Changes: Kontinental Hockey League

	Kontinental Hockey League
	2008-09 KHL season
Sport	ice hockey
Founded	2008
Motto	Хоккей – наша игра (Hockey – our game)
Inaugural season	2008-09 KHL season
No. of teams	24
Country(ies)	Belarus,; Latvia,; Kazakhstan,; Russia
Most recent champion(s)	Ak Bars Kazan
Most championship(s)	Ak Bars Kazan

Revision as of 15:34, 17 June 2009

For other leagues named Continental Hockey League, please see Continental Hockey League (disambiguation).

The Kontinental Hockey League (in Russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига, Kontinentalnaya Hokkeinaya Liga) (KHL) is a professional league based in Eurasia, created in 2008 as a replacement for the Russian Superleague.

History

Original format

Initially, the KHL included all 20 teams of the RSL, plus Khimik Voskresensk and Barys Astana of the Vysshaya Liga, a new Dynamo Minsk and a new Dinamo Riga. The league established itself as a major one and thus aimed at becoming a major competitor to the National Hockey League. The league's trophy is the Gagarin Cup; the name was chosen as a tribute to Yuri Gagarin since the league's calendar was set so that the Cup finals falls at the latest on April 12th, the anniversary date of Gagarin's historical flight.

The new league was to be closed to the promotion and relegation system straight from the beginning. The league was initially divided into four divisions, named after legendary names of Russian/Soviet hockey (them being Vsevolod Bobrov, Anatoli Tarasov, Valeri Kharlamov and Arkady Chernyshev). Teams were drawn randomly into the four divisions according to the following process: first, all 20 teams coming from the RSL had their names put in 5 ballot boxes; depending on their performances in the league, they were put in the first box (best teams) and so on through the last. A sixth ballot box was added for the four newcomer teams, who were starting at zero, having no RSL record. Then, from these 6 boxes, a draw was made to decide the division members; for each division, there was one name drawn per box. Divisions will be changed after the end of every season following the same system. The purpose of this unusual process was to make the league fair for everyone, in terms of travel costs and level. The system was hardly tested straight away, as the two most distant teams of the league, Riga and Khabarovsk were picked to play in the same division, making travel costs heavy for both teams, as teams from a same division play each other more often than they play other teams. The inaugural divisions went as follows:

Bobrov Division	Tarasov Division	Kharlamov Division	Chernyshev Division
Salavat Yulaev Ufa	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	Avangard Omsk	Ak Bars Kazan
Dynamo Minsk	Khimik Voskresensk	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	Barys Astana
Spartak Moscow	Traktor Chelyabinsk	Lada Togliatti	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
Metallurg Novokuznetsk	HC MVD Balashikha	Sibir Novosibirsk	Vityaz Chekhov
Severstal Cherepovets	SKA St. Petersburg	Amur Khabarovsk	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
Atlant Mytischy	CSKA Moscow	Dinamo Riga	Dynamo Moscow

Each team plays four times against the other teams of its division and twice against the other teams, for a total of 56 games per season. The first 16 teams advance to the playoffs; just like in the NHL, the league's top four seeds will be occupied by every division winner. The first round of the playoffs will be a best-of-five format; further rounds will be best-of-seven. By doing so, they ensure that even in the worst case, the league's final will always be on April 12th, anniversary of the historical flight of Yuri Gagarin.

Initially, Khimik Voskresensk was supposed to play in the Vysshaya Liga, while Avtomobilist Ekaterinburg was planned to play in the KHL, a first time in 12 years for the Ekaterinburg club to play at the top level in Russia. However, financial problems arose and the team had to be withdrawn from the upstart league; Voskresensk, that had been crowned Vysshaya Liga champion the previous season (beating Ekaterinburg in the finals) replaced them, while Avtomobilist returned for one more season in the second level of Russian hockey.

Contract and salary caps

The salary cap

The KHL, following the trend of the RSL's last two seasons, will adopt a salary cap. Every team will have to spend a maximum of 562,500,000 roubles (roughly 23.5 million euros) for a squad of 25 players. Of this amount, up to 400,000,000 roubles (some 16.7 millions) are to be spent on 21 players, while the remaining 162,500,000 roubles (6.8 millions) can be spent on four "star" players; 25 players, including no more than four stars, is the maximum number of players a team can register.

The star players

The recruiting of the clubs' four star players are limited by several rules as well. If every team can sign three players of their choice, the fourth is subject to several restrictions. Indeed, that player must satisfy one of the following conditions:

He must have played a minimum of 40 games (20 in the case of a goaltender) in the last National Hockey League season;
He must be a junior player, younger than 20, of Canadian or American nationality, who has been drafted in the first three rounds of the last NHL Entry Draft;
He must come from the European leagues and have represented his country in the last World Championship.

Contracts

A new contract system was created for the new league. Players will be presented, depending on their situation, one of the following three:

Standard "First team" contracts -> one-way deal
"First team plus farm team" contract -> two-way deal
Junior contract -> comes with an agreement to study in a sports school

Any player older than seventeen can sign a contract with a KHL team; however, players that young must sign a four years deal. It is possible for a player to sign at 16, but in this case, he must have been locked by his team for the Draft. Those players can sign contracts worth 500,000 roubles if they are locked for Draft and 300,000 if they are chosen in the first round. Contract values for the juniors will grow with time; second-year of the contract will be 20% higher than first, third year 30% higher and fourth and final year, 50%. A system of farm teams, not dissimilar to the NHL's, was organized by the Russian Hockey Federation. The result was the Molodezhnaya Hokkeynaya Liga (MHL).

KHL Entry Draft and Waivers Draft

KHL Entry Draft

The KHL introduced the North American concept of Drafts. The first one was held in Moscow in June 2009, i.e. prior to the league's second season. It was an occasion for the teams to secure the rights on European and North American players. Considering that the current system where each club develop its own young players through his system, the draft did pose a problem, since teams may find themselves spending a lot of money to train young stars only so that they are picked by another team of the league. However, the KHL gives the right to every team to secure its three best junior players in age to be drafted (i.e. "lock" them), as well as a system of compensation for players drafted from one another's school. Bascially, such compensation is of 3,000,000 rubles for a first rounder, 2,000,000 for a second rounder and so on.

KHL Waivers Draft

The KHL also resurrected the old concept of Waivers Draft that the National Hockey League had abandoned. Every team will be asked to declare twenty players, them being 2 goaltenders and 18 skaters. Any one that has not been declared can be picked by other teams in the league; players with two-way contracts, however, are ineligible. The draft will be conducted in reverse standing order, meaning that the team having finished the previous season with the worst record will get to chose first.

Transfer markets

The KHL will break ties with the usual European transfer market consisting of buying players to adopt, on this aspect, again a more North American approach, by rather adopting a trade system, like the NHL's. An initial transfer deadline has been set for january 15th. Restricted free agents also become a part of the league, and compensations equal to half of the contract offer will be offered to the team losing a player this way.

Import rules

As previously mentioned, the roster must count a maximum of 25 players. While there is no restriction to the amount of imports a player can have on its roster per se, there is however a maximum number of imports participating in one match, limit fixed to four per team. Also, imported goalies can only play 56% of their teams games to help the development of Russian goalies.

Other changes from the RSL

Several minor changes have been made to the league additionally to the bigger one previously discussed. They consist chiefly the standards of the league's new aesthetics. Coaching staff is now required to wear elegant suits (so that people like Vyacheslav Bykov no longer coach wearing jeans). Also, the league will have its teams wear their white uniforms away and darker ones home, like the NHL, and unlike what has been the custom in the RSL. The league's schedule will also be changed. Matches will from now on be scheduled on every day (unlike the RSL's schedules that had all matches happen on the same weekend day); doing so will mean a better TV coverage and exposure.

Expansions: the ever going speculations

The KHL initially hoped to be able to expand to 30 teams as soon as the 2009-10; however, possibly in good part due to the 2009 Financial Crisis, the league had to forget about its expansions plans in the short term. The only change that occured was a switch between Khimik and Avtomobilist, the former dropping from the KHL for financial reasons and replaced by the latter. Ironically, it meant that Avtomobilist would make the KHL debuts it was poised to make the previous season at the expense of Khimik, who had taken their place.

Various teams in the bigger European leagues have been considering, or at the very least been reported considering, requesting KHL entry. HC Energie Karlovy Vary, Frölunda HC, Färjestads BK, Sokil Kyiv, Kärpät Oulu, Eisbären Berlin, Kölner Haie, Yunost Minsk, EC Red Bull Salzburg, Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk, HC Dmitrov and Yunost Minsk are reported with various levels of credibility as KHL candidates, though there is no confirmation from any side at this point. The only teams to have given an answer would be Karlovy Vary and Salzburg; the former is interested by setting up a Czech all-star team (alike that Dinamo Riga, Dynamo Minsk and Barys Astana have created with their respective national players) participating in the KHL and a second team in the Czech Extraliga. The latter team declared they are more interested by entering the DEL than the KHL.

2008-09: the inauguration

The league held its inaugural match on September 2nd 2008 with the newly created Dinamo Riga playing some 6,000 kilometers away from home in the Russian Far East against Amur Khabarovsk. Aleksandrs Nizivijs earned the distinction of being the first scorer in the league's history 11 minutes 39 seconds into the game on a two-man advantage powerplay; Riga defeated Khabarovsk 4-2. Salavat Yulaev Ufa won the first edition of the Opening Cup by beating Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4-1.

The league's first season encountered an accidental death of Alexei Cherepanov on October 13th 2008. The young star collapsed on his team's (Avangard Omsk) bench following a collision on the ice with his teammate Jaromir Jagr. Medical intervention was delayed by the premature departure of the ambulance that usually stays at the arena during game time that had to be called back; it took between 15 and 20 minutes to get Cherepanov to the hospital, according to reports^[1]. Though attempts to get his heart beating again were succesful on five occasions, including one where he regained consciousness and recognised his teammates^[2]. However, his heart each time stopped again, and his death from commotio cordis was announced later during the day.

On January 10th 2009, the league held its first All-Star Game. The format opposed Team Yashin, made up of the best Russian players of the league, to Team Jágr, made up of the best foreign players. The match was played outside, on a rink built on the Red Square, in Moscow. The game was, however, unsuccesful at the gates, due to the cold weather and the very small capacity of the purposedly built facilities. Team Jágr defeated Team Yashin 7-6.

The league's inaugural Gagarin Cup was won on April 12th 2009 by Ak Bars Kazan, who defeated Lokomotiv Yaroslavl four games against three in the finals.

Trophies and awards

Gagarin Cup - championship trophy awarded to the playoffs winner
Cherepanov memorial Trophy - awarded to the league's top rookie.

Sources and references

This article is part of the Russian hockey portal.

[1] ttp://forums.internationalhockey.net/showthread.php?t=7473

[2] ttp://news.sport-express.ru/online/ntext/26/nl262433.html

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 | founded        = 2008
 | fame           =
-| motto          =
+| motto          = Хоккей – наша игра (Hockey – our game)
 | inaugural      = 2008-09 KHL season|2008-09
 | teams          = 24
 | country        = {{flagicon|BLR}} [[Belarus]],<br> {{flagicon|LAT}} [[Latvia]],<br> {{flagicon|KAZ}} [[Kazakhstan]],<br> {{flagicon|RUS}} [[Russia]]
-| champion       = -
+| champion       = [[Ak Bars Kazan]]
-| most_champs    = -
+| most_champs    = [[Ak Bars Kazan]]
 | folded         =
 | website        =
@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 | related_comps  =
 }}
-The '''Kontinental Hockey League''' (in Russian: '''Континентальная хоккейная лига''', '''Kontinentalnaya Hokkeinaya Liga''') ('''KHL''') is a professional league based in Eurasia. Created in [[2008]] as a replacement for the [[Russian Superleague]], it includes all 20 teams of the RSL, plus [[Khimik Voskresensk (current)|Khimik Voskresensk]] and [[Barys Astana]] of the [[Vysshaya Liga]], a new [[Dynamo Minsk (2008-present)|Dynamo Minsk]] and a new [[Dinamo Riga (current)|Dinamo Riga]]. The league aims to become a major competitor to the [[National Hockey League]]. The league's trophy will be the [[Gagarin Cup]]. The league hopes to eventually attract top clubs all across Europe to create a really continental league.
+The '''Kontinental Hockey League''' (in Russian: '''Континентальная хоккейная лига''', '''Kontinentalnaya Hokkeinaya Liga''') ('''KHL''') is a professional league based in Eurasia, created in [[2008]] as a replacement for the [[Russian Superleague]].
-==Format==
+==History==
+===Original format===
-teams are taking part in the league, closed to the promotion/relegation system, for the inaugural [[2008-09 KHL season]]. They are split in four divisions of six teams, each named after a legend of Russian/Soviet hockey (them being [[Vsevolod Bobrov]], [[Anatoli Tarasov]], [[Valeri Kharlamov]] and [[Arkady Chernyshev]]). The system to decide upon which team is to play in which division is based on RSL rankings. All 20 teams coming from the RSL had their names put in 5 ballot boxes; depending on their performances in the league, they were put in the first box (best teams) and so on through the last. A sixth ballot box was added for the four newcomer teams, who were starting at zero, having no RSL record. Then, from these 6 boxes, a draw was made to decide the division members; for each division, there was one name drawn per box. Divisions will be changed after the end of every season following the same system. The purpose of this unusual process is so to make the league fair for everyone, in terms of travel costs and level - it indeed is fairer for everyone now as it is (even though Riga and Khabarovsk ended up in the same division) in comparison to the more conventional geographical divisions, because it would have meant otherwise that the teams in Moscow would have saved a lot on travel expenses, while the Siberian teams would have spent much more; however, critics argue that this will do nothing to help the development of rivalries. The inaugural divisions go as follows:
+Initially, the KHL included all 20 teams of the RSL, plus [[Khimik Voskresensk (current)|Khimik Voskresensk]] and [[Barys Astana]] of the [[Vysshaya Liga]], a new [[Dynamo Minsk (2008-present)|Dynamo Minsk]] and a new [[Dinamo Riga (current)|Dinamo Riga]]. The league established itself as a major one and thus aimed at becoming a major competitor to the [[National Hockey League]]. The league's trophy is the [[Gagarin Cup]]; the name was chosen as a tribute to Yuri Gagarin since the league's calendar was set so that the Cup finals falls at the latest on April 12th, the anniversary date of Gagarin's historical flight.
+The new league was to be closed to the [[promotion and relegation]] system straight from the beginning. The league was initially divided into four divisions, named after legendary names of Russian/Soviet hockey (them being [[Vsevolod Bobrov]], [[Anatoli Tarasov]], [[Valeri Kharlamov]] and [[Arkady Chernyshev]]). Teams were drawn randomly into the four divisions according to the following process: first, all 20 teams coming from the RSL had their names put in 5 ballot boxes; depending on their performances in the league, they were put in the first box (best teams) and so on through the last. A sixth ballot box was added for the four newcomer teams, who were starting at zero, having no RSL record. Then, from these 6 boxes, a draw was made to decide the division members; for each division, there was one name drawn per box. Divisions will be changed after the end of every season following the same system. The purpose of this unusual process was to make the league fair for everyone, in terms of travel costs and level. The system was hardly tested straight away, as the two most distant teams of the league, Riga and Khabarovsk were picked to play in the same division, making travel costs heavy for both teams, as teams from a same division play each other more often than they play other teams. The inaugural divisions went as follows:
 {| class="wikitable"
@@ Line 68: / Line 71: @@
 |}
-Each team will play four times against the other teams of its division and twice against the other teams, for a total of 56 games per season. The first 16 teams will advance to the [[playoffs]]; just like in the NHL, the league's top four seeds will be occupied by every division winner. The first round of the playoffs will be a best-of-five format; further rounds will be best-of-seven. By doing so, they ensure that even in the worst case, the league's final will always be on April 12th, anniversary of the historical flight of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin Yuri Gagarin].
+Each team plays four times against the other teams of its division and twice against the other teams, for a total of 56 games per season. The first 16 teams advance to the [[playoffs]]; just like in the NHL, the league's top four seeds will be occupied by every division winner. The first round of the playoffs will be a best-of-five format; further rounds will be best-of-seven. By doing so, they ensure that even in the worst case, the league's final will always be on April 12th, anniversary of the historical flight of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin Yuri Gagarin].
-Initially, [[Khimik Voskresensk (current)|Khimik Voskresensk]] was supposed to play in the [[Vysshaya Liga]], while [[Avtomobilist Ekaterinburg]] was planned to play in the KHL, a first time in 12 years for the Ekaterinburg club to play at the top level in Russia. However, financial problems arose and the team had to be withdrawn from the upstart league; Voskresensk, that had been crowned Vysshaya Liga champion the previous season (beating Ekaterinburg in the finals)replaced them, while Avtomobilist returned for at least one more season in the second level of Russian hockey.
+Initially, [[Khimik Voskresensk (current)|Khimik Voskresensk]] was supposed to play in the [[Vysshaya Liga]], while [[Avtomobilist Ekaterinburg]] was planned to play in the KHL, a first time in 12 years for the Ekaterinburg club to play at the top level in Russia. However, financial problems arose and the team had to be withdrawn from the upstart league; Voskresensk, that had been crowned Vysshaya Liga champion the previous season (beating Ekaterinburg in the finals) replaced them, while Avtomobilist returned for one more season in the second level of Russian hockey.
-==Contract and salary caps==
+===Contract and salary caps===
-===The salary cap===
+====The salary cap====
 The KHL, following the trend of the RSL's last two seasons, will adopt a salary cap. Every team will have to spend a maximum of 562,500,000 roubles (roughly 23.5 million euros) for a squad of 25 players. Of this amount, up to 400,000,000 roubles (some 16.7 millions) are to be spent on 21 players, while the remaining 162,500,000 roubles (6.8 millions) can be spent on four "star" players; 25 players, including no more than four stars, is the maximum number of players a team can register.
-===The star players===
+====The star players====
 The recruiting of the clubs' four star players are limited by several rules as well. If every team can sign three players of their choice, the fourth is subject to several restrictions. Indeed, that player must satisfy one of the following conditions:
@@ Line 84: / Line 87: @@
 ===Contracts===
-A new contract system will be created for the new league. Players will be presented, depending on their situation, one of the following three:
+A new contract system was created for the new league. Players will be presented, depending on their situation, one of the following three:
 * Standard "First team" contracts -> one-way deal
@@ Line 90: / Line 93: @@
 * Junior contract -> comes with an agreement to study in a sports school
-Any player older than seventeen can sign a contract with a KHL team; however, players that young must sign a four years deal. It is possible for a player to sign at 16, but in this case, he must have been locked by his team for the Draft. Those players can sign contracts worth 500,000 roubles if they are locked for Draft and 300,000 if they are chosen in the first round. Contract values for the juniors will grow with time; second-year of the contract will be 20% higher than first, third year 30% higher and fourth and final year, 50%. A system of [[farm team]]s, not dissimilar to the NHL's, will be organized by the [[Russian Hockey Federation]].
+Any player older than seventeen can sign a contract with a KHL team; however, players that young must sign a four years deal. It is possible for a player to sign at 16, but in this case, he must have been locked by his team for the Draft. Those players can sign contracts worth 500,000 roubles if they are locked for Draft and 300,000 if they are chosen in the first round. Contract values for the juniors will grow with time; second-year of the contract will be 20% higher than first, third year 30% higher and fourth and final year, 50%. A system of [[farm team]]s, not dissimilar to the NHL's, was organized by the [[Russian Hockey Federation]]. The result was the [[Molodezhnaya Hokkeynaya Liga]] (MHL).
-==KHL Entry Draft and Waivers Draft==
+===KHL Entry Draft and Waivers Draft===
-===KHL Entry Draft===
+====KHL Entry Draft====
-The KHL will introduce the North American concept of Drafts. The first one is planned to be held in Moscow in June [[2009 KHL Entry Draft|2009]], i.e. prior to the league's second season. It will be an occasion for the teams to secure the rights on European and North American players. Considering that the current system where each club develop its own young players through his system, the draft do poses a problem, since teams may find themselves spending a lot of money to train young stars only so that they are picked by another team of the league. However, the KHL gives the right to every team to secure its three best junior players in age to be drafted (i.e. "lock" them), as well as a system of compensation for players drafted from one another's school. Bascially, such compensation is of 3,000,000 for a first rounder, 2,000,000 for a second rounder and so on.
+The KHL introduced the North American concept of Drafts. The first one was held in Moscow in June [[2009 KHL Entry Draft|2009]], i.e. prior to the league's second season. It was an occasion for the teams to secure the rights on European and North American players. Considering that the current system where each club develop its own young players through his system, the draft did pose a problem, since teams may find themselves spending a lot of money to train young stars only so that they are picked by another team of the league. However, the KHL gives the right to every team to secure its three best junior players in age to be drafted (i.e. "lock" them), as well as a system of compensation for players drafted from one another's school. Bascially, such compensation is of 3,000,000 rubles for a first rounder, 2,000,000 for a second rounder and so on.
-===KHL Waivers Draft===
+====KHL Waivers Draft====
-The KHL will also resurrect the old concept of [[Waivers Draft]] that the [[National Hockey League]] had abandoned. Every team will be asked to declare twenty players, them being 2 [[goaltender]]s and 18 skaters. Any one that has not been declared can be picked by other teams in the league; players with two-way contracts, however, are ineligible. The draft will be conducted in reverse standing order, meaning that the team having finished the previous season with the worst record will get to chose first.
+The KHL also resurrected the old concept of [[Waivers Draft]] that the [[National Hockey League]] had abandoned. Every team will be asked to declare twenty players, them being 2 [[goaltender]]s and 18 skaters. Any one that has not been declared can be picked by other teams in the league; players with two-way contracts, however, are ineligible. The draft will be conducted in reverse standing order, meaning that the team having finished the previous season with the worst record will get to chose first.
-==Transfer markets==
+===Transfer markets===
 The KHL will break ties with the usual European transfer market consisting of buying players to adopt, on this aspect, again a more North American approach, by rather adopting a trade system, like the NHL's. An initial transfer deadline has been set for january 15th. [[Restricted free agents]] also become a part of the league, and compensations equal to half of the contract offer will be offered to the team losing a player this way.
-==Import rules==
+===Import rules===
-As previously mentioned, the roster must count a maximum of 25 players. While there is no restriction to the amount of imports a player can have on its roster per se, there is however a maximum number of imports participating in one match, limit fixed to four per team. Also, imported goalies can only play 56% of their teams games to help the development of Russian goalies
+As previously mentioned, the roster must count a maximum of 25 players. While there is no restriction to the amount of imports a player can have on its roster per se, there is however a maximum number of imports participating in one match, limit fixed to four per team. Also, imported goalies can only play 56% of their teams games to help the development of Russian goalies.
-==Other changes from the RSL==
+===Other changes from the RSL===
 Several minor changes have been made to the league additionally to the bigger one previously discussed. They consist chiefly the standards of the league's new aesthetics. Coaching staff is now required to wear elegant suits (so that people like [[Vyacheslav Bykov]] no longer coach wearing jeans). Also, the league will have its teams wear their white uniforms away and darker ones home, like the NHL, and unlike what has been the custom in the RSL. The league's schedule will also be changed. Matches will from now on be scheduled on every day (unlike the RSL's schedules that had all matches happen on the same weekend day); doing so will mean a better TV coverage and exposure.
-==Expansions==
+==Expansions: the ever going speculations==
+The KHL initially hoped to be able to expand to 30 teams as soon as the [[2009-10 KHL season|2009-10]]; however, possibly in good part due to the 2009 Financial Crisis, the league had to forget about its expansions plans in the short term. The only change that occured was a switch between Khimik and Avtomobilist, the former dropping from the KHL for financial reasons and replaced by the latter. Ironically, it meant that Avtomobilist would make the KHL debuts it was poised to make the previous season at the expense of Khimik, who had taken their place.
-It is reported that the KHL wishes to expand to 30 teams for [[2009-10 KHL season|2009-10]]. The two most likely additions, as of now, would be [[Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg]], who were expected to make their debuts for the inaugural season but were replaced by Khimik due to financial problems, and [[HC Energie Karlovy Vary]], who have signed letters of intent with the KHL. If no financial problems arise, the club should begin playing in the league for 2009-10. It would keep a team in the [[Czech Extraliga]], but would create another team for the KHL, which would be filled with top Czech players, a bit like [[Dinamo Riga (current)|Dinamo Riga]] and [[Dynamo Minsk (2008-present)|Dynamo Minsk]] are doing with top Latvian and Belarussian players, respectively.
+Various teams in the bigger European leagues have been considering, or at the very least been reported considering, requesting KHL entry. [[HC Energie Karlovy Vary]], [[Frölunda HC]], [[Färjestads BK]], [[Sokil Kyiv]], [[Kärpät Oulu]], [[Eisbären Berlin]], [[Kölner Haie]], [[Yunost Minsk]], [[EC Red Bull Salzburg]], [[Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk]], [[HC Dmitrov]] and [[Yunost Minsk]] are reported with various levels of credibility as KHL candidates, though there is no confirmation from any side at this point. The only teams to have given an answer would be Karlovy Vary and Salzburg; the former is interested by setting up a Czech all-star team (alike that Dinamo Riga, Dynamo Minsk and Barys Astana have created with their respective national players) participating in the KHL and a second team in the [[Czech Extraliga]]. The latter team declared they are more interested by entering the [[DEL]] than the KHL.
-Several other teams Europe-wide have been invited, or have declared interest in the league. Two clubs from [[Sweden]], [[Frölunda HC]] and [[Färjestads BK]], have been invited; neither gave a definitive answer so far. [[Austria]]n club [[EC Red Bull Salzburg]] is also among the teams the league aims to affiliate. Red Bull team owner [[Dietrich Mateschitz]] however declared he would be more interested in seeing his team join the [[DEL]] rather than the KHL. Other teams interested or reported interested in joining the league are [[Sokil Kyiv]] from [[Ukraine]], [[Kärpät Oulu]] from [[Finland]], [[Eisbären Berlin]] and [[Kölner Haie]] from [[Germany]]. The [[Belarus Ice Hockey Federation]] is looking to include three more belarussian teams in the KHL, including [[Yunost Minsk]]. Other Russian teams looking to join the league include [[Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk]] and [[HC Dmitrov]].
+==2008-09: the inauguration==
-==History==
 The league held its inaugural match on September 2nd [[2008]] with the newly created [[Dinamo Riga (current)|Dinamo Riga]] playing some 6,000 kilometers away from home in the Russian Far East against [[Amur Khabarovsk]]. [[Aleksandrs Nizivijs]] earned the distinction of being the first scorer in the league's history 11 minutes 39 seconds into the game on a two-man advantage powerplay; Riga defeated Khabarovsk 4-2. [[Salavat Yulaev Ufa]] won the first edition of the [[Opening Cup]] by beating [[Lokomotiv Yaroslavl]] 4-1.
@@ Line 142: / Line 145: @@
 [[Category:Ice hockey in Belarus]]
 [[Category:Ice hockey in Kazakhstan]]
+[[Category:Continental Hockey League]]

Kontinental Hockey League
2008-09 KHL season

Sport	ice hockey
Founded	2008
Motto	Хоккей – наша игра (Hockey – our game)
Inaugural season	2008-09 KHL season
No. of teams	24
Country(ies)	Belarus, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Russia
Most recent champion(s)	Ak Bars Kazan
Most championship(s)	Ak Bars Kazan