2020–21 KHL season

The 2020–21 KHL season is the thirteenth season of the Kontinental Hockey League. There are 23 teams that are competing in 60 regular season games. The season began on 2 September 2020.[1]

2020–21 KHL season
LeagueKontinental Hockey League
SportIce hockey
Duration
  • 2 September 2020 – 27 February 2021 (regular season)
  • 2 March – 30 April 2021 (playoffs)
Number of games60
Number of teams23
Regular season

Season changes

For the 2020–21 season, the competition was reduced to 23 teams after Admiral Vladivostok took a hiatus for the season due to the coronavirus pandemic affecting their financial status.[2]

With pre-season events returning to the schedule in August as a part of preparations to start the season, Jokerit, whose ability to stage games will be governed by Finland's restrictions in response to the coronavirus pandemic, announced that it expected to play before a reduced audience at the Hartwall Arena during the first month of the campaign.[3]

Due to the on-going travel restrictions against the COVID-19 pandemic, Kunlun Red Star determined that they would be unable to play in Cadillac Arena situated in Beijing, China for this season. In August, the club signed a contract to play out of Mytishchi Arena, the second venue for the 2007 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships located on the outskirts of Moscow.[4] It is widely believed that the promotion of ice hockey to potential followers in China before the 2022 Winter Olympics would be hampered as a result.

Teams

The 23 teams are 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.

Following Admiral Vladivostok's hiatus from the league, and to alleviate any potential issues with teams transiting during the COVID-19 pandemic, several conference and divisional changes were announced.[1]

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

League standings

Each team is scheduled to play 60 games: playing every other team home-and-away (44 games), 8–10 games against division rivals and 6–8 games against teams in the other division in their respective conference.[1]

Points are awarded for each game, where two points were awarded for all victories, regardless of whether it is in regulation time, in overtime or after game-winning shots. One point will be 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 is crowned the Continental Cup winner.

Western Conference
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 CSKA Moscow (Q) 53 31 7 5 10 167 110 +57 81 Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs[lower-alpha 1]
2 SKA Saint Petersburg (Q) 53 28 4 8 13 158 113 +45 72
3 Dynamo Moscow (Q) 54 29 4 6 15 165 125 +40 72 Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
4 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (Q) 54 25 8 6 15 161 117 +44 72
5 Jokerit 51 23 5 5 18 144 127 +17 61
6 Severstal Cherepovets 53 21 7 4 21 133 142 −9 60
7 Dinamo Minsk 53 15 13 3 22 144 150 −6 59
8 Vityaz Podolsk 53 19 6 4 24 140 151 −11 54
9 Spartak Moscow 53 17 7 6 23 137 156 −19 54
10 HC Sochi (E) 54 12 2 8 32 110 177 −67 36
11 Dinamo Riga (E) 52 4 4 9 35 112 186 −74 25
Updated to match(es) played on 5 February 2021. Source: KHL
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.
Notes:
  1. Teams leading a division hold one of the first two places of their conference.

Eastern Conference
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Ak Bars Kazan (Q) 54 32 7 6 9 171 115 +56 84 Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs[lower-alpha 1]
2 Avangard Omsk (Q) 53 29 2 11 11 157 122 +35 73
3 Metallurg Magnitogorsk (Q) 53 30 4 5 14 150 120 +30 73 Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
4 Salavat Yulaev Ufa (Q) 54 23 10 5 16 163 139 +24 71
5 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Q) 55 22 7 7 19 161 152 +9 65
6 Traktor Chelyabinsk (Q) 53 25 5 4 19 139 125 +14 64
7 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (Q) 54 23 5 7 19 143 137 +6 63
8 Barys Nur-Sultan (Q) 53 18 10 6 19 131 137 −6 62
9 Sibir Novosibirsk (E) 54 17 5 4 28 128 146 −18 48
10 Amur Khabarovsk (E) 53 15 5 5 28 128 153 −25 45
11 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (E) 53 12 4 0 37 122 199 −77 32
12 Kunlun Red Star (E) 52 10 1 8 33 117 182 −65 30
Updated to match(es) played on 5 February 2021. Source: KHL
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.
Notes:
  1. Teams leading a division hold one of the first two places of their conference.

Statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points, at the conclusion of matches played on 5 February 2021.[5] 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 51 19 41 60 +24 22
Damir Zhafyarov Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 54 20 38 58 +6 26
Teemu Hartikainen Salavat Yulaev Ufa 47 24 33 57 +13 12
Stéphane Da Costa Ak Bars Kazan 46 23 28 51 +10 24
Markus Granlund Salavat Yulaev Ufa 44 23 27 50 +18 24
Justin Danforth Vityaz Podolsk 51 20 30 50 +7 46
Dmitrij Jaškin Dynamo Moscow 53 33 16 49 +20 48
Sakari Manninen Salavat Yulaev Ufa 49 17 31 48 +13 10
Kaspars Daugaviņš Vityaz Podolsk 51 16 30 46 +8 30
Shane Prince Dinamo Minsk 46 23 22 45 +16 43

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, at the conclusion of matches played on 5 February 2021.[6]

Player Team(s) GP TOI W L GA SO SV% GAA
Adam Reideborn Ak Bars Kazan 25 1466:43 16 6 43 3 93.58% 1.76
Lars Johansson CSKA Moscow 20 1150:39 16 3 34 2 92.00% 1.77
Juho Olkinuora Metallurg Magnitogorsk 27 1512:37 17 6 47 2 93.61% 1.86
Alexander Yeryomenko Dynamo Moscow 24 1251:21 14 6 39 3 93.36% 1.87
Magnus Hellberg SKA Saint Petersburg 19 1052:04 12 4 33 2 93.10% 1.88
Edward Pasquale Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 39 2273:56 23 11 73 5 92.49% 1.93
Igor Bobkov Avangard Omsk 24 1305:04 14 5 44 1 92.95% 2.02
Alexander Sharychenkov CSKA Moscow 33 1838:44 18 8 63 2 91.74% 2.06
Timur Bilyalov Ak Bars Kazan 24 1334:07 14 4 48 3 92.74% 2.16
Ivan Fedotov Traktor Chelyabinsk 23 1314:58 11 7 49 1 92.23% 2.24

Awards

Players of the Month

The following players were recognised as the best KHL players of each month.

Month Goaltender Defence Forward Rookie
September[7] Emil Garipov (Avangard Omsk) Chay Genoway (Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg) Alexei Makeyev (Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg) Yegor Chinakhov (Avangard Omsk)
October[8] Edward Pasquale (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl) Daniil Miromanov (HC Sochi) Justin Danforth (Vityaz Podolsk) Yegor Chinakhov (Avangard Omsk)
November[9] Dominik Furch (Dinamo Minsk) Alexei Emelin (Avangard Omsk) Dmitrij Jaškin (Dynamo Moscow) Ivan Chekhovich (Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod)
December[10] Alexander Yeryomenko (Dynamo Moscow) Stepan Falkovsky (Dinamo Minsk) Stéphane Da Costa (Ak Bars Kazan) Ivan Chekhovich (Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod)
January[11] Edward Pasquale (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl) Philip Holm (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) Shane Prince (Dinamo Minsk) Alexander Alexeyev (Salavat Yulaev Ufa)

References
  1. Potts, Andy (7 August 2020). "The KHL schedule for 2020-2021 – we start on Sep. 2!". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  2. Ellis, Steven (1 April 2020). "Admiral Vladivostok announces withdrawal from KHL's 2020-21 season due to coronavirus". TheHockeyNews. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  3. "Pre-season plans". Kontinental Hockey League. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  4. Potts, Andy (22 July 2020). "Kovalev to coach Kunlun Red Star". IIHF. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  5. "Leaders: Points (G+A)". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  6. "Leaders: Goaltenders (GAA)". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  7. Seren Rosso, Alessandro (1 October 2020). "Players of the Month: Garipov, Genoway, Makeyev, and Chinakhov". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  8. Seren Rosso, Alessandro (31 October 2020). "Players of the Month: Pasquale, Miromanov, Danforth, and Chinakhov". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  9. Seren Rosso, Alessandro (1 December 2020). "Players of the Month: Furch, Emelin, Jaskin, and Chekhovich". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  10. Seren Rosso, Alessandro (2 January 2021). "Players of the Month: Yeryomenko, Falkovsky, Da Costa, and Chekhovich". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  11. Seren Rosso, Alessandro (2 February 2021). "Players of the Month: Pasquale, Holm, Prince, and Alexeyev". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
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