2011 – 12 KHL season The 2011 – 12 KHL season was the fourth season of the Kontinental Hockey League . The regular season originally began on 7 September 2011 with the Opening Cup game , but because of the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster , which killed all but one member of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team , the start of the season was postponed to 12 September 2011 . The tragedy forced Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to cancel their participation in the KHL season . The regular season ended on 26 February 2012 and the following playoffs ended on 25 April . The Gagarin Cup was won by Dynamo Moscow , defeating Avangard Omsk in a seven - game final series . Dynamo Moscow is the first champion from the Western Conference of the KHL . League changes . Team changes . Expansion to Slovakia With the admission of Lev Poprad from Poprad , Slovakia the league expanded beyond the borders of the former Soviet Union . This brought the number of teams to 24 . However , following a plane crash that claimed the lives of the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl squad , Lokomotiv withdrew from the season , leaving only 23 teams as in the previous season . Regular season . The regular season was supposed to start on 7 September 2011 with the Opening Cup and end on 26 February 2012 with short breaks in November , December and February for international matches and for the all - star game . However , after the Yaroslavl plane tragedy the schedule had to be modified : the start of the season was postponed to 12 September and the number of games for each team was reduced to 54 as a in the previous season , when also only 23 teams participated . Notable events . Yaroslavl plane tragedy . On 7 September 2011 , the day of the season opening , a tragic airplane accident occurred in Yaroslavl in which the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team was killed . After the news broke in Ufa , where the Opening Cup game between Salavat Yulaev Ufa and Atlant Moscow Oblast was already underway , the match was abandoned . Later , the KHL announced that the start of the season would be postponed to 12 September , and that pre - game ceremonies would be held to honour the Lokomotiv team , while arena entertainment would be cancelled . On 10 September , at Lokomotiv ' s public memorial service team president Yuri Yakovlev announced that they would not participate in the 2011 – 12 KHL season . All - star game . The All - star weekend took place on 20 – 21 January 2012 in Riga , Latvia . Team Fedorov defeated Team Ozoliņš with 15 – 11 . League standings . Points are awarded as follows : The conference standings determined the seedings for the play - offs . The first two places in each conference are reserved for the division winners . " Note : " Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs . Western Conference . y – Won division ; z – Won conference ( and division ) ; < br > " BOB " - Bobrov Division , " TAR " - Tarasov Division Eastern Conference . y – Won division ; c – Won Continental Cup ( best record in KHL ) ; < br > " CHE " - Chernyshev Division , " KHA " - Kharlamov Division Player statistics . Scoring leaders . " GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points ; + / – = Plus - minus ; PIM = Penalty minutes " Leading goaltenders . < / small > " 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 " Playoffs . The playoffs started on 29 February 2012 with the top eight teams from both conferences and ended on 25 April with the seventh game of the Gagarin Cup final . Player statistics . Playoff scoring leaders . " GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points ; + / – = Plus - minus ; PIM = Penalty minutes " Playoff leading goaltenders . < / small > " 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 " Awards . Players of the Month . Best KHL players of each month .