The 2012–13 KHL season was the fifth season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The regular season began on 4 September with the Lokomotiv Cup between last year's finalists Dynamo Moscow and Avangard Omsk. The league consisted of 26 teams from 7 countries for the first time. Dynamo Moscow successfully defended their title after beating Traktor Chelyabinsk in the Gagarin Cup finals.

Changes

Team changes After withdrawing from the previous season in the wake of the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash that killed the team's entire active roster, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl returned to the KHL with new players.

Lev Poprad was disbanded, but a team of the same name, Lev Prague, was established in Prague, Czech Republic, while Slovan Bratislava joined the KHL and thus continues the league's presence in Slovakia. Also HC Donbass from Donetsk, Ukraine joined the league. The team previously played in the VHL.http://www.hcdonbass.com/home/news/news/18261?lang=ru This brought the total number of teams to 26, representing 7 countries.

Salary cap The salary cap changed from a soft cap to a hard cap, set at 1.1 billion rubles (approx. US$36.5 million), but each club can waive the cap for one player transferred directly from the NHL, if he is eligible to play for the Russian national team.

Season structure The regular season consisted of 52 games for each team — twice (home and away) against each other team in the league and two extra games against a selected "rival" opponent (typically a geographically close team). This was a change from previous seasons, where all intra-division opponents were played more frequently. The top 8 teams from each conference qualified for the playoffs, which are played as best-of-seven series in each round.

Nadezhda Cup tournament In January 2013, a new repechage tournament known as the Nadezhda Cup (Cup of Hope) was announced, which was held alongside the playoffs. Six teams from the Western Conference and four teams from the Eastern Conference who had not qualified for the playoffs competed in the tournament, whose prize includes the first overall pick in the next KHL Junior Draft. The new tournament was intended to extend the season, and help maintain interest in hockey for fans and players in preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The first Cup of Hope was won by Dinamo Riga.

Regular season The regular season started on 4 September 2012 with the Lokomotiv Cup between the finalists of the previous season, Dynamo Moscow and Avangard Omsk. It ended on 17 February 2013 after every team had played 52 matches.

Notable events

NHL lockout The league set up rules for the NHL lockout which lasted from 16 September 2012 to early January 2013. According to the special regulations, each KHL team was allowed to add up to 3 NHL players to their roster, among them at most one foreign player.

List of NHL players signing KHL lockout contractsSource: eliteprospect.com Date Player NHL team KHL Team09/16/2012 Evgeni Malkin (C)(from) Pittsburgh Penguins(to) Metallurg Magnitogorsk09/16/2012 Sergei Gonchar (D)(from) Ottawa Senators(to) Metallurg Magnitogorsk09/16/2012 Ruslan Fedotenko (LW)(from) Philadelphia Flyers(to) HC Donbass09/16/2012 Alexei Ponikarovsky (LW)(from) Winnipeg Jets(to) HC Donbass09/16/2012 Anton Khudobin (G)(from) Boston Bruins(to) Atlant Moscow Oblast09/17/2012 Ľubomír Višňovský (D)(from) New York Islanders(to) Slovan Bratislava09/17/2012 Kaspars Daugaviņš (LW)(from) Ottawa Senators(to) Dinamo Riga09/17/2012 Nikolai Kulemin (RW)(from) Toronto Maple Leafs(to) Metallurg Magnitogorsk09/17/2012 Ilya Kovalchuk (RW)(from) New Jersey Devils(to) SKA Saint Petersburg09/18/2012 Jakub Voráček (RW)(from) Philadelphia Flyers(to) Lev Prague09/18/2012 Niklas Bäckström (G)(from) Minnesota Wild(to) Dinamo Minsk09/18/2012 Semyon Varlamov (G)(from) Colorado Avalanche(to) Lokomotiv Yaroslavl09/19/2012 Alexander Ovechkin (LW)(from) Washington Capitals(to) Dynamo Moscow09/19/2012 Pavel Datsyuk (C)(from) Detroit Red Wings(to) CSKA Moscow09/19/2012 Ilya Bryzgalov (G)(from) Philadelphia Flyers(to) CSKA Moscow09/20/2012 Jiří Hudler (LW)(from) Calgary Flames(to) Lev Prague 09/20/2012 Nik Antropov (C)(from) Winnipeg Jets(to) Barys Astana09/20/2012 Artem Anisimov (C)(from) Columbus Blue Jackets(to) Lokomotiv Yaroslavl09/21/2012 Mikhail Grabovski (C)(from) Toronto Maple Leafs(to) CSKA Moscow09/21/2012 Sergei Bobrovsky (G)(from) Columbus Blue Jackets(to) SKA Saint Petersburg9/21/2012 Vladimir Tarasenko (RW)(from) St. Louis Blues(to) SKA Saint Petersburg09/24/2012 Dmitri Kulikov (D)(from) Florida Panthers(to) Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 09/25/2012 Nikita Nikitin (D)(from) Columbus Blue Jackets(to) Avangard Omsk 09/25/2012 Pekka Rinne (G)(from) Nashville Predators(to) Dinamo Minsk 09/27/2012 Anton Babchuk (D)(from) Calgary Flames(to) HC Donbass09/27/2012 Andrej Sekera (D)(from) Buffalo Sabres(to) Slovan Bratislava 09/28/2012 Victor Hedman (D)(from) Tampa Bay Lightning(to) Barys Astana 09/28/2012 Evander Kane (LW)(from) Winnipeg Jets(to) Dinamo Minsk 10/02/2012 Zdeno Chára (D)(from) Boston Bruins(to) Lev Prague 10/02/2012 Tom Wandell (LW)(from) Dallas Stars(to) Severstal Cherepovets 10/03/2012 Andrei Markov (D)(from) Montreal Canadiens(to) Vityaz Chekhov 10/04/2012 Anton Volchenkov (D)(from) New Jersey Devils(to) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 10/05/2012 Joe Pavelski (C)(from) San Jose Sharks(to) Dinamo Minsk 10/07/2012 Sergei Kostitsyn (LW)(from) Nashville Predators(to) Avangard Omsk10/11/2012 Ryan McDonagh (D)(from) New York Rangers(to) Dynamo Moscow10/19/2012 Nicklas Bäckström (C)(from) Washington Capitals(to) Dynamo Moscow10/30/2012 Joffrey Lupul (RW)(from) Toronto Maple Leafs(to) Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg11/20/2012 Viktor Stålberg (RW)(from) Chicago Blackhawks(to) Atlant Moscow Oblast12/07/2012 Ryan O'Reilly (C)(from) Colorado Avalanche(to) Metallurg Magnitogorsk01/04/2013 Kris Letang (D)(from) Pittsburgh Penguins(to) SKA Saint Petersburg

Proposed matches in New York Two regular season games between Dynamo Moscow and SKA Saint Petersburg were planned to take place at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York in January 2013. However, the KHL reverted this decision in October 2012 and thus these matches were played in Russia.

All-star game The 5th KHL all-star game was played on 13 January 2013 in Chelyabinsk, with Team East, captained by Aleksey Morozov, winning 18–11 over Team West, captained by Ilya Kovalchuk.

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 a penalty shootout ("SOW") 1 Point for a loss in overtime ("OTL") or a penalty shootout ("SOL") 0 Points for a loss in regulation ("L")

The conference standings determine the seedings for the playoffs. The first two places in each conference are reserved for the division winners.

Western Conference

R Div GP W OTW SOW SOL OTL L GF GA Pts1 c – SKA Saint Petersburg BOB52 36 1 1 2 1 11 182 1161152 y – CSKA Moscow TAR52 23 5 8 1 0 15 151 109 963 Dynamo Moscow BOB52 27 3 6 1 1 14 150115 1014 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl TAR52 242 8 0 0 18 131 121 925 Severstal CherepovetsTAR52 21 1 6 3 5 16 137 117 856 Slovan BratislavaBOB52 17 3 8 5 0 19 124 127 787 Lev Prague BOB52 23 0 1 2 3 23 132133 768 Atlant Moscow OblastTAR52 19 1 3 4 4 21 137 141 739 HC DonbassBOB52 17 2 5 6 1 21134 1427210 Dinamo MinskTAR52 1851 2 3 23 125 1487111 Torpedo Nizhny NovgorodTAR5219 0 2 4 4 23 1421466912 Vityaz ChekhovBOB52 11 1 66 2 26 119 151 5513 Spartak Moscow TAR52 11 4 2 5 2 28 106 1515214 Dinamo RigaBOB52 13 2 2 2 2 31 109151 51 y – Won division; c – Won Continental Cup (best record in KHL); BOB – Bobrov Division, TAR – Tarasov Division

Source: khl.ru

Eastern Conference

R Div GP W OTW SOW SOL OTL L GF GA Pts1z – Ak Bars KazanKHA5228 1 5 5 3 10 157 112 1042y – Avangard Omsk CHE52 26 6 3 4 211 149121 1023 Traktor ChelyabinskKHA52 28 0 3 6 2 13 152120 984 Metallurg Magnitogorsk KHA52 27 0 0 7 5 13 167 121935 Salavat Yulaev UfaCHE52 24 2 36 0 17 148 140886 Barys AstanaCHE52 23 3 2 2 4 18 175 161 857 Sibir NovosibirskCHE52 21 1 5 4 3 17124119 848 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk KHA5217 5 5 4 2 19 144 150 779 Yugra Khanty-MansiyskKHA5219 4 3 3 0 23 1531637410 Metallurg NovokuznetskCHE52 15 3 1 3 2 28 132 177 5811 Amur KhabarovskCHE52 11 1 4 1 0 35 115 1674412 Avtomobilist YekaterinburgKHA52 7 0 1 7 5 32104 180 35 y – Won division; z – Won conference (and division); CHE – Chernyshev Division, KHA – Kharlamov Division

Source: khl.ru

Player statistics

Scoring leaders Updated on 17 February 2013. 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 Sergei Mozyakin Metallurg Magnitogorsk 48 35 41 76 +21 6 Alexander Radulov CSKA Moscow 48 22 46 68 +12 86 Evgeni Malkin Metallurg Magnitogorsk 37 23 42 65 +23 58 Patrick Thoresen SKA Saint Petersburg 52 21 30 51 +17 49 Jori Lehterä Sibir Novosibirsk 52 17 31 48 +18 48 Evgeny Kuznetsov Traktor Chelyabinsk 51 19 25 44 –1 42 Dmitri Kagarlitsky HC Donbass 51 14 30 44 –5 12 Mikhail Varnakov Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 51 22 21 43 +9 62 Nikolay Zherdev Atlant Moscow Oblast 50 15 28 43 –7 29 Dmitri Makarov Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 52 13 30 43 –2 14

Leading goaltenders Updated on 17 February 2013. Source: khl.ru

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SOP = Shootouts played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Player Team GP Min W L SOP GA SO SV% GAA Rastislav Staňa CSKA Moscow 34 1944:58 18 6 2 57 4 .934 1.76 Lars Haugen Dinamo Minsk 22 1289:29 13 7 1 39 2 .933 1.81 Alexander Eremenko Dynamo Moscow 30 1783:44 17 7 6 55 5 .931 1.85 Stanislav Galimov Atlant Moscow Oblast 25 1389:58 14 6 3 45 4 .943 1.94 Sergei Bobrovsky SKA Saint Petersburg 24 1419:36 18 3 2 46 4 .932 1.94

Playoffs

The playoffs started on 20 February 2013 with the top eight teams from both conferences and ended on 17 April with the last game of the Gagarin Cup final.

During the first three rounds home ice was determined by seeding number within the Conference, not position on the bracket. In the Finals the team with better seeding number had home ice advantage. If the seeding numbers were equal, the regular season record was taken into account.KHL Sports Regulations 2011-2014, revised

Bracket

Player statistics

Playoff scoring leaders

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = P Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player Team GP G A Pts +/– PIM Petri Kontiola Traktor Chelyabinsk 25 10 9 19 +10 12 Viktor Tikhonov SKA Saint Petersburg 15 10 8 18 +11 20 Jakub Petružálek Dynamo Moscow 19 9 7 16 +4 4 Tony Mårtensson SKA Saint Petersburg 15 6 10 16 +8 8 Denis Kokarev Dynamo Moscow 18 1 15 16 +11 0

Playoff leading goaltenders Updated on 17 April 2013. 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 SOP GA SO SV% GAAAlexander Eremenko Dynamo Moscow 21 1309:24 16 5 0 38 3 93.4 1.74Rastislav Staňa CSKA Moscow 9 551:12 5 4 0 16 0 93.9 1.74 Konstantin Barulin Ak Bars Kazan 18 1233:41 11 7 0 36 2 94.1 1.75Ilya Ezhov SKA Saint Petersburg 11 645:27 6 4 0 19 2 93.3 1.77Jeff Glass Sibir Novosibirsk 7 406:47 3 4 0 12 2 94.1 1.77

Nadezhda Cup

Preliminary round Dinamo Riga vs Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod(4–1, 3–4, Riga wins extra overtime) Spartak Moscow vs Vityaz Chekhov (2–2, 1–0)

Final standings