2019–20 KHL season explained

2019–20 KHL season
League:Kontinental Hockey League
Sport:Ice hockey
Duration:1 September 2019 – 12 March 2020
No Of Games:62
No Of Teams:24
Season:Regular season
Season Champs:CSKA Moscow
Season Champ Name:Continental Cup winner
Seasonslist:KHL#Seasons overview
Seasonslistnames:KHL
Prevseason Link:2018–19 KHL season
Prevseason Year:2018–19
Nextseason Link:2020–21 KHL season
Nextseason Year:2020–21

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.

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]

Season changes

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]

Teams

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]

Western ConferenceEastern Conference
Tarasov DivisionKharlamov DivisionChernyshev Division
Dinamo Riga CSKA Moscow Ak Bars Kazan Admiral Vladivostok
Dynamo Moscow Dinamo Minsk Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg Amur Khabarovsk
Jokerit HC Sochi Metallurg Magnitogorsk Avangard Omsk
Severstal Cherepovets Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk Barys Nur-Sultan
SKA Saint Petersburg Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod Sibir Novosibirsk Kunlun Red Star
Spartak Moscow Vityaz Podolsk Traktor Chelyabinsk Salavat Yulaev Ufa

League standings

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.

Eastern Conference

Gagarin Cup playoffs

See main article: 2020 Gagarin Cup playoffs. 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]

Final standings

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.[11]

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.[12]

RankTeam
scope=row rowspan=81–8 Ak Bars Kazan
Barys Nur-Sultan
CSKA Moscow
Dynamo Moscow
Jokerit
Salavat Yulaev Ufa
Sibir Novosibirsk
SKA Saint Petersburg
scope=row9 Avangard Omsk
scope=row10 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg
scope=row11 Spartak Moscow
scope=row12 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
scope=row13 Metallurg Magnitogorsk
scope=row14 Vityaz Podolsk
scope=row15 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
scope=row16 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
scope=row17 Amur Khabarovsk
scope=row18 Kunlun Red Star
scope=row19 HC Sochi
scope=row20 Severstal Cherepovets
scope=row21 Traktor Chelyabinsk
scope=row22 Admiral Vladivostok
scope=row23 Dinamo Riga
scope=row24 Dinamo Minsk

Statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points, at the conclusion of the regular season.[13] If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.

PlayerTeam
Dynamo Moscow61174865+3428
Dynamo Moscow58313263+3475
CSKA Moscow57332962+3210
Salavat Yulaev Ufa59124254–136
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg59203050–513
Jokerit60173249+2620
Salavat Yulaev Ufa58272148–228
Jokerit56192948+1718
CSKA Moscow52133548+2247
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg61242246-322

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, at the conclusion of the regular season.[14]

PlayerTeam(s)
CSKA Moscow231370:3017632693.25%1.40
Ak Bars Kazan321652:1419440894.34%1.45
CSKA Moscow402364:49261059993.50%1.50
251428:3219136494.66%1.51
SKA Saint Petersburg261443:1514741392.65%1.70
Avangard Omsk482815:51251681593.24%1.73
Metallurg Magnitogorsk492687:12182087693.31%1.94
Dynamo Moscow492638:43261387693.47%1.98
Sibir Novosibirsk301403:56101147293.52%2.01
Amur Khabarovsk402246:36151376793.65%2.03

Awards

Players of the Month

Best KHL players of each month.

MonthGoaltenderDefenceForwardRookie
September[15] Alexei Melnichuk (SKA Saint Petersburg) Mikael Wikstrand (Ak Bars Kazan) Damir Zhafyarov (Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod) Danila Zhuravlyov (Ak Bars Kazan)
October[16] Harri Säteri (Sibir Novosibirsk) Albert Yarullin (Ak Bars Kazan) Vadim Shipachyov (Dynamo Moscow) Artyom Galimov (Ak Bars Kazan)
November[17] Timur Bilyalov (Ak Bars Kazan) Mikko Lehtonen (Jokerit) Dmitrij Jaškin (Dynamo Moscow) Kirill Marchenko (SKA Saint Petersburg)
December[18] Jakub Kovář (Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg) Mikko Lehtonen (Jokerit) Roman Starchenko (Barys Nur-Sultan) Akim Trishin (Spartak Moscow)
January[19] Ilya Sorokin (CSKA Moscow) Mikko Lehtonen (Jokerit) Anton Slepyshev (CSKA Moscow) Ivan Morozov (CSKA Moscow)
February[20] Ivan Fedotov (Traktor Chelyabinsk) Vasili Tokranov (SKA Saint Petersburg) Kirill Kaprizov (CSKA Moscow) Dmitri Voronkov (Ak Bars Kazan)
Marchcolspan=4 rowspan=2
April

Notes and References

  1. News: Season 12 Schedule: back to Europe, more derbies and a visit to Shenzhen. Andy. Potts. KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 11 July 2019. 1 September 2019.
  2. Web site: The KHL board approves structure for 2019-20 season . . 27 March 2019 . 27 March 2019 . ru.
  3. News: KHL has cancelled the remainder of the 2019-20 season. KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 25 March 2020. 25 March 2020.
  4. Web site: ФХР объявляет победителя и призеров Чемпионата России сезона-2019/20.
  5. Web site: Slovan has not entered into an agreement with KHL . . 27 May 2019 . 27 May 2019 . sk.
  6. News: 2018/2019 season calendar: start in September and comfortable playoffs. KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 5 July 2018. 4 October 2018.
  7. Web site: Dmitry Chernyshenko reviews the season with KHL club directors . . 28 May 2019 . 28 May 2019 . ru.
  8. Web site: League confirms structure for the new season . . 7 May 2019 . 7 May 2019 . ru.
  9. News: Ak Bars tops the East. February 18 round-up. Andy. Potts. KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 18 February 2020. 18 February 2020.
  10. News: CSKA tops the regular season table. February 27 round-up. Andy. Potts. KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 27 February 2020. 27 February 2020.
  11. News: KHL announces the final team placements for the 2019-20 season. KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 7 May 2020. 7 May 2020.
  12. Web site: ФХР объявляет победителя и призеров Чемпионата России сезона-2019/20.
  13. Web site: Leaders: Points (G+A). KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 27 February 2020.
  14. Web site: Leaders: Goaltenders (GAA). KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 27 February 2020.
  15. Web site: Players of the Month: Melnichuk, Wikstrand, Zhafyarov, and Zhuravlyov . KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Alexander. Seren Rosso. 10 January 2020 . 1 October 2019.
  16. Web site: Players of the Month: Sateri, Yarullin, Shipachyov, and Galimov . KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Alexander. Seren Rosso. 10 January 2020 . 1 November 2019.
  17. Web site: Players of the Month: Bilyalov, Lehtonen, Jaskin, and Marchenko . KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Alexander. Seren Rosso. 10 January 2020 . 3 December 2019.
  18. Web site: Players of the Month: Kovar, Lehtonen, Starchenko, and Trishin . KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Alexander. Seren Rosso. 10 January 2020 . 31 December 2019.
  19. News: Players of the Month: Sorokin, Lehtonen, Slepyshev, and Morozov. KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Alexander. Seren Rosso. 1 February 2020. 1 February 2020.
  20. News: Players of the Month: Fedotov, Tokranov, Kaprizov, and Voronkov. KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Alexander. Seren Rosso. 29 February 2020. 1 March 2020.