2019–20_KHL_season
2019–20 KHL season
Russia-based professional ice hockey league season
The 2019–20 KHL season was the 12th season of the Kontinental Hockey League. There were 24 teams that competed in 62 regular season games.[1] The season began with the Opening Cup on 1 September 2019, and the regular championship ran until 27 February 2020. The playoffs were scheduled to take place from 1 March through until 30 April.[2] The All-Star Weekend took place over 18–19 January 2020.
| 2019–20 KHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Kontinental Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | 1 September 2019 – 12 March 2020 |
| Number of games | 62 |
| Number of teams | 24 |
| Regular season | |
| Continental Cup winner | CSKA Moscow |
| Top scorer |
|
| KHL seasons | |
Due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe, the season was prematurely ended on 25 March 2020, midway through the playoffs.[3]
The Russian Hockey Federation declared CSKA Moscow the Russian champions, SKA Saint Petersburg and Ak Bars Kazan silver medalists, and Dynamo Moscow bronze medalists based on regular season standings.[4]
For the 2019–20 season, the KHL originally announced that all 25 teams from the 2018–19 would return and continue without any changes to Divisions realignments.[2] However the competition was reduced to 24 teams after Slovak based, HC Slovan Bratislava, announced that they would be withdrawing from the KHL to return to the Slovak Extraliga due to financial restrictions on 27 May 2019.[5] With Slovan Bratislava's exit, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod were moved from the Eastern Conference,[1] to the Western Conference, reversing the move of the previous season.[6] As a result, both Conferences consisted of 12 teams.
KHL World Games
The KHL announced the World Games project would continue for a second consecutive season with more information to be announced in July 2019.[2] With the release of the season's schedule, new destinations of Davos, Shenzhen and Almaty were scheduled to host games.[1]
Smart pucks
Smart puck technology, backed up with chips in players' jerseys, was used in all KHL games in the coming season. The new technology was trialled in the All-Star Game in Kazan last season and was also used in regular season games in Helsinki. Every arena in the league installed sensors capable of collecting information from the chips 100 times a second. That information was available to various users and coaches in real time, giving-up-to-the-second details of the players’ speed, the distance covered in each shift, the speed and location of each shot and much more.[7]
The KHL is the first league in the world to implement this technology across the board.[7]
The 24 teams were split into four divisions: the Bobrov Division and the Tarasov Division as part of the Western Conference, with the Kharlamov Division and the Chernyshev Division as part of the Eastern Conference.[8]
Each team played 62 games, playing their divisional opponents four times, non-divisional conference rivals three times, and non-conference opponents twice.
Points were awarded for each game, where two points were awarded for all victories, regardless of whether it was in regulation time, in overtime or after game-winning shots. One point was awarded for losing in overtime or game-winning shots, and zero points for losing in regulation time. At the end of the regular season, the team that finished with the most points was crowned the Continental Cup winner.
Western Conference
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CSKA Moscow (Q, Z) | 62 | 40 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 202 | 99 | +103 | 94 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs[lower-alpha 1] |
| 2 | SKA Saint Petersburg (Q, X) | 62 | 30 | 14 | 5 | 13 | 179 | 118 | +61 | 93 | |
| 3 | Jokerit (Q) | 62 | 28 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 184 | 164 | +20 | 84 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 4 | Dynamo Moscow (Q) | 62 | 29 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 182 | 144 | +38 | 82 | |
| 5 | Spartak Moscow (Q) | 62 | 26 | 8 | 9 | 19 | 173 | 143 | +30 | 77 | |
| 6 | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (Q) | 62 | 25 | 9 | 5 | 23 | 170 | 151 | +19 | 73 | |
| 7 | Vityaz Podolsk (Q) | 62 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 24 | 137 | 166 | −29 | 65 | |
| 8 | Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Q) | 62 | 22 | 7 | 6 | 27 | 165 | 167 | −2 | 64 | |
| 9 | HC Sochi (E) | 62 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 28 | 124 | 164 | −40 | 59 | |
| 10 | Severstal Cherepovets (E) | 62 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 28 | 126 | 171 | −45 | 58 | |
| 11 | Dinamo Riga (E) | 62 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 38 | 103 | 187 | −84 | 41 | |
| 12 | Dinamo Minsk (E) | 62 | 11 | 3 | 11 | 37 | 135 | 232 | −97 | 39 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) games won in regulation time; 3) games won in overtime; 4) games won in shootouts; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored; 7) drawing of lots.
(E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated; (X) Won division; (Z) Won Continental Cup
Notes:
Eastern Conference
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ak Bars Kazan (Q, Y) | 62 | 38 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 178 | 121 | +57 | 93 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs[lower-alpha 1] |
| 2 | Barys Nur-Sultan (Q, X) | 62 | 31 | 7 | 8 | 16 | 156 | 137 | +19 | 84 | |
| 3 | Avangard Omsk (Q) | 62 | 30 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 163 | 120 | +43 | 83 | Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs |
| 4 | Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (Q) | 62 | 24 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 168 | 151 | +17 | 78 | |
| 5 | Sibir Novosibirsk (Q) | 62 | 27 | 7 | 6 | 22 | 139 | 143 | −4 | 74 | |
| 6 | Salavat Yulaev Ufa (Q) | 62 | 23 | 6 | 10 | 23 | 153 | 144 | +9 | 68 | |
| 7 | Metallurg Magnitogorsk (Q) | 62 | 20 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 138 | 145 | −7 | 65 | |
| 8 | Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (Q) | 62 | 21 | 7 | 8 | 26 | 162 | 158 | +4 | 64 | |
| 9 | Amur Khabarovsk (E) | 62 | 20 | 6 | 10 | 26 | 132 | 145 | −13 | 62 | |
| 10 | Kunlun Red Star (E) | 62 | 20 | 6 | 8 | 28 | 139 | 158 | −19 | 60 | |
| 11 | Traktor Chelyabinsk (E) | 62 | 20 | 5 | 6 | 31 | 132 | 161 | −29 | 56 | |
| 12 | Admiral Vladivostok (E) | 62 | 16 | 10 | 4 | 32 | 126 | 177 | −51 | 56 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) games won in regulation time; 3) games won in overtime; 4) games won in shootouts; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored; 7) drawing of lots.
(E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated; (X) Won division; (Y) Won conference
Notes:
Ak Bars Kazan were the Eastern Conference regular season winners with 93 points. It was determined following a 5–3 victory over closest challengers Avangard Omsk at TatNeft Arena.[9] CSKA Moscow were the Western Conference regular season winners, and winners of the Continental Cup with 94 points. It was determined following a 6–0 victory over HC Sochi at CSKA Arena.[10]
| Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | Gagarin Cup Finals | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 |  Ak Bars
| 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Neftekhimik
| 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Ak Bars
| ||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Salavat Yulaev
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| 2 |  Barys
| 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Metallurg
| 1 | |||||||||||||||||
|
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| Eastern Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Sibir
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| 3 | Avangard
| 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Salavat Yulaev
| 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Barys[lower-alpha 1]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Sibir
| w/o | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Avtomobilist
| 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Sibir
| 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| E |
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| W |
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| 1 | CSKA
| 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Torpedo
| 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | CSKA
| ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Dynamo
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| 2 | SKA
| 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Vityaz
| 0 | |||||||||||||||||
|
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| Western Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | SKA
| ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 |  Jokerit
| 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Lokomotiv
| 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | SKA
| w/o | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Jokerit[lower-alpha 2]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Dynamo
| 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Spartak
| 2 | |||||||||||||||||
- On 16 March 2020, Barys voluntarily withdrew from the playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]
- On 14 March 2020, Jokerit voluntarily withdrew from the playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12]
Following the announcement that the season was prematurely ended on 25 March 2020, a decision of the final league standings was announced to be made at a later date.[3] On 7 May 2020, it was announced that the eight teams that had qualified for the second round of the playoffs would be ranked ex aequo.[13]
At the same time, the Russian Hockey Federation declared CSKA Moscow the Russian champions, SKA Saint Petersburg and Ak Bars Kazan silver medalists, and Dynamo Moscow bronze medalists based on regular season standings.[14]
Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in points, at the conclusion of the regular season.[15] If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vadim Shipachyov |
Dynamo Moscow | 61 | 17 | 48 | 65 | +34 | 28 |
 Dmitrij Jaškin |
Dynamo Moscow | 58 | 31 | 32 | 63 | +34 | 75 |
| Kirill Kaprizov |
CSKA Moscow | 57 | 33 | 29 | 62 | +32 | 10 |
 Linus Omark |
Salavat Yulaev Ufa | 59 | 12 | 42 | 54 | –1 | 36 |
| Nigel Dawes |
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg | 59 | 20 | 30 | 50 | –5 | 13 |
| Mikko Lehtonen |
Jokerit | 60 | 17 | 32 | 49 | +26 | 20 |
| Nikita Soshnikov |
Salavat Yulaev Ufa | 58 | 27 | 21 | 48 | –2 | 28 |
 Brian O'Neill |
Jokerit | 56 | 19 | 29 | 48 | +17 | 18 |
 Linden Vey |
CSKA Moscow | 52 | 13 | 35 | 48 | +22 | 47 |
 Brooks Macek |
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg | 61 | 24 | 22 | 46 | -3 | 22 |
Leading goaltenders
The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, at the conclusion of the regular season.[16]
| Player | Team(s) | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lars Johansson |
CSKA Moscow | 23 | 1370:30 | 17 | 6 | 32 | 6 | 93.25% | 1.40 |
| Timur Bilyalov |
Ak Bars Kazan | 32 | 1652:14 | 19 | 4 | 40 | 8 | 94.34% | 1.45 |
| Ilya Sorokin |
CSKA Moscow | 40 | 2364:49 | 26 | 10 | 59 | 9 | 93.50% | 1.50 |
| Alexander Samonov |
25 | 1428:32 | 19 | 1 | 36 | 4 | 94.66% | 1.51 | |
| Magnus Hellberg |
SKA Saint Petersburg | 26 | 1443:15 | 14 | 7 | 41 | 3 | 92.65% | 1.70 |
| Igor Bobkov |
Avangard Omsk | 48 | 2815:51 | 25 | 16 | 81 | 5 | 93.24% | 1.73 |
| Vasily Koshechkin |
Metallurg Magnitogorsk | 49 | 2687:12 | 18 | 20 | 87 | 6 | 93.31% | 1.94 |
| Ivan Bocharov |
Dynamo Moscow | 49 | 2638:43 | 26 | 13 | 87 | 6 | 93.47% | 1.98 |
| Alexei Krasikov |
Sibir Novosibirsk | 30 | 1403:56 | 10 | 11 | 47 | 2 | 93.52% | 2.01 |
| Evgeny Alikin |
Amur Khabarovsk | 40 | 2246:36 | 15 | 13 | 76 | 7 | 93.65% | 2.03 |
Players of the Month
Best KHL players of each month.
| Month | Goaltender | Defence | Forward | Rookie |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September[17] | Alexei Melnichuk (SKA Saint Petersburg) |
Mikael Wikstrand (Ak Bars Kazan) |
Damir Zhafyarov (Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod) |
Danila Zhuravlyov (Ak Bars Kazan) |
| October[18] | Harri Säteri (Sibir Novosibirsk) |
Albert Yarullin (Ak Bars Kazan) |
Vadim Shipachyov (Dynamo Moscow) |
Artyom Galimov (Ak Bars Kazan) |
| November[19] | Timur Bilyalov (Ak Bars Kazan) |
Mikko Lehtonen (Jokerit) |
Dmitrij Jaškin (Dynamo Moscow) |
Kirill Marchenko (SKA Saint Petersburg) |
| December[20] | Jakub Kovář (Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg) |
Mikko Lehtonen (Jokerit) |
Roman Starchenko (Barys Nur-Sultan) |
Akim Trishin (Spartak Moscow) |
| January[21] | Ilya Sorokin (CSKA Moscow) |
Mikko Lehtonen (Jokerit) |
Anton Slepyshev (CSKA Moscow) |
Ivan Morozov (CSKA Moscow) |
| February[22] | Ivan Fedotov (Traktor Chelyabinsk) |
Vasili Tokranov (SKA Saint Petersburg) |
Kirill Kaprizov (CSKA Moscow) |
Dmitri Voronkov (Ak Bars Kazan) |
| March | Not awarded | |||
| April | ||||
- Potts, Andy (11 July 2019). "Season 12 Schedule: back to Europe, more derbies and a visit to Shenzhen". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
- "The KHL board approves structure for 2019-20 season" (in Russian). Kontinental Hockey League. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
- "KHL has cancelled the remainder of the 2019-20 season". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
- "Slovan has not entered into an agreement with KHL" (in Slovak). HC Slovan Bratislava. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
- "2018/2019 season calendar: start in September and comfortable playoffs". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
- "Dmitry Chernyshenko reviews the season with KHL club directors" (in Russian). Kontinental Hockey League. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
- "League confirms structure for the new season" (in Russian). Kontinental Hockey League. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- Potts, Andy (18 February 2020). "Ak Bars tops the East. February 18 round-up". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- Potts, Andy (27 February 2020). "CSKA tops the regular season table. February 27 round-up". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- "KHL working on new playoff format after two teams drop out". Sportsnet. Rogers Media. Associated Press. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- Clinton, Jared (14 March 2020). "KHL's Jokerit voluntarily withdraws from Gagarin Cup playoffs ahead of second-round series". The Hockey News. Roustan Media Ltd. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
- "KHL announces the final team placements for the 2019-20 season". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- "Leaders: Points (G+A)". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- "Leaders: Goaltenders (GAA)". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- Seren Rosso, Alexander (1 October 2019). "Players of the Month: Melnichuk, Wikstrand, Zhafyarov, and Zhuravlyov". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- Seren Rosso, Alexander (1 November 2019). "Players of the Month: Sateri, Yarullin, Shipachyov, and Galimov". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- Seren Rosso, Alexander (3 December 2019). "Players of the Month: Bilyalov, Lehtonen, Jaskin, and Marchenko". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- Seren Rosso, Alexander (31 December 2019). "Players of the Month: Kovar, Lehtonen, Starchenko, and Trishin". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- Seren Rosso, Alexander (1 February 2020). "Players of the Month: Sorokin, Lehtonen, Slepyshev, and Morozov". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
- Seren Rosso, Alexander (29 February 2020). "Players of the Month: Fedotov, Tokranov, Kaprizov, and Voronkov". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 1 March 2020.