2011–12 KHL season

The 2011–12 KHL season was the fourth season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The regular season began with the Opening Cup game on 7 September 2011, but because of the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster, which occurred during the first period of the Cup game and killed all but one member of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team, further play was delayed until 12 September 2011. The tragedy forced Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to cancel their participation in the KHL season. The Opening Cup was renamed the Lokomotiv Cup in honor of those lost in the tragedy.
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 in the previous season, when also only 23 teams participated.
===Notable events===
====Yaroslavl plane tragedy====
On September 7, 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.KHL delays games, but season will go on for Lokomotiv | Posted Sports | National Post 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===
Source: KHL.ru
Points are awarded as follows:
*3 Points for a win in regulation ("W")
*2 Points for a win in overtime ("OTW") or a penalty shootout ("SOW")
*1 Point for a loss in overtime ("OTL") or a penalty shootout ("SOL")
*0 Points for a loss in regulation ("L")
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====
R 	 	Div 	GP 	W 	OTW 	SOW 	SOL 	OTL 	L 	GF 	GA 	Pts
1 	z – SKA Saint Petersburg 	BOB 	54 	32 	1 	5 	3 	2 	11 	205 	130 	113
2 	y – Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod	TAR 	54 	24 	0 	6 	5 	2 	17 	157 	132 	91
3 	Dynamo Moscow 	BOB 	54 	31 	1 	3 	3 	1 	15 	144 	116 	105
4 	Atlant Moscow Oblast 	TAR 	54 	20 	4 	7 	4 	0 	19 	130 	134 	86
5 	Severstal Cherepovets 	TAR 	54 	23 	0 	5 	4 	2 	20 	142 	133 	85
6 	Dinamo Minsk 	TAR 	54 	21 	0 	7 	3 	3 	20 	158 	148 	83
7 	Dinamo Riga 	BOB 	54 	20 	2 	4 	7 	0 	21 	129 	136 	79
8 	CSKA Moscow 	BOB 	54 	19 	3 	0 	7 	0 	25 	119 	129 	70
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
9 	Spartak Moscow 	BOB 	54 	15 	2 	5 	3 	2 	27 	124 	163 	64
10	Lev Poprad 	BOB 	54 	13 	0 	3 	5 	4 	29 	125 	162 	54
11	Vityaz Chekhov 	TAR 	54 	10 	1 	5 	1 	1 	36 	108 	193 	44
 	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 	Withdrew due to the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster	Withdrew due to the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster	Withdrew due to the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster	Withdrew due to the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster	Withdrew due to the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster	Withdrew due to the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster	Withdrew due to the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster	Withdrew due to the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster	Withdrew due to the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster	Withdrew due to the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster	Withdrew due to the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster
y – Won division; z – Won conference (and division); 
BOB - Bobrov Division, TAR - Tarasov Division
Source: khl.ru
====Eastern Conference====
R 	 	Div	GP	W 	OTW	SOW	SOL	OTL	L 	GF 	GA 	Pts
1 	c – Traktor Chelyabinsk 	KHA	54	32	2 	5 	4 	0 	11	163	116	114
2 	y – Avangard Omsk 	CHE	54	26	0 	5 	4 	1 	18	133	115	93
3 	Metallurg Magnitogorsk 	KHA	54	29	1 	1 	1 	2 	20	150	137	94
4 	Ak Bars Kazan 	KHA	54	27	1 	2 	4 	1 	19	167	136	92
5 	Salavat Yulaev Ufa 	CHE	54	23	3 	4 	5 	1 	18	173	152	89
6 	Barys Astana 	CHE	54	25	2 	1 	3 	1 	22	160	160	85
7 	Amur Khabarovsk 	CHE	54	23	1 	4 	3 	2 	21	166	139	84
8 	Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk 	KHA	54	19	1 	9 	3 	3 	19	139	134	83
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
9 	Metallurg Novokuznetsk 	CHE	54	18	2 	4 	9 	0 	21	108	130	75
10	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 	KHA	54	20	2 	3 	3 	1 	25	142	165	74
11	Sibir Novosibirsk 	CHE	54	12	2 	4 	7 	2 	27	132	154	57
12	Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg	KHA	54	9 	3 	4 	5 	3 	30	105	165	49
y – Won division; c – Won Continental Cup (best record in KHL);
CHE - Chernyshev Division, KHA - Kharlamov Division
Source: khl.ru
==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.
== Final standings ==
Bold indicates playoff teams.
Rank	Team
1 	Dynamo Moscow
2 	Avangard Omsk
3 	Traktor Chelyabinsk
4 	SKA Saint Petersburg
5 	Metallurg Magnitogorsk
6 	Ak Bars Kazan
7 	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
8 	Atlant Moscow Oblast
9 	Salavat Yulaev Ufa
10 	Barys Astana
11 	Severstal Cherepovets
12 	Amur Khabarovsk
13 	Dinamo Minsk
14 	Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk
15 	Dinamo Riga
16 	CSKA Moscow
17 	Metallurg Novokuznetsk
18 	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
19 	Spartak Moscow
20 	Sibir Novosibirsk
21 	Lev Poprad
22 	Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg
23 	Vityaz Chekhov
== References ==
==External links==
*Official Website
Category:2011 in ice hockey
Category:2012 in ice hockey