If you have only recently become interested in the exciting world of hockey, then it is very likely that a lot of things here will be incomprehensible to you at first. For example, what is the KHL. We will highlight all the significant characteristics of the league.

What is KHL?

KHL - Kontinental Hockey League. This is an international open association, whose members are hockey clubs from the Russian Federation, China, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Finland, Belarus, Latvia. Every year the teams compete for the main trophy - the Gagarin Cup. In addition to him, the Continental Cup is played out. Tikhonov and the title of club-champion of Russia.

KHL games have been played since 2008 - it was then that the league was formed. Initially, it included 24 clubs. Today (season 2017/2018) their number has increased to 27.

The total KHL game attendance is as follows:

• Regular championships - 3.5-5.2 million viewers in different seasons.
• Playoffs - from 450 to 600 thousand spectators.

If you look at attendance, the most favorite teams are Avangard, SKA, Dynamo-Minsk.

The Continental League includes the KHL itself, as well as the MHL (youth league) and WHL (women's league).

History of formation

In 1996, the International Hockey League was disbanded: the best teams in the CIS had no choice but to participate only in national competitions. In 2005, V. Fetisov (head of the Federal Agency for Culture and Sports of the Russian Federation) proposed a league project for Russia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan. It should be independent of the Professional Hockey League and the Russian Hockey Federation, while also being commercially oriented, like the NHL.

For several seasons, the idea was vigorously discussed, but it was not possible to implement it. In February 2008, a decision was signed to start the Open Russian Hockey League (then the ORHL was renamed the KHL). What is KHL? This is a project in which it was possible to implement almost all the planned ideas:

• participation of both teams from the CIS and clubs from Western Europe;
• certain salary caps;
• junior draft;
• division into divisions;
• playoff competition up to 4 wins;
• stringent requirements for club infrastructure;
• nominal cup;
• membership of the clubs included in the Superleague.

The KHL had a pioneer standings in the 2008-2009 season. The first goal was scored by hockey player A. Nizhivy (Dinamo-Riga) against Amur. Initially, the participants were 21 clubs from the Russian Federation and three teams from Latvia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. Ak Bars became the first champion of the KHL and the winner of the Gagarin Cup.

Geographic division

What is KHL? These are two conferences - Eastern and Western. Each of them has two more divisions within itself - each is named after the famous hockey player. As a result, there is:

• Eastern Conference.
  • Chernyshev Division:
    • "Vanguard" from Omsk;
    • "Cupid" from Khabarovsk;
    • "Admiral" from Vladivostok;
    • "Barys" from Astana;
    • "Kunlun" from Beijing;
    • "Siberia" from Novosibirsk;
    • "Salavat Yulaev" from Ufa.
  Kharlamov Division:
  • "Ak Bars" from Kazan;
  • "Motorist" from Yekaterinburg;
  • "Lada" from Tolyatti;
  • "Metallurg" from Magnitogorsk;
  • "Neftekhimik" from Nizhnekamsk;
  • "Tractor" from Chelyabinsk;
  • "Ugra" from Khanty-Mansiysk.
• Western conference.
  • Tarasov Division:
    • "Vityaz" from Podolsk;
    • "Dynamo" from Moscow;
    • Lokomotiv from Yaroslavl;
    • "Sochi";
    • "Severstal" from Cherepovets;
    • "Torpedo" from Nizhny Novgorod;
    • CSKA Moscow.
  • Bobrov division:
    • "Dinamo" from Riga;
    • "Dynamo" from Minsk;
    • "Yorkit" from Helsinki;
    • "Slovan" from Bratislava;
    • "Spartak" from Moscow;
    • SKA from Petersburg.

Season structure

Let's look at the structure of the competitions held by the KHL.

regular season. The first stage is 56 games for each team. Of these, 52 are held twice with each opponent, plus 4 more additional games are assigned. Points are awarded as follows:

• 3 - for the victory.
• 2 - for a shootout or victory in overtime.
• 1 - for losing on shootouts or in overtime.

The club with the most points will win the regional championship. He is awarded the Continental Cup.

Playoffs. Those teams that took from 1st to 8th place in the conferences move on to the second stage of the competition. The first 2 places are for the winners within their divisions.

At this stage, the following are determined:

• Western and Eastern Conference winners;
• winner of the Gagarin Cup;
• champion of the Russian Federation, as well as silver and bronze medalists.

In addition, the Hope tournament is held for those teams who took 9th and lower places at the first stage.

Trophies, awards and winners

In the KHL, the results of victories are as follows:

• Gagarin Cup - victorious in the playoff competition.
• Continental Cup - the team that finished the regular season with the maximum number of points.
• Cup "Hope" - is played among the clubs that are not included in the playoffs.
• Prize "Second" - to the players who scored the latest and fastest goal.
• Cherepanov Trophy - the best hockey player who played the first season in the KHL.
• "Golden stick" - the most valuable player in regular competitions.
• Prize for the best hockey player in the playoffs.
• Special trophies for the best referee, head of the KHL club.

In conclusion, let's look at the absolute champions - the winners of the Gagarin Cup:

• "Ak Bars" - 2009, 2010
• "Metallurg-Magnitogorsk" - 2014, 2016
• "Dynamo-Moscow" - 2012, 2014
• SKA - 2015, 2017
• "Salavat Yulaev" - 2011

So we figured out what the KHL is. The Continental League today is not inferior to the NHL in terms of the entertainment of games, the "stardom" of hockey players, and the professionalism of the teams.

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) is an open international league uniting clubs from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, China, Latvia and Finland. At the moment, 24 teams play in the league, which are divided into the Western and Eastern conferences and 4 geographical divisions.

During the regular season, teams play 62 games each, after which the playoffs begin. The top 8 teams from each conference qualify for the KHL playoffs. The league's main trophy is the Gagarin Cup, which is awarded to the winner of the playoffs.

The idea to create the Euro-Asian Hockey League originated in the mid-2000s. For the first time in public, Vyacheslav Fetisov voiced her in October 2005. The idea of ​​creating a league that would be independent of national federations and become commercially successful appealed to many hockey officials from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

As a result, the KHL was created on the basis of the Russian Hockey Superleague. The first championship took place in the 2008/2009 season, in which 21 out of 24 clubs were Russian. In the future, the league was replenished with teams from Ukraine, Slovakia, Finland, Croatia, but in the last few years, the leadership of the KHL, on the contrary, has been reducing the number of teams.

Features of KHL betting

Clear dominance of several clubs

Western Conference clubs have more financial resources than Eastern Conference clubs. First of all, CSKA and SKA stand out, which in recent years have significantly outperformed other KHL clubs. St. Petersburg and Moscow "soldiers" have more balanced lineups, as a result of which bookmakers rate them as favorites in almost every match.

The home match factor

This factor is especially important in the playoffs, where the value of home games matters the most. According to statistics, it is the team that plays at home that wins more often. It is worth noting that in the games of the KHL regular season, bets on home matches when playing with opponents from another region can bring significant gains, since long-distance flights do not always have a positive effect on the performance of hockey players.

Outsiders can beat the favorite

In the course of the regular season in KHL matches, surprises often occur. So, the underdog can easily beat the team that leads the conference. This happens especially often at the end of the season, when the leaders have already secured a place in the playoffs and are deprived of proper motivation.

How to choose a bet on the KHL

Everyone accepts bets on KHL matches. The page above contains all the information you need to bet on the KHL: the standings, game schedule and the best odds for the upcoming matches. Also, free predictions from Legalbet experts and cappers are available to everyone.

The page of each match contains the current line-ups, match results, statistics of past games and more.

Hockey in Europe is very popular. At international championships, European teams play at a fairly high level. Given that it has long needed updating, the management decided to take drastic measures.

What does the abbreviation KHL mean?

The KHL is an open international championship The first championship, according to all its organizers, was experimental, since it is impossible to take into account all the nuances in the first year of its existence when organizing the largest hockey league in the world. It was organized on the basis of the Russian Super League. In the KHL draw, the following are determined:

1. Championship winner. The KHL championship is won by the team that scores the most points after all regular season games have been played.
2. Division winner. It is revealed as a result of holding all games of the regular season.
3. Pairs of participants in the playoff games. All KHL games are compiled in advance by the league management. They are organized in such a way as to arouse the greatest interest among the audience.

Championship format

The KHL Championship consists of two conferences, which are divided geographically: East and West. Each conference has two divisions. Based on this, it turns out that there are 4 divisions in the KHL, each of which has 7 teams, with the exception of the Chernyshev division, since recently the Red Star Kunlun team was added there, and it became the eighth in a row.

Each KHL team must play four games with other teams in the division and two games with participants from another division of its conference. In addition, each representative of the league will additionally play 4 games with representatives of their division.

Point system

For a match won, each KHL team takes a maximum of three points. Two points are awarded to the team that was able to win in overtime or on shootouts. If a team loses in overtime or on shootouts, they only get one point. When a team loses a match, no points are awarded.

At the end of the games, the division winner is the team that has scored the most points. The calculation is carried out taking into account absolutely all games, and not only according to the results of games within the division. All results of the matches played are recorded by the leadership of the KHL.

The standings presented for the teams and their fans include the statistics of the teams' performance in the conference and separately in each division.

Playoff draw

Each team playing in the KHL can participate in the first stage of the playoffs of the Kontinental Hockey League championship. To do this, she must take at least 8 places in her conference. The first two places in the playoff draw are awarded to teams that finish first in their division. The remaining places are occupied by teams in descending order of points.

As a result of the draw, the winners of the conferences will first be identified. And then these teams will fight in the final. In the Gagarin Cup, the club that wins all the victories in the games right through wins. At each stage, the participants will play a series of games up to four victories.

Kazan "Ak Bars" became the first champion of the league. This club showed strong hockey throughout the season and rightfully took all the prizes.

League expansion

The KHL is the largest in the world. Immediately after its foundation, 21 Russian teams participated in the draw, and teams from Belarus, Latvia and Kazakhstan also played in the championship to the delight of hockey fans. The KHL is a prestigious and popular league that many teams want to play in. Since the beginning of its foundation, the number of participants has been steadily growing.

Now 29 teams are playing in the championship. Representatives from Croatia, Finland, Slovakia and even from China were added. The list of applications for participation from different countries is growing. But not everyone who wants to meet the requirements of the league.

The KHL is a prestigious league that requires an initial deposit and stable further funding to participate. It also requires the presence of its own stadium, which will meet the established requirements.

Many were surprised by the addition of a team from Beijing to the league. It was created specifically for participation in the KHL. The club included Chinese stars and eighteen foreigners. The coach was appointed well-known to all Russian fans. The results in the first season are still bad for the team. But in the future it will definitely grow and compete with the giants of European hockey.

Continental develops and strives to become better. In terms of entertainment, it is no longer inferior to the National Hockey League. Not without reason, many leading players leave it for the KHL. Pavel Datsuk and Ilya Kovalchuk returned to their homeland after the creation of the league.