2010–11 VHL season

The 2010–11 VHL season was the inaugural season of the Higher Hockey League. It started on September 11, 2010, and finished on February 28, 2011. 20 teams each played 56 games.
==Preseason==
Compared to the last 2009–10 Higher Hockey League where a total of 27 teams competed in 3 divisions, there will be a total of 20 teams and two conferences in the 2010–11 season: Western and Eastern. 18 of the 27 teams of the 2009–10 season compete in the 2010–11 season. Gazovik Tyumen were renamed to Rubin Tyumen, while Rubin's junior team, playing in the MHL, has the name Gazovik. Two new teams in the league are Lada Togliatti, excluded from the KHL after the 2009–10 season, and Dynamo Tver, the farm team of UHC Dynamo. The fates of the 9 of the 27 teams that participated in the league in 2009–10 but no longer do in 2010–11 are various: HC Yugra joined the KHL for 2010–11, Khimik were suggested by VHL's management to take a one year break and joined the MHL under the name MHC Khimik, the team from Orenburg, formerly known under the name Gazprom-OGU, also joined the MHL under the name Belye Tigry, Rys dissolved, the remaining 5 (e.g. CSK VVS Samara) joined the Pervaya Liga. HC Lipetsk was admitted into the league for 2010–11, but the team had to withdraw before the start of the season due to financial difficulties. Lipetsk's place was taken by Krylya Sovetov Moscow on 12 August 2010.
==Regular season==
During regular season teams are to play 4 games against teams from their conference (2 home and 2 away) and 2 games against teams from the opposite conference (1 home and 1 away). The first match of the regular season took place on September 11, 2010 in Perm. Molot-Prikamye's opponent was Toros Neftekamsk and the match ended 2 goals to 1 Toros' way after a shootout. Last games of the regular season will be held on 28 February 2011.
===League standings===
Points are awarded as follows:
*3 Points for a win in regulation ("W")
*2 Points for a win in overtime ("OTW") or penalty shootout ("SOW")
*1 Point for a loss in a penalty shootout ("SOL") or overtime ("OTL")
*0 Points for a loss in regulation ("L")
===Conference standings===
Western Conference 	GP	W 	OTW	SOW	SOL	OTL	L 	GF 	GA 	Pts
Neftyanik Almetyevsk (AKB) 	56	26	4 	3 	6 	1 	16	161	140	99
HC Sarov (TOR) 	56	25	3 	6 	2 	0 	20	168	149	95
Dizel Penza (SEV) 	56	23	2 	3 	8 	1 	19	132	123	88
HC VMF St. Petersburg (SKA)	56	22	2 	2 	5 	2 	23	142	148	81
PHC Krylya Sovetov (SPA) 	56	19	3 	7 	1 	0 	26	163	172	78
HC Ryazan (ATL) 	56	19	1 	4 	6 	3 	23	153	169	76
Kristall Saratov 	56	17	0 	3 	2 	5 	29	149	183	64
Ariada-Akpars Volzhsk (NEF)	56	18	0 	0 	4 	4 	30	138	193	62
HC Dynamo Tver (DMOW) 	56	13	3 	5 	3 	2 	30	150	190	60
Lada Togliatti 	56	15	1 	2 	2 	0 	36	130	184	53
Eastern Conference 	GP	W 	OTW	SOW	SOL	OTL	L 	GF 	GA 	Pts
Rubin Tyumen 	56	38	2 	2 	2 	0 	12	172	104	124
Toros Neftekamsk (UFA) 	56	34	1 	5 	3 	3 	10	183	114	120
Molot-Prikamye Perm 	56	25	3 	4 	6 	1 	17	162	156	96
Yuzhny Ural Orsk (MAG) 	56	25	3 	3 	5 	2 	18	135	132	94
Ermak Angarsk (NOV) 	56	27	1 	0 	3 	1 	24	168	139	87
Kazzinc-Torpedo 	56	23	1 	4 	6 	1 	21	151	153	86
Zauralie Kurgan (SIB) 	56	20	2 	8 	3 	3 	20	153	147	86
Sputnik Nizhny Tagil 	56	20	4 	5 	0 	3 	24	149	144	81
Mechel Chelyabinsk (TRA)	56	20	1 	4 	7 	4 	20	168	174	81
Izhstal Izhevsk 	56	17	1 	6 	2 	2 	28	119	132	69
===League leaders===
Goals 	Alexander Zhurun (Tyumen) 	29
Assists 	Maxim Zhapov (Almetyevsk) 	31
Points 	Evgeni Tunik (Neftekamsk) 	51
Shots 	Ruslan Bernik (Moscow) 	170
Plus/minus 	Sergey Zhurikov (Tyumen) 	+24
Penalty minutes 	Igor Golovkov (St.Peterburg) 	154
Wins (Goaltenders) 	Nikita Davydov (Neftekamsk) 	34
Goals against average	Stanislav Galimov (Almetyevsk)	1.46
Save percentage 	Alexander Sudnitsin (Tyumen) 	94.7
Shutouts 	Alexander Sudnitsin (Tyumen) 	8
Goaltenders: minimum 15 games played
==Playoffs==
The play-offs will feature 8 best teams of the Western Conference of the regular season and 8 best teams of the Eastern Conference of the regular season. The play-offs start 5 March 2011 and are to end on April 27, 2011 if match 7 of the final series is to be played. Conference quarter-finals and semi-finals are a best-of-five series, while the Conference finals and VHL finals are a best-of-seven series.
===Playoffs leaders===
Goals 	Rustam Shangaraev (Almetyevsk) 	8
Assists 	Vladimir Karpor (Tyumen) 	9
Points 	Daniel Nasybullin (Almetyevsk) 	14
Shots 	Andrei Kuzmin (Sarov) 	58
Plus/minus 	Sergei Serebryakov (Almetyevsk)	+10
Penalty minutes 	Andrew Ankudinov (Neftekamsk) 	56
Wins (Goaltenders) 	Alexander Sudnitsin (Tyumen) 	14
Goals against average	Alexander Sudnitsin (Tyumen) 	1.44
Save percentage 	Alexander Sudnitsin (Tyumen) 	95.2
Shutouts 	Alexander Sudnitsin (Tyumen) 	4
Goaltenders: minimum 5 games played
==References==
Category:2011 in hockey
Category:Russian Major League seasons