2018–19 KHL season

The 2018–19 KHL season was the 11th season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The season started on 1 September 2018 and ended on 19 April 2019. Continental Cup winners CSKA Moscow became the first team to win the Gagarin Cup finals in a series sweep,^[3] defeating Avangard Omsk in four games to win their first Gagarin Cup,^[4] after two previous Finals defeats.

2018–19 KHL season
League	Kontinental Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	1 September 2018 – 19 April 2019
Number of teams	25
Regular season
Continental Cup winner	CSKA Moscow
Top scorer	Nikita Gusev (SKA Saint Petersburg) (82 points)
Playoffs
Western champions	CSKA Moscow
Western runners-up	SKA Saint Petersburg
Eastern champions	Avangard Omsk
Eastern runners-up	Salavat Yulaev Ufa
Playoffs MVP	Ilya Sorokin (CSKA Moscow)^[1]
Gagarin Cup Finals
Champions	CSKA Moscow
Runners-up	Avangard Omsk
Finals MVP	Ilya Sorokin (CSKA Moscow)^[2]
KHL seasons
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

Season changes

For the 2018–19 season, 25 teams competed in the KHL – down from 27 in 2017–18. The two teams that were excluded from the league were HC Lada Togliatti and HC Yugra,^[5] with both teams moving to the Supreme Hockey League. As well as this, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod were moved from the Western Conference,^[6] to the Eastern Conference; as a result, the Western Conference consisted of 12 teams and the Eastern Conference consisted of 13 teams.

The 2018–19 season featured the most games of any KHL season to date, with each team scheduled to play 62 games,^[6] up from 56 in 2017–18.

KHL World Games

This season witnessed the first time that KHL games were played in Austria and Switzerland, as part of the KHL World Games.^[7] Slovan Bratislava played in both Austrian games (on 26 and 28 October) at the Albert Schultz Eishalle in Vienna – home to the Vienna Capitals of the Austrian Hockey League – losing 9–0 to CSKA Moscow,^[8] and 7–0 to SKA Saint Petersburg.^[9] The Swiss games were played at the Hallenstadion in Zürich – home to the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League – with Dinamo Riga playing in both games (on 26 and 28 November), losing 3–1 to SKA Saint Petersburg,^[10] and 5–0 to CSKA Moscow.^[11]

Teams

The 25 teams were 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. On 24 April 2018, the KHL announced re-alignment after both Lada Togliatti and Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk left the league.^[12]

Western Conference	Eastern Conference

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

League standings

Each team played 62 games, playing each of the other twenty-four teams twice: once on home ice, and once away from home. As well as this, each team played a further two games against each of their divisional rivals, and four games total against non-divisional teams.

Points were awarded for each game, where two points were awarded for all victories, regardless of whether it was in regulation time, in overtime or after a shootout. One point was awarded for losing in overtime or a shootout, and zero points for losing in regulation time. At the end of the regular season, the team that finished with the most points was crowned the Continental Cup winner.

Western Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	CSKA Moscow	62	43	10	0	9	191	75	+116	106	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs^[a]
2	SKA Saint Petersburg	62	45	4	5	8	209	80	+129	103
3	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	62	34	6	6	16	159	118	+41	86	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
4	Jokerit	62	32	5	6	19	197	164	+33	80
5	Dynamo Moscow	62	27	6	6	23	153	139	+14	72
6	HC Sochi	62	19	9	10	24	145	155	−10	66
7	Spartak Moscow	62	21	7	8	26	156	158	−2	64
8	Vityaz Podolsk	62	23	5	7	27	134	169	−35	63
9	Dinamo Riga	62	18	8	10	26	129	155	−26	62
10	Severstal Cherepovets	62	14	9	5	34	124	178	−54	51
11	Dinamo Minsk	62	15	2	8	37	119	180	−61	42
12	Slovan Bratislava	62	10	5	3	44	101	213	−112	33

Source: KHL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) games won in regulation time; 3) games won in overtime and shootouts; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) drawing of lots.
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	Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg	62	39	8	1	14	191	125	+66	95	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs^[a]
2	Barys Astana	62	28	10	10	14	190	149	+41	86
3	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	62	35	6	2	19	182	132	+50	84	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
4	Avangard Omsk	62	29	10	5	18	177	133	+44	83
5	Ak Bars Kazan	62	34	4	6	18	165	139	+26	82
6	Salavat Yulaev Ufa	62	24	7	10	21	158	140	+18	72
7	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod	62	20	7	10	25	176	193	−17	64
8	Traktor Chelyabinsk	62	18	9	4	31	102	151	−49	58
9	Sibir Novosibirsk	62	19	5	6	32	148	192	−44	54
10	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk	62	15	8	6	33	130	164	−34	52
11	Kunlun Red Star	62	19	1	11	31	142	190	−48	51
12	Admiral Vladivostok	62	18	5	5	34	139	176	−37	51
13	Amur Khabarovsk	62	17	3	9	33	126	175	−49	49

Source: KHL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) games won in regulation time; 3) games won in overtime and shootouts; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) drawing of lots.
Notes:

1. Teams leading a division hold one of the first two places of their conference.

Gagarin Cup playoffs

Main article: 2019 Gagarin Cup playoffs

	Conference Quarterfinals					Conference Semifinals					Conference Finals					Gagarin Cup Finals
	1	Avtomobilist	4
	8	Traktor	0
						1	Avtomobilist	1
						6	Salavat Yulaev	4
	2	Barys	4
	7	Torpedo	3
											6	Salavat Yulaev	2
	Eastern Conference
											4	Avangard	4
	3	Metallurg	2
	6	Salavat Yulaev	4
						2	Barys	1
						4	Avangard	4
	4	Avangard	4
	5	Ak Bars	0
																E4	Avangard	0
																W1	CSKA	4
	1	CSKA	4
	8	Vityaz	0
						1	CSKA	4
						5	Dynamo	1
	2	SKA	4
	7	Spartak	2
											1	CSKA	4
	Western Conference
											2	SKA	3
	3	Lokomotiv	4
	6	Sochi	2
						2	SKA	4
						3	Lokomotiv	1
	4	Jokerit	2
	5	Dynamo	4

Final standings

Rank	Team
1	CSKA Moscow
2	Avangard Omsk
3	SKA Saint Petersburg
4	Salavat Yulaev Ufa
5	Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg
6	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
7	Barys Astana
8	Dynamo Moscow
9	Metallurg Magnitogorsk
10	Ak Bars Kazan
11	Jokerit
12	HC Sochi
13	Spartak Moscow
14	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
15	Vityaz Podolsk
16	Traktor Chelyabinsk
17	Dinamo Riga
18	Sibir Novosibirsk
19	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
20	Kunlun Red Star
21	Admiral Vladivostok
22	Severstal Cherepovets
23	Amur Khabarovsk
24	Dinamo Minsk
25	Slovan Bratislava

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points, at the conclusion of the regular season.^[13] 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
Nikita Gusev	SKA Saint Petersburg	62	17	65	82	+39	10
Nigel Dawes	Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg	60	28	41	69	+20	12
Vadim Shipachyov	Dynamo Moscow	61	20	48	68	+22	30
Dmitri Kagarlitsky	Dynamo Moscow	61	24	37	61	+22	40
Brian O'Neill	Jokerit	62	13	45	58	+7	30
Sergei Mozyakin	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	61	23	32	55	+14	10
Matt Ellison	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	62	20	35	55	+12	34
Dan Sexton	Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg	61	25	28	53	+22	6
Darren Dietz	Barys Astana	62	15	38	53	+30	59
Mikhail Grigorenko	CSKA Moscow	55	17	35	52	+33	10

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, at the conclusion of the regular season.^[14]

Player	Team	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
Igor Shestyorkin	SKA Saint Petersburg	28	1680:51	24	4	31	10	95.27%	1.11
Lars Johansson	CSKA Moscow	24	1406:51	20	3	27	9	94.50%	1.15
Ilya Sorokin	CSKA Moscow	40	2327:53	28	6	45	11	94.04%	1.16
Magnus Hellberg	SKA Saint Petersburg	34	2048:13	24	7	45	8	93.98%	1.32
Jakub Kovář	Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg	50	2958:08	38	9	88	8	93.90%	1.78
Ilya Konovalov	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	45	2416:58	25	15	76	10	92.96%	1.89
Ivan Bocharov	Dynamo Moscow	38	2113:41	19	16	68	3	93.27%	1.93
Artyom Zagidulin	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	25	1102:49	12	7	36	4	92.44%	1.96
Igor Bobkov	Avangard Omsk	49	2682:16	25	17	89	8	91.44%	1.99
Juha Metsola	Salavat Yulaev Ufa	48	2761:22	25	20	93	4	93.44%	2.02

Awards

Season awards

The KHL's end-of-season awards ceremony was held on 28 May 2019 in Barvikha.^[15]

Award	Recipient(s)	Team
Best Sniper Award (most goals)^[15]	Kirill Kaprizov	CSKA Moscow
Coach of the Year^[15]	Igor Nikitin	CSKA Moscow
General Manager of the Year^[15]	Igor Yesmantovich	CSKA Moscow
Gimayev Prize (for loyalty to hockey)^[15]	Alexander Popov	CSKA Moscow
Golden Helmet^[15]	Juha Metsola	Salavat Yulaev Ufa
	Darren Dietz	Barys Astana
	Nikita Nesterov	CSKA Moscow
	Mikhail Grigorenko	CSKA Moscow
	Teemu Hartikainen	Salavat Yulaev Ufa
	Ilya Mikheyev	Avangard Omsk
Playoffs Most Valuable Player^[15]	Ilya Sorokin	CSKA Moscow
Rookie of the Year^[15]	Ilya Konovalov	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Top Scorer Award (most points)^[15]	Nikita Gusev	SKA Saint Petersburg
Continental Cup^[15]	CSKA Moscow
Eastern Conference winner^[15]	Avangard Omsk
Vsevolod Bobrov Prize (most team goals)^[15]	SKA Saint Petersburg
Western Conference winner^[15]	CSKA Moscow

Players of the Month

Best KHL players of each month.

Month	Goaltender	Defence	Forward	Rookie
September^[16]	Jakub Kovář (Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg)	Darren Dietz (Barys Astana)	Anatoly Golyshev (Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg)	Nikita Mikhailov (Sibir Novosibirsk)
October^[17]	Juha Metsola (Salavat Yulaev Ufa)	Paul Postma (Ak Bars Kazan)	Nigel Dawes (Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg)	Ilya Konovalov (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
November^[18]	Ilya Sorokin (CSKA Moscow)	Darren Dietz (Barys Astana)	Nigel Dawes (Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg)	Nikita Mikhailov (Sibir Novosibirsk)
December^[19]	Henrik Karlsson (Barys Astana)	Vojtěch Mozík (Vityaz)	Vadim Shipachyov (Dynamo Moscow)	Kristian Vesalainen (Jokerit)
January^[20]	Ilya Konovalov (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)	Viktor Svedberg (Barys Astana)	Nikita Gusev (SKA Saint Petersburg)	Mārtiņš Dzierkals (Dinamo Riga)
February^[21]	Anton Krasotkin (Admiral Vladivostok)	Staffan Kronwall (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)	André Petersson (Barys Astana)	Ilya Konovalov (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
March^[22]	Ilya Sorokin (CSKA Moscow)	Mat Robinson (CSKA Moscow)	Nikita Gusev (SKA Saint Petersburg)	Daniil Misyul (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
April^[23]	Juha Metsola (Salavat Yulaev Ufa)	Mat Robinson (CSKA Moscow)	Mikhail Grigorenko (CSKA Moscow)	Not awarded

References

1. Potts, Andy (20 April 2019). "'It was worth losing to understand what it means to win'". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 21 April 2019. Ilya Sorokin, CSKA goalie and playoff MVP
2. Potts, Andy (22 April 2019). "CSKA's crown, Sorokin's success and a new attendance recorded". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 26 April 2019. CSKA Goalie Ilya Sorokin, who was named MVP, is the first netminder to have two shut-outs in a Gagarin Cup final.
3. Potts, Andy (19 April 2019). "CSKA lifts the Gagarin Cup". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 19 April 2019. Along the way, Igor Nikitin's team also recorded the first ever grand final sweep after clawing back a 0-2 deficit to win game four in overtime.
4. "ЦСКА впервые в истории завоевал Кубок Гагарина" [CSKA won the Gagarin Cup for the first time in history]. Sportbox.ru (in Russian). National Sports Channel LLC. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
5. Tuniz, Davide (28 March 2018). "KHL excludes Lada Togliatti and Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk". EuroHockey.com. European Ice Hockey Online AB. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
6. "2018/2019 season calendar: start in September and comfortable playoffs". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
7. "New frontiers – the KHL World Games head to Vienna and Zurich". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
8. Potts, Andy (26 October 2018). "KHL World Games: Viennese Waltz for CSKA". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
9. Potts, Andy (28 October 2018). "KHL World Games – SKA puts on a masterclass in Vienna". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
10. Potts, Andy (27 November 2018). "KHL World Games – SKA edges past Riga in Zurich". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
11. Potts, Andy (29 November 2018). "KHL World Games: Game 2 – CSKA defeats Riga". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
12. Delacy, Richard (24 April 2018). "Teams and tournament structure for 2018-19 season confirmed". en.khl.ru. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
13. "Leaders: Points (G+A)". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
14. "Leaders: Goaltenders (GAA)". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
15. Potts, Andy (28 May 2019). "CSKA leads the way at KHL's annual awards". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
16. "Players of the Month: Kovar, Dietz, Golyshev and Mikhailov". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
17. "Players of the month: Metsola, Postma, Dawes and Konovalov". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
18. "Players of the month: Sorokin, Dietz, Dawes and Mikhailov". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 1 December 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
19. "Best Players of December: Karlsson, Mozik, Shipachyov and Vesalainen". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 2 January 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
20. "Best Players of January: Konovalov, Svedberg, Gusev and Dzierkals". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
21. "Best Players of February: Krasotkin, Kronwall, Petersson, Konovalov". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
22. "Best Players of March: Sorokin, Robinson, Gusev and Misyul". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
23. "Best Players of April: Metsola, Robinson, Grigorenko". KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 22 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.

External links

• Official website