2012 - 13 KHL season 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 . For the first time , the league consisted of 26 teams from 7 different countries . 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 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 Praha , was established in Prague , Czech Republic , while Slovan Bratislava joined the KHL and thus continues the league ' s presence in Slovakia . Also Donbass Donetsk from Donetsk , Ukraine joined the league . The team previously played in the VHL . This brought the total number of teams to 26 , representing 7 different 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 play - offs , which are played as best - of - seven series in each round . Cup of hope . In January 2013 , a new repechage tournament known as the 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 is intended to extend the season , and help maintain interest in the game 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 and ended on 17 February 2013 after every team has played 52 matches . Notable events . NHL lockout . The league set up rules for the NHL lockout which lasted 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 . Proposed matches in New York . Two regular season games between Dynamo Moscow and SKA Saint Petersburg were planned to take place in the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn , New York in January 2013 . However , the KHL reverted this decision in October 2012 and thus these matches will be 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 . Points are awarded as follows : The conference standings determine the seedings for the play - offs . The first two places in each conference are reserved for the division winners . Western Conference . y – Won division ; c – Won Continental Cup ( best record in KHL ) ; < br > " BOB " – Bobrov Division , " TAR " – Tarasov Division Eastern Conference . y – Won division ; z – Won conference ( and division ) ; < 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 ; SOP = Shootouts played ; GA = Goals against ; SO = Shutouts ; SV % = Save percentage ; GAA = Goals against average " 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 . 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 . KHL Awards . On 22 May 2011 , the KHL held their annual award ceremony . A total of 23 different awards were handed out to teams , players , officials and media . The most important trophies are listed in the table below . The league also awarded six " Golden Helmets " for the members of the all - star team :