2008 - 09 KHL season The 2008 - 09 KHL season was the inaugural season of the Kontinental Hockey League . It started on September 2 , 2008 , and finished on February 26 , 2009 . 24 teams each played 56 games . Major signings from the NHL . Wishing to establish itself as a major professional league in direct competition with the NHL , the KHL ' s teams were encouraged to sign NHL players . The players who have made the jump to the upstart KHL were Jaromír Jágr ( Omsk ) , Alexander Radulov ( Ufa ) , Ray Emery ( Mytischi ) , Sergei Brylin ( St . Petersburg ) , Ladislav Nagy ( Cherepovets ) , Jozef Stümpel ( Astana ) , Marcel Hossa ( Riga ) , Ben Clymer ( Minsk ) , Alexei Zhitnik ( Dynamo Moscow ) , Bryan Berard and Chris Simon ( both with Chekhov ) . In the case of Radulov , the signing created a dispute between the NHL and the KHL , as him signing with Salavat Yulaev Ufa meant that his contract with the Nashville Predators would not be honored ; however , the day prior to the announcement of Radulov signing with Ufa ( i . e . on July 10 2008 ) , the KHL and the National Hockey League had resolved an agreement stating that both leagues would honor the contract of the other ( ruling out leagues stealing the players of the other ) . An investigation by the International Ice Hockey Federation ruled that the signing of Radulov was made two days prior to the KHL - NHL agreement , and that Radulov ' s contract with Ufa was therefore not breaking the agreement . Financial difficulties . In its first season only , the league already saw some of its teams , which had met the league ' s financial conditions to be allowed in , be bothered by financial problems . Metallurg Novokuznetsk suffered from the global financial crisis of 2008 , with its sponsor , Evraz Group , allegedly cutting funding . Rumors stated the team would fold by New Year Day , but the team could finish the season . HC MVD has experienced delays in paying players , while Khimik Voskresensk has run itself into debt . Metallurg Magnitogorsk has been forced to cut staff expenditures by 30 % . Avangard Omsk owner Roman Abramovich has promised to continue financial support so long as the team maintains good results . Other teams experiencing financial limitations are Vityaz Chekhov , Atlant Moscow , Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and the legendary CSKA Moscow . A " crisis package " has been devised by the KHL to deal with the economic troubles of the time . Cuts will be made in pre - game activities , training camps and pre - season tournaments in order to save some money . A roll - back of mid - level players may occur , and a divisional re - alignment will take place for the 2009 - 10 KHL season in order to cut down on travel costs ( the inaugural divisions saw unlikely match ups such as Dinamo Riga and Amur Khabarovsk together in the same division , for instance ) . Alexei Cherepanov ' s death . The season was tarnished on October 13 2008 during a match between Avangard Omsk and Vityaz Chekhov as young forward Alexei Cherepanov died due to a heart condition . Two months later , on December 29 , after investigation , it was found out that the promising player died from myocarditis , a condition that results in not enough blood getting to the heart ; the investigators said that with that condition , Cherepanov should never have played professional hockey . The Federal Investigative Committee also announced that blood and urine samples allowed them to conclude that " for several months Alexei Cherepanov engaged in doping " . The substance found was stated by official sources to be kordiamin , a chemical used to treat cardiovascular diseases , but also to stimulate the cardiovascular and respiratory systems . The substance had been taken 3 hours prior to the game in which he died . Disciplinary actions were taken against personnel of both Avangard and Vityaz . Omsk ' s director Mikhail Denisov has been fired and the team ' s doctor removed from his functions within the team ; GM Anatoly Bardin and president Konstantin Potapov have been indefinitely suspended from the league . Chekhov ' s president was also suspended . All - Star Game . " For more details , please see 2009 KHL All - Star Game " < hr > The league ' s inaugural all - star game was held in Moscow on january 10th 2009 . It was played on the Red Square and saw Team Jágr ( International All - Stars ) defeating Team Yashin ( Russian All - Stars ) 7 – 6 . Regular season final standings . Regular season ended on February 26 , 2009 . Division winners rank 1st , 2nd , 3rd and 4th of the league . League leaders . < br > < br > < br > < br > < br > Trophies and awards . Players of the Month . Best KHL players of each month .