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 February 26, 2009. 24 teams each played 56 games.

Major signings from the NHL
Wishing to establish itself as a major professional league in direct competition with the NHL, the KHL's teams were encouraged to sign NHL players. The players who have made the jump to the upstart KHL were Jaromír Jágr (Omsk), Alexander Radulov (Ufa), Ray Emery (Mytischi), Sergei Brylin (St. Petersburg), Ladislav Nagy (Cherepovets), Jozef Stümpel (Astana), Marcel Hossa (Riga), Ben Clymer (Minsk), Alexei Zhitnik (Dynamo Moscow), Bryan Berard and Chris Simon (both with Chekhov). In the case of Radulov, the signing created a dispute between the NHL and the KHL, as him signing with Salavat Yulaev Ufa meant that his contract with the Nashville Predators would not be honored; however, the day prior to the announcement of Radulov signing with Ufa (i.e. on July 10 2008), the KHL and the National Hockey League had resolved an agreement stating that both leagues would honor the contract of the other (ruling out leagues stealing the players of the other). An investigation by the International Ice Hockey Federation ruled that the signing of Radulov was made two days prior to the KHL-NHL agreement, and that Radulov's contract with Ufa was therefore not breaking the agreement.

Financial difficulties
In its first season only, the league already saw some of its teams, which had met the league's financial conditions to be allowed in, be bothered by financial problems. Metallurg Novokuznetsk suffered from the global financial crisis of 2008, with its sponsor, Evraz Group, allegedly cutting funding. Rumors stated the team would fold by New Year Day, but the team could finish the season.

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, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and the legendary CSKA Moscow.

A "crisis package" has been devised by the KHL to deal with the economic troubles of the time. Cuts will be made in pre-game activities, training camps and pre-season tournaments in order to save some money. A roll-back of mid-level players may occur, and a divisional re-alignment will take place for the 2009-10 KHL season in order to cut down on travel costs (the inaugural divisions saw unlikely match ups such as Dinamo Riga and Amur Khabarovsk together in the same division, for instance).

Alexei Cherepanov's death
The season was tarnished on October 13 2008 during a match between Avangard Omsk and Vityaz Chekhov as young forward Alexei Cherepanov died due to a heart condition.

Two months later, on December 29, after investigation, it was found out that the promising player died from myocarditis, a condition that results in not enough blood getting to the heart; the investigators said that with that condition, Cherepanov should never have played professional hockey. The Federal Investigative Committee also announced that blood and urine samples allowed them to conclude that "for several months Alexei Cherepanov engaged in doping". The substance found was stated by official sources to be kordiamin, a chemical used to treat cardiovascular diseases, but also to stimulate the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. The substance had been taken 3 hours prior to the game in which he died.

Disciplinary actions were taken against personnel of both Avangard and Vityaz. Omsk's director Mikhail Denisov has been fired and the team's doctor removed from his functions within the team; GM Anatoly Bardin and president Konstantin Potapov have been indefinitely suspended from the league. Chekhov's president was also suspended.

All-Star Game
For more details, please see 2009 KHL All-Star Game The league's inaugural all-star game was held in Moscow on january 10th 2009. It was played on the Red Square and saw Team Jágr (International All-Stars) defeating Team Yashin (Russian All-Stars) 7–6.

Regular season final standings
Regular season ended on February 26, 2009. Division winners rank 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th of the league.

Players of the Month
Best KHL players of each month.