2008–09 KHL season


The 2008–09 KHL season was the inaugural season of the Kontinental Hockey League. It started on September 2, 2008, and finished on April 12, 2009. 24 teams each played 56 games.

League business

NHL player transfer

KHL teams signed several players from the NHL, including Jaromír Jágr, Alexander Radulov, Ray Emery, Sergei Brylin, Ladislav Nagy, Jozef Stümpel, Marcel Hossa, Ben Clymer, Alexei Zhitnik, Bryan Berard and Chris Simon.

Dispute

A dispute between the two leagues over some of these signings was supposed to have been resolved by an agreement signed on July 10, whereby each league would honor the contracts of the other, but the signing of Alexander Radulov was made public one day after the agreement, leading to an investigation by the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Finances

Ownership

On a deal dated October 30, Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works bought 11.76% of the KHL.

Salary cap

The league has implemented a salary cap.

Economic trouble

has so far experienced difficulty financing its operations, largely due to the global financial crisis of 2008. Team sponsor Evraz Group is rumoured to be cutting funding. There is a possibility the team will cease operations by New Years.
HC MVD has experienced delays in paying players, while Khimik Voskresensk has run itself into debt. Metallurg Magnitogorsk has been forced to cut staff expenditures by 30%. Avangard Omsk owner Roman Abramovich has promised to continue financial support so long as the team maintains good results. Other teams experiencing financial limitations are Vityaz Chekhov, Atlant Moscow Oblast, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, HC CSKA Moscow.
As far as the league is concerned it has devised a "crisis package" for dealing with the economic turmoil. Cuts will be made to non-salary expenditures, such as pre-game activity, training camps, and elimination of pre-season tournaments. Mid-level player salaries may also be rolled back. Divisional re-alignment will also take place for the 2009–10 season to cut down on travel costs.

Inaugural All-Star Game

The inaugural KHL All-Star Game took place on January 10, 2009. Each team consisted of ten forwards, five defensemen, and two goaltenders. The starting rosters were voted upon on the KHL.ru website and decided by December 22. The secondary lines and goaltenders were to be voted upon by the media, and announced December 26, with the following players and reserves announced by January 8. The game took place in Moscow's Red Square, with Team Jágr defeating Team Yashin 7–6.

Regular season

Death of Alexei Cherepanov

On October 13, 2008 during a match between Avangard Omsk and Vityaz Chekhov, forward Alexei Cherepanov died due to a heart condition.
On December 29, 2008, Russian investigators revealed that he suffered from myocarditis, a condition where not enough blood gets to the heart, and that he should not have been playing professional hockey. The federal Investigative Committee also announced that a chemical analysis of Cherepanov's blood and urine samples allowed experts to conclude "that for several months Alexei Cherepanov engaged in doping". Official sources have stated the banned substance taken was nikethamide, a stimulant, and that it had been taken 3 hours prior to the game in which he died.
Omsk club director Mikhail Denisov has since been fired, whereas the league Disciplinary Committee has since removed Omsk's doctors from that role with the club, and has suspended Avangard general manager Anatoly Bardin and team president Konstantin Potapov. The KHL Disciplinary Committee met on this matter on January 5, and also suspended Chekhov's team president.

League standings

Final standings.
Points have been awarded as follows:
Division winner
Qualified for playoffs

League standingsGPWOTWSOWSOLOTLLGFGAPts
Salavat Yulaev Ufa563841328203116129
Ak Bars Kazan5636133310189123122
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl5632224313175111111
CSKA Moscow5627437411176141106
Atlant Moscow Oblast5635342111189111122
Metallurg Magnitogorsk56252112115174148104
Dynamo Moscow5627433217184143100
SKA Saint Petersburg5626274017143105100
Spartak Moscow562615212117315893
Dinamo Riga562432312313215686
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod562422312416216284
Traktor Chelyabinsk562402532214216684
Lada Togliatti562135232212011684
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk562221522414614079
Barys Astana562034222517419178
Avangard Omsk561926142416116478
Severstal Cherepovets561917222514217177
HC MVD562024102914215973
Sibir Novosibirsk561515252814617264
Amur Khabarovsk561522613011115860
Metallurg Novokuznetsk561232523112715754
Dinamo Minsk561212523412419749
Vityaz Chekhov56623753313422540
Khimik Voskresensk56830723610818739

Divisional standing

Bobrov DivisionGPWOTWSOWSOLOTLLGFGAPts
Salavat Yulaev Ufa563841328203116129
Atlant Moscow Oblast5635342111189111122
Spartak Moscow562615212117315893
Severstal Cherepovets561917222514217177
Metallurg Novokuznetsk561232523112715754
Dinamo Minsk561212523412419749

Tarasov DivisionGPWOTWSOWSOLOTLLGFGAPts
CSKA Moscow5627437411176141106
Metallurg Magnitogorsk56252112115174148104
SKA Saint Petersburg5626274017143105100
Traktor Chelyabinsk562402532214216684
HC MVD562024102914215973
Khimik Voskresensk56830723610818739

Kharlamov DivisionGPWOTWSOWSOLOTLLGFGAPts
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl5632224313175111111
Dinamo Riga562432312313215686
Lada Togliatti562135232212011684
Avangard Omsk561926142416116478
Sibir Novosibirsk561515252814617264
Amur Khabarovsk56152261301115860

Chernyshev DivisionGPWOTWSOWSOLOTLLGFGAPts
Ak Bars Kazan5636133310189123122
Dynamo Moscow5627433217184143100
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod562422312416216284
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk562221522414614079
Barys Astana562034222517419178
Vityaz Chekhov56623753313422540

League leaders

Goals Jan Marek 35
Assists Sergei Mozyakin 42
Points Sergei Mozyakin 76
Shots Kevin Dallman 218
Plus/minus Alexei Tereschenko +41
Penalty minutes Chris Simon 263
Wins Georgi Gelashvili 30
Goals against average Dmitri Yachanov 1.47
Save percentage Vitaly Kolesnik .945

Goaltenders: minimum 15 games played

Scoring leaders

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus-minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
PlayerTeamGPGAPts+/–PIM
Atlant Moscow Oblast56344276+3414
Metallurg Magnitogorsk53353772+2662
Ak Bars Kazan49323971+2222
Ak Bars Kazan56343165+2626
Barys Astana53283058+6137
Salavat Yulaev Ufa55283058+4122
Avangard Omsk55252853−162
Atlant Moscow Oblast56213253+2132
Salavat Yulaev Ufa55282452+3432
Barys Astana56282452−730

Playoffs

Playoff leaders

Source: khl.ru
Goals Jukka Hentunen 9
Assists Alexei Morozov
Alexei Yashin
11
Points Alexei Morozov 19
Shots Danis Zaripov 71
Plus/minus Ilya Nikulin
+13
Penalty minutes Grigori Panin 69
Wins Georgi Gelashvili
13
Goals against average Vitali Yeremeyev
1.63
Save percentage Alexander Pimankin
94.4
Shutouts Georgi Gelashvili
5

Goaltenders: minimum 5 games played

Scoring leaders

Source: khl.ru

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus-minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
PlayerTeamGPGAPts+/–PIM
Alexei MorozovAk Bars Kazan2181119+812
Alexei YashinLokomotiv Yaroslavl1971118+310
Tony MårtenssonAk Bars Kazan217916+102
Mattias WeinhandlDynamo Moscow1261016+84
Danis ZaripovAk Bars Kazan2161016+98

Leading goaltenders

Source: khl.ru
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
PlayerTeamGPMinWLGASOSV%GAA
Vitali YeremeyevDynamo Moscow12700:0184191.9271.63
Stanislav GalimovAk Bars Kazan7396:0532111.9261.67
Jussi MarkkanenCSKA Moscow7379:1633112.9341.74
Georgi GelashviliLokomotiv Yaroslavl191,129:56136335.9331.75
Ray EmeryAtlant Moscow Oblast7418:5643131.9411.86

Awards

Players of the Month

Best KHL players of each month.
MonthGoaltenderDefenseForwardRookie
September Alexander Eremenko Magnus Johansson Sergei Mozyakin Maxim Kitsyn
October Vitaly Kolesnik Ilya Nikulin Jan Marek Andrei Kolesnikov
November Robert Esche Konstantin Korneyev Alexei Tereshchenko Stanislav Galimov
December Martin Prusek Karel Rachůnek Danis Zaripov Alexandr Vasiliev
January Vitaliy Yeremeyev Vitali Proshkin Alexander Korolyuk Alexandr Vasiliev
February Dimitrij Kotschnew Peter Podhradský Danis Zaripov Stepan Zakharchuk
March Georgi Gelashvili Ilya Nikulin Mattias Weinhandl

KHL Awards

On 15 May 2009, the KHL held their first award ceremony. A total of 23 different awards were handed out to teams, players, officials and media. The most important trophies are listed in the table below.
Golden Hockey Stick Trophy Danis Zaripov
Play-off Master Award Alexei Morozov
Alexei Cherepanov Award Ilya Proskuryakov