Claim: Ice hockey has national teams which compete internationally.

The Kontinental Hockey League -LRB- KHL -RRB- , Kontinental ` naya hokkeynaya liga -RRB- is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008 . It comprises 27 member clubs based in Belarus , China , Finland , Kazakhstan , Latvia , Russia , and Slovakia and it is planned to expand to more countries . It is widely considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in Europe and Asia , and second in the world behind the NHL .   The Gagarin Cup is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season . The title of Champion of Russia is given to the highest ranked Russian team .