just before the 2008/ 09 season still excluded because of financial difficulties Russian club Awtomobilist Yekaterinburg was added to the 2009/10 season. The second division champions HK Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk was interested, but was re-recorded until the 2010/11 season. In November 2009 the Swedish second division side AIK Stockholm announced to want to play from the 2010/11 season in the KHL, but there was no release of the Swedish association.

For the 2010/11 season the Hockey merged departments of HK Dynamo Moscow and HK MVD Balaschicha and play from now on under the new name OHK Dynamo. In addition, the HK Lada Togliatti was excluded due to financial problems of the league. One of the vacated starting places took over the second division champions HK Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk. The last place should be assigned the HK Budiwelnik from the capital Kiev, the first Ukrainian club, but could not take up the game operation due to delays in stadium construction and the associated lack of a KHL - grade stadium. It is planned to continue the recording of the team at a later date. The place of Budiwelnik finally took over the HC Lev Poprad, however due to the lack of approval by the Slovak Association also could not participate in the league. The HC Lev Poprad had first trades as HC Lev Hradec Králové Czech Republic but moved after the Czech association was not released to the Slovakian Poprad.

For the 2011/12 season Lev Poprad finally joined after one year delay in the KHL and is the first team whose home stadium is not on the territory of the former Soviet Union. In summer 2012, the team moved to Prague and plays since then as HC Lev Prague. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl pulled his team because of the plane crash near Yaroslavl for the 2011/12 season from playing back, but started in the following season in the KHL.

In spring 2011, it was announced that a Russian- German businessman plans to install a KHL team in Leipzig. The former hockey league team the Icefighters Leipzig should continue as a farm team. Both the KHL and the German Ice Hockey Federation does not support the project. Addition, there are always rumors about other expansion locations in Western and Central Europe. The Italian second division HC Milano Rossoblu was in May of 2011, the 2012/13 season with a team in the KHL want to participate. For lack of sufficient finance this plan was postponed.

The Slovakian champions 2012 HC Slovan Bratislava and the Ukrainian Donbass Donetsk Masters 2012 HK participate since the 2012/13 season in the competition. For the 2013/14 season the league to KHL Medveščak Zagreb from Croatia as well as the newly established Club Admiral Vladivostok is expanded to 28 teams.

For the 2014/15 season, the KHL will be added to the six-time Finnish champion Jokerit of Helsinki, the home stadium Hartwall Areena has been partially filled by the president of the SKA St. Petersburg, Gennady Timchenko, as well as by Boris and Arkady Ortenberg in June 2013. A team at the Olympic Winter Games 2014 is placed and the former KHL team HK Lada Togliatti to return to the KHL with Dolphin Sochi.

Participants in the 2013/14 season

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Allocation

Master

In the premiere of season 2008/ 09 Ak Bars Kazan first master of the newly created KHL was. Won two championships with the team along with HK Dynamo Moscow, which is still OHK Dynamo named in the 2011/12 season, also record winner.

Best Scorer

Regular Season

Abbreviations: S = seasons, Sp = Matches, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, / - = Plus / Minus, SM = penalty minutes; Fat: current team

As of the end of the 2012/13 season

Play-offs

Abbreviations: S = played playoff series, Sp = Matches, G = Goals, V = Assists, Pts = Points, / - = Plus / Minus, SM = penalty minutes; Fat: current team

As of the end of the 2012/13 season

Salary Cap

As in the last two seasons of the Super League 24 KHL teams must comply with the limit of the salary cap. The limit is in the first season at 562.5 million rubles (about 15.3 million euros ) and is divided as follows:

• 400 million rubles (about 10.9 million euros ) for 21 players
• 162.5 million rubles (about 4.4 million euros ) for four outstanding players

The teams have a squad strength of 25 players, of which five players may not be Russian citizens each. For the teams from Kazakhstan, Latvia and Belarus, the same scheme applies to their respective countries, but they may in the first season undertake an unlimited number of foreign players and use.

From the 25 players each team can have three of the four outstanding players freely determine. The fourth player will be set automatically if it brings the following conditions:

• Completed more than 40 games ( 20 games with goalkeepers ) in the last season of the National Hockey League
• Junior players with Canadian or U.S. origin, younger than 20 years and selected in the first three rounds of the NHL Entry Draft
• Player from a European league, who has participated in the last World Cup or the last Olympic Winter Games

Contract system

The KHL also introduces a new contract system, which is divided into three different types.

• Standard one -way contracts ( exclusively for the KHL )
• Two -way contracts (for the KHL and the farm team )
• Junior contracts

The standard one -way contracts can be signed by any player older than 17 years. However, for young players who sign their first professional contract, the rule that the contract must have a term of four years. The two-way contracts that apply at the same time for the farm teams can be signed at the age of 16 for the first time. The rookie salary is a maximum of 500,000 rubles (about 13,700 euros ). Should the players have been selected in the first round of the draft, the maximum content is in the first year with 300,000 rubles (about 8,200 euros ), but increases in the next three years of the contract first by 20, then to 30 and finally to 50 percent of the base salary.

A strong difference between KHL and NHL, however, is the treatment of so-called Restricted Free Agents. While a contract -free restricted free agent, the NHL can leave without any problems, this is not possible in the KHL. The transfer of rights of a NHL Restricted Free Agents are only valid for the league, while the KHL that this strict interpretation, worldwide. Thus, it is not possible a restricted free agent from the KHL to leave the league.

The farm teams will play in a separate, organized by the Russian Ice Hockey Federation FHR league.

Draft and transfers

The first draft was on June 1, 2009 in Moscow, after the end of the season 2008/ 09, held. In the so-called Junior Draft, the teams have the option the rights to European and North American talent to acquire. Each team may select up to three players from their own junior team. The teams select a player from the junior pool of fellow competitors during a draft must pay compensation to the said party. For a player of the first round of the compensation amount is 3.0 million rubles ( approximately 82,200 euros ) for a player the second round at 2.0 million rubles ( approximately EUR 54,800 ), etc..

In addition, prior to the start of the season a Waiver Draft, before each team can protect 18 field players and two goalkeepers. The unprotected players can then be freely selected compensation from the other teams. Players with two -way contracts are excluded from the selection. The order of the draft results from the reverse order of the final ranking of the preseason, so the weakest team may choose first.

The transfer market is also similar on the lines of the NHL. In contrast to the European rules to handle transfers with transfer fees, players will be exchanged primarily between the teams, making their current contracts remain. The last day on which the teams in the current season may exchange players with each other is fixed at 15 January 2009.

Transfer agreement with the National Hockey League

After the eve of the League start of the KHL, the participants had repeatedly threatened because of their vast financial power to try to poach top players in the 30 National Hockey League franchises, as this was also a common practice of the NHL against the Super League in the years before was both leagues and the National Hockey League Players' Association NHLPA met at a congress of the International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF in Zurich on 10 July 2008, a transfer agreement.

This guaranteed the NHL, KHL and other European leagues mutual respect for valid player contracts. First, a further meeting in New York was scheduled for September 4, 2008, to be taken in the more concrete plans after Russia had already declared 2005 as the old agreement null and void and in June 2008 a further six European leagues had taken this step.

Just over a week after the announcement of the development of a new Agreement, the IIHF announced on 18 July 2008 that they review the contract status of six players, including Alexander Radulow, Nikita Filatov, Tomáš Mojžíš, Jason Krog, Viktor Tikhonov and Fyodor Fyodorov, will, as contracts or commitments for both leagues on the part of the players passed. For the period of investigation, the players were suspended for international transfers and competitions. In the period up to September 2008 signed another player who possessed a valid KHL contract, contracts with various NHL franchises. At a meeting of several national associations and the IIHF, the KHL renounced some players for their complaints to the IIHF, after which the suspensions were lifted. In the cases of Alexander Radulow, Vyacheslav Voinov, Maxim Mayorov and Andrei Loktionov, however, no agreement could be reached, so these were decided by arbitration.

Also in the summer of 2009, the problem continued, although both leagues had promised to respect existing contracts. However, there were differing views on both sides in the treatment of so-called Restricted Free Agents. After Jiri Hudler had turned down an offer of his club Detroit Red Wings and was taken to arbitration, he had signed on 8 July 2009 contract with HK Dynamo Moscow, who assured him more content than he had in the NHL can earn. The NHL then intervened in the IIHF as to the legality of the contract. Then put the KHL contract registration by the end of July back.

Other players who are part of the KHL remained prohibited a change, were Yevgeny Dadonow from HC Traktor Chelyabinsk and Denis Parshin and Sergei Shirokov from HK CSKA Moscow.

Dress Code

• Following the model of the NHL and in contrast to the Super League, the home team must compete in dark jerseys, the away team in white or light colored jerseys.
• The coaching staff must also dress according to the statutes of the league rules and wear a suit combinations.