The 2009–10 KHL season was the second season of the Kontinental Hockey League. It was held from 10 September 2009 to 27 April 2010, with a break for the Olympic winter games from 8 February to 3 March. Ak Bars Kazan defended their title by defeating Western conference winners HC MVD in a seven-game play-off final.
League changes On 16 June 2009, the KHL Board of Directors approved several changes to the league for the 2009–10 season.
Team changes The league admitted a new team, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg. Khimik Voskresensk did not play in the 2009–10 season due to financial problems, but they retained KHL membership and may return at a later date, meanwhile playing in the Russian Major League. Overall, the number of teams playing in 2009–10 remained at 24.
Division realignment Teams were geographically aligned to aid travel conditions. The league were divided into a Western and an Eastern conference, each containing two divisions of six teams. Each team played the other teams in the same division 4 times (for a total of 20 games) and each team in the other divisions 2 times (for a total of 36 games). The regular season thus consisted of 56 games for every team.
Play-off structure The top eight teams from each conference qualified for the play-offs. Division winners were awarded the top two seeds. In each conference quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will be played and the conference winners play for the Gagarin Cup. Conference quarterfinals were best-of-five series, the remaining rounds best-of-seven series. Overtime periods last 20 minutes or until the sudden death goal.
Salary cap The aggregate income of all players of a team was limited to 620 million rubles (~US$20 million). Minimum aggregate salary for the players was 200 million rubles (~US$6.5 million). Each teams was allowed one "franchise player" exception, who did not count towards the cap.
Rosters 25 players are allowed to be in the major team roster and 25 in the junior team roster of every club. The number of foreign players is restricted to 5, at most one of them as goaltender.
Junior league The league implemented a more advanced and organized junior hockey sub-league to focus on development. It features players from 17 to 21 years of age.
Entry draft On 1 June 2009, the inaugural entry draft for the KHL was held. Each team's hockey school was able to protect 25 players from the 17-21 agegroup prior to the draft.
Goal crease Goal crease was shrunk to the NHL dimensions.
Regular season The regular season started on 10 September 2009 with the "Opening Cup" and ended on 7 March 2010. A few small breaks for the national team and the All-Star game as well as a large break for the Olympic winter games from 8 February to 3 March were scheduled. Each team played a total of 56 games (4 times against the division opponents and 2 times against all other teams). The winner of the regular season was awarded the Continental Cup.
Notable events
Opening Cup
The first game of each KHL season is the "Opening Cup" played between the two finalists of the last season. In 2009, the game was played at the TatNeft Arena in Kazan and won by last year's champion Ak Bars Kazan, beating runner-up Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3–2 in overtime. The two teams were wearing special uniforms with an Opening Cup logo.
Fetisov comeback
On 11 December 2009, Russian hockey legend Viacheslav Fetisov gave a one-game comeback in professional hockey at the age of 51. In this game for CSKA Moscow he played for 8 minutes without a shot on the goal, but it created a very large media interest, not only for himself but also for CSKA Moscow and the KHL.
Mass brawl in Chekhov
On 9 January 2010, in the game between Vityaz Chekhov and Avangard Omsk, a bench-clearing brawl broke out in the 4th minute of the first period, and a bench- and penalty-box-clearing brawl broke out 39 seconds later, forcing the officials to abandon the game, since only four players were left to play. Thirty-three players and both teams' coaches were ejected, and a world record total of 707 penalty minutes were incurred. The KHL imposed fines totaling 5.7 million rubles ($191,000), suspended seven players, and counted the game as a 5–0 defeat for both teams, with no points being awarded.
All-Star Game
The 2nd KHL All-star game was played on 30 January 2010 in the new Minsk-Arena in Minsk, Belarus. As in the previous year, Team Jágr won against Team Yashin, this time with a score of 11–8.
Continental Cup
The first Continental Cup in the KHL history was won by Salavat Yulaev Ufa on 5 March 2010, after the club became unreachable by other clubs in the KHL standings one game before the end of the regular season, and extended their regular-season winning streak to three.
League standings
Source: khl.ru
Points are awarded as follows: 3 Points for a win in regulation ("W") 2 Points for a win in overtime ("OTW") or penalty shootout ("SOW") 1 Point for a loss in a penalty shootout ("SOL") or overtime ("OTL") 0 Points for a loss in regulation ("L")
Division winner Qualified for playoffs
Conference standings
The conference standings will determine the seedings for the play-offs. The first two places in each conference are reserved for the division leaders.
RankWestern Conference GP W OTW SOW SOL OTL L GF GA Pts1 SKA Saint Petersburg56 36 1 3 3 3 10 192 118 1222 HC MVD56 30 1 0 6 4 15 160 135 1023 Dynamo Moscow56 28 2 3 4 3 16 166 151 1014 Atlant Moscow Oblast56 24 4 9 1 2 16 173 137 1015 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl56 26 3 2 4 4 17 163 132 966 Spartak Moscow56 24 4 4 4 0 20 178 168 927 CSKA Moscow56 22 3 5 4 1 21 148 135 878 Dinamo Riga56 23 1 3 4 3 22 174 175 849 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod56 22 1 1 1 4 27 154 163 7510 Severstal Cherepovets56 16 2 7 6 2 23 151 1627411 Dinamo Minsk56 17 1 5 2 0 31 139 164 6512 Vityaz Chekhov56 13 3 2 2 3 331 1421 2161541
Rank Eastern Conference GP W OTW SOW SOL OTL L GF GA Pts1 Salavat Yulaev Ufa56 37 4 3 3 1 8 215 116 1292 Metallurg Magnitogorsk56 34 2 4 1 0 15 167 111 1153 Ak Bars Kazan56 25 4 4 3 2 18 159 128 964 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk56 27 3 1 4 0 21 176 166 935 Avangard Omsk56 24 2 2 6 4 181152112819016 Barys Astana56 20 5 1 6 1 23 169 173 797 Traktor Chelyabinsk56 18 0 3 2 2 31 137 192 648 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg56 14 2 6 2 4 28 127 159 649 Sibir Novosibirsk56 15 2 5 3 1 30 147 190 6310 Amur Khabarovsk56 12 3 6 4 2 29 129 187 6011 Lada Togliatti56 14 0 2 6 3 31 115 173 5512 Metallurg Novokuznetsk56 13 1 2 2 5 33 105 159 52
1 The KHL decided that as a result of the game between Vityaz Chekhov and Avangard Omsk on 9 January 2010 being abandoned due to a mass brawl which left neither team having the required number of players to continue, the game counted as a 5–0 defeat for both teams with no points being awarded.
Divisional standings Western Conference
DR CR Bobrov Division GP W OTW SOW SOL OTL L GF GA Pts1 1 SKA Saint Petersburg56 36 1 3 3 3 10 192 118 1222 3 Dynamo Moscow56 28 2 3 4 3 16 166 151 1013 6 HC Spartak Moscow56 24 4 4 4 0 20 178 168 924 7 CSKA Moscow56 22 3 5 4 1 21 148 135 875 8 Dinamo Riga56 23 1 3 4 3 22 174 175 846 11 Dinamo Minsk56 17 1 5 2 0 31 139 164 65
DR CR Tarasov Division GP W OTW SOW SOL OTL L GF GA Pts1 2 HC MVD56 30 1 0 6 4 15 160 135 1022 4 Atlant Moscow Oblast56 24 4 9 1 2 16 173 137 1013 5 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl56 26 3 2 4 4 17 163 132 964 3 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod56 22 1 1 1 4 27 154 163 755 3 Severstal Cherepovets56 16 2 7 6 2 23 151 162746 12 Vityaz Chekhov56 13 3 2 2 3 33 142 216 54
Eastern Conference
DR CR Kharlamov Division GP W OTW SOW SOL OTL L GF GA Pts1 2 Metallurg Magnitogorsk56 34 2 4 1 0 15 167 111 1152 3 Ak Bars Kazan56 25 4 4 3 2 18 159 128 963 4 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk56 27 3 1 4 0 21 176 166 934 7 Traktor Chelyabinsk56 18 0 3 2 2 31 137 192 645 8 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg56 14 2 6 2 4 28 127 159 646 11 Lada Togliatti56 14 0 2 6 3 31 115 173 55
DR CR Chernyshev Division GP W OTW SOW SOL OTL L GF GA Pts1 1 Salavat Yulaev Ufa56 37 4 3 3 1 8 215 116 1292 5 Avangard Omsk56 24 2 2 6 4 18 152 128903 6 Barys Astana56 20 5 1 6 1 23 169 173 794 9 Sibir Novosibirsk56 15 2 5 3 1 30 147 190 635 10 Amur Khabarovsk56 12 3 6 4 2 29 129 187 606 12 Metallurg Novokuznetsk56 13 1 2 2 5 33 105 159 52
League leaders
Source: khl.ru
Goals Marcel Hossa (Riga) 35 Assists Alexei Yashin (SKA) 46 Points Sergei Mozyakin (Atlant) 66 Shots on goal Marcel Hossa (Riga) 216 Plus–minus Patrick Thoresen (Ufa) +45 Penalty minutes Darcy Verot (Chekhov) 374 Wins (Goaltenders) Robert Esche (SKA) 29 Goals against average Petri Vehanen (Kazan) 1.73 Save percentage Petri Vehanen (Kazan) 93.5 Shutouts Vasily Koshechkin (Magnitogorsk) 8 Goaltenders: minimum 20 games played
Scoring leaders Source: khl.ru
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = P Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player Team GP G A Pts +/– PIM Atlant Moscow Oblast 56 27 39 66 +24 44 SKA Saint Petersburg 56 27 38 65 +28 87 SKA Saint Petersburg 56 18 46 64 +21 38 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 54 24 39 63 +44 62 Dynamo Moscow 56 26 34 60 +10 36 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 56 24 33 57 +45 71 Dinamo Riga 56 35 19 54 –3 44 Dynamo Moscow 54 19 35 54 +7 115 Spartak Moscow 56 18 36 54 –4 18 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 47 17 36 53 +24 83
Leading goaltenders Source: khl.ru
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SOL = Shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Player Team GP Min W L SOL GA SO SV% GAA Petri Vehanen Ak Bars Kazan 25 1528:58 15 5 5 44 3 .935 1.73 Alexander Yeremenko Salavat Yulaev Ufa 32 1769:55 24 5 0 52 2 .931 1.76 Ilya Proskuryakov Metallurg Magnitogorsk 32 1809:31 19 8 4 58 4 .927 1.92 Vasily Koshechkin Metallurg Magnitogorsk 49 2840:43 25 16 8 93 8 .933 1.96 Michael Garnett HC MVD 44 2561:54 24 15 4 88 5 .917 2.06
Playoffs
The eight best teams of each conference qualified for the playoffs. The first three rounds are played within the conferences, then the two winners will play in the Gagarin Cup final. The playoffs started on 10 March 2010 and ended on 27 April with the seventh game of the Gagarin Cup final. Remarkably, each of all the fifteen play-off series was won by the team which won the first game in the series.
Playoff leaders
Source: khl.ru
Goals Alexei Ugarov (Balashikha) 9 Assists Alexander Radulov (Ufa) Alexei Tsvetkov (Balashikha) 11 Points Alexander Radulov (Ufa) 19 Shots on goal Martin Štrbák (Balashikha) 63 Plus–minus Josef Vašíček (Yarsolavl) +15 Penalty minutes Dmitri Kalinin (Ufa) 58 Wins (Goaltenders) Petri Vehanen (Kazan) 15 Goals against average Ivan Kasutin (Nizhnekamsk) 1.36 Save percentage Ivan Kasutin (Nizhnekamsk) 95.5 Shutouts Ivan Kasutin (Nizhnekamsk) Petri Vehanen (Kazan) Dimitri Kotschnew (Moscow) 2 Goaltenders: minimum 5 games played
Scoring leaders Source: khl.ru
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = P Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player Team GP G A Pts +/– PIM Alexander Radulov Salavat Yulaev Ufa 16 8 11 19 +7 10 Niko Kapanen Ak Bars Kazan 22 8 9 17 +3 6 Alexei Tsvetkov HC MVD 22 5 11 16 +6 14 Alexander Galimov Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 16 8 6 14 +4 33 Patrick Thoresen Salavat Yulaev Ufa 15 5 9 14 +3 37
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
Player Team GP Min W L GA SO SV% GAA Ivan Kasutin Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 9 528:58 5 4 12 2 .954 1.36 Petri Vehanen Ak Bars Kazan 22 1388:40 15 7 37 2 .937 1.60 Alexander Eremenko Salavat Yulaev Ufa 12 725:34 8 4 52 1 .934 1.65 Georgi Gelashvili Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 17 1050:13 10 6 33 1 .933 1.89 Edgars Masaļskis Dinamo Riga 6 373:30 3 2 12 1 .934 1.93
Final standings