2019–20 KHL season

The 2019–20 KHL season was the 12th season of the Kontinental Hockey League. There were 24 teams that competed in 62 regular season games. The season began with the Opening Cup on 1 September 2019, and the regular championship ran until 27 February 2020. The playoffs were scheduled to take place from 1 March through until 30 April. The All-Star Weekend took place over 18–19 January 2020.
Due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe, the season was prematurely ended on 25 March 2020, midway through the playoffs.
The Russian Hockey Federation declared CSKA Moscow the Russian champions, SKA Saint Petersburg and Ak Bars Kazan silver medalists, and Dynamo Moscow bronze medalists based on regular season standings.
==Season changes==
For the 2019–20 season, the KHL originally announced that all 25 teams from the 2018–19 would return and continue without any changes to Divisions realignments. However the competition was reduced to 24 teams after Slovak based, HC Slovan Bratislava, announced that they would be withdrawing from the KHL to return to the Slovak Extraliga due to financial restrictions on 27 May 2019. With Slovan Bratislava's exit, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod were moved from the Eastern Conference, to the Western Conference, reversing the move of the previous season. As a result, both Conferences consisted of 12 teams.
===Smart pucks===
Smart puck technology, backed up with chips in players' jerseys, was used in all KHL games in the coming season. The new technology was trialled in the All-Star Game in Kazan last season and was also used in regular season games in Helsinki. Every arena in the league installed sensors capable of collecting information from the chips 100 times a second. That information was available to various users and coaches in real time, giving-up-to-the-second details of the players’ speed, the distance covered in each shift, the speed and location of each shot and much more.
The KHL is the first league in the world to implement this technology across the board.
==Teams==
The 24 teams were split into four divisions: the Bobrov Division and the Tarasov Division as part of the Western Conference, with the Kharlamov Division and the Chernyshev Division as part of the Eastern Conference.
Western Conference 	Western Conference 	Eastern Conference 	Eastern Conference
Bobrov Division 	Tarasov Division 	Kharlamov Division 	Chernyshev Division
Dinamo Riga 	CSKA Moscow 	Ak Bars Kazan 	Admiral Vladivostok
Dynamo Moscow 	Dinamo Minsk 	Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg	Amur Khabarovsk
Jokerit 	HC Sochi 	Metallurg Magnitogorsk 	Avangard Omsk
Severstal Cherepovets	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 	Barys Nur-Sultan
SKA Saint Petersburg 	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod	Sibir Novosibirsk 	Kunlun Red Star
Spartak Moscow 	Vityaz Podolsk 	Traktor Chelyabinsk 	Salavat Yulaev Ufa
==Standings==
===Western Conference===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W 	OTW	OTL	L 	GF 	GA 	GD 	Pts	Qualification
1 	CSKA Moscow (Q, Z) 	62 	40	5 	4 	13	202	99 	+103	94 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
2 	SKA Saint Petersburg (Q, X)	62 	30	14 	5 	13	179	118	+61 	93 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
3 	Jokerit (Q) 	62 	28	10 	8 	16	184	164	+20 	84 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
4 	Dynamo Moscow (Q) 	62 	29	8 	8 	17	182	144	+38 	82 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
5 	Spartak Moscow (Q) 	62 	26	8 	9 	19	173	143	+30 	77 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
6 	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (Q) 	62 	25	9 	5 	23	170	151	+19 	73 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
7 	Vityaz Podolsk (Q) 	62 	19	8 	11 	24	137	166	−29 	65 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
8 	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Q)	62 	22	7 	6 	27	165	167	−2 	64 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
9 	HC Sochi (E) 	62 	15	10 	9 	28	124	164	−40 	59 	
10 	Severstal Cherepovets (E) 	62 	14	10 	10 	28	126	171	−45 	58 	
11 	Dinamo Riga (E) 	62 	11	6 	7 	38	103	187	−84 	41 	
12 	Dinamo Minsk (E) 	62 	11	3 	11 	37	135	232	−97 	39 	
===Eastern Conference===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W 	OTW	OTL	L 	GF 	GA 	GD 	Pts	Qualification
1 	Ak Bars Kazan (Q, Y) 	62 	38	6 	5 	13	178	121	+57	93 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
2 	Barys Nur-Sultan (Q, X) 	62 	31	7 	8 	16	156	137	+19	84 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
3 	Avangard Omsk (Q) 	62 	30	7 	9 	16	163	120	+43	83 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
4 	Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (Q)	62 	24	11 	8 	19	168	151	+17	78 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
5 	Sibir Novosibirsk (Q) 	62 	27	7 	6 	22	139	143	−4 	74 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
6 	Salavat Yulaev Ufa (Q) 	62 	23	6 	10 	23	153	144	+9 	68 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
7 	Metallurg Magnitogorsk (Q) 	62 	20	8 	9 	25	138	145	−7 	65 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
8 	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (Q) 	62 	21	7 	8 	26	162	158	+4 	64 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
9 	Amur Khabarovsk (E) 	62 	20	6 	10 	26	132	145	−13	62 	
10 	Kunlun Red Star (E) 	62 	20	6 	8 	28	139	158	−19	60 	
11 	Traktor Chelyabinsk (E) 	62 	20	5 	6 	31	132	161	−29	56 	
12 	Admiral Vladivostok (E) 	62 	16	10 	4 	32	126	177	−51	56 	
==Playoff bracket==
In each round, the highest remaining seed in each conference is matched against the lowest remaining seed. The higher-seeded team is awarded home ice advantage. In the Gagarin Cup Finals, home ice is determined based on regular season points. Each best-of-seven series follows a 2–2–1–1–1 format: the higher-seeded team plays at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the lower-seeded team is at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary).
The 2020 Gagarin Cup playoffs started on 1 March 2020, and were scheduled to finish no later than 25 April 2020. The top eight teams from each of the twelve-team conferences qualified for the playoffs.
On 25 March 2020, the remaining scheduled games were cancelled. The bracket below shows the position of each team at the time of the cancellation of the playoffs.
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==First round==
===Eastern Conference first round===
====(1) Ak Bars Kazan vs. (8) Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk====
Ak Bars Kazan finished first in the Eastern Conference earning 93 points, winning their second Eastern Conference title in three years. Their opponents and Kharlamov Division rivals Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk finished as the Eastern Conference's eighth seed, earning 64 points. The teams had met once previously in the playoffs with Ak Bars Kazan sweeping the first round series in 2013 – having finished as the number 1 and 8 seeds respectively in the 2012–13 season. Having played four times during the season, both teams won two games each.
====(2) Barys Nur-Sultan vs. (7) Metallurg Magnitogorsk====
Barys Nur-Sultan finished second in the Eastern Conference earning 84 points, winning their second consecutive Chernyshev Division title. Their opponents Metallurg Magnitogorsk finished as the Eastern Conference's seventh seed, earning 65 points. The teams had met twice previously in the playoffs with Metallurg Magnitogorsk winning both previous series – a game 7 decider in the first round in 2012, and a second round sweep in 2017. Barys Nur-Sultan won three out of the four games to be held between the teams during the 2019–20 season.
====(3) Avangard Omsk vs. (6) Salavat Yulaev Ufa====
Avangard Omsk finished third in the Eastern Conference earning 83 points. Their opponents and Chernyshev Division rivals Salavat Yulaev Ufa finished as the Eastern Conference's sixth seed, earning 68 points. The teams had met four times previously in the playoffs – two wins apiece – with this meeting being the third consecutive year in which the teams had met one another. Avangard Omsk won all four games to be held between the teams during the 2019–20 season.
====(4) Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg vs. (5) Sibir Novosibirsk====
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg finished fourth in the Eastern Conference earning 78 points. Their opponents and Kharlamov Division rivals Sibir Novosibirsk finished as the Eastern Conference's fifth seed, earning 74 points. This was the first playoff meeting between the two teams, and Sibir Novosibirsk made the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Sibir Novosibirsk won three out of the four games to be held between the teams during the 2019–20 season, two of which came in overtime.
===Western Conference first round===
====(1) CSKA Moscow vs. (8) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod====
CSKA Moscow finished first in the Western Conference earning 94 points, winning their second consecutive Western Conference title. Their opponents and Tarasov Division rivals Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod finished as the Western Conference's eighth seed, earning 64 points. The teams had met once previously in the playoffs with CSKA Moscow winning the second round series, 4–1, in 2016. CSKA Moscow won three out of the four games to be held between the teams during the 2019–20 season, with Torpedo's lone success coming in an overtime game.
====(2) SKA Saint Petersburg vs. (7) Vityaz Podolsk====
SKA Saint Petersburg finished second in the Western Conference earning 93 points, winning their fourth consecutive Bobrov Division title. Their opponents Vityaz Podolsk finished as the Western Conference's seventh seed, earning 65 points. The teams had met once previously in the playoffs with SKA Saint Petersburg sweeping the first round series in 2017 – having finished as the number 2 and 7 seeds respectively in the 2016–17 season. In their two meetings during the 2019–20 season, SKA Saint Petersburg recorded an overtime victory and Vityaz Podolsk won the other game 4–2.
====(3) Jokerit vs. (6) Lokomotiv Yaroslavl====
Jokerit finished third in the Western Conference earning 84 points. Their opponents Lokomotiv Yaroslavl finished as the Western Conference's sixth seed, earning 73 points. This was the first playoff meeting between the two teams; the teams played each other six times during the 2019–20 season, with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl winning four of the games.
====(4) Dynamo Moscow vs. (5) Spartak Moscow====
Dynamo Moscow finished fourth in the Western Conference earning 82 points. Their cross-city opponents and Bobrov Division rivals Spartak Moscow finished as the Western Conference's fifth seed, earning 77 points. The teams had met once previously in the playoffs with Spartak Moscow winning their first round series in 2010. Dynamo Moscow won all four games to be held between the teams during the 2019–20 season.
==References==
Category:2020 in ice hockey