2020-21 KHL season

The 2020–21 KHL season was the 13th season of the Kontinental Hockey League. There were 23 teams that competed in 60 regular season games, beginning on 2 September 2020 and finishing on 27 February 2021. The playoffs were held from 2 March, culminating in Game 6 of the Gagarin Cup Finals on 28 April. Avangard Omsk won their first Gagarin Cup title, avenging their sweep in the finals of the 2019 Gagarin Cup playoffs, defeating CSKA Moscow by 4 games to 2.
==Season changes==
For the 2020–21 season, the competition was reduced to 23 teams after Admiral Vladivostok took a hiatus for the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia affecting their financial status.
With pre-season events returning to the schedule in August as a part of preparations to start the season, Jokerit, whose ability to stage games was governed by Finland's restrictions in response to the coronavirus pandemic, announced that it expected to play before a reduced audience at the Hartwall Arena during the first month of the campaign.
Due to the on-going travel restrictions against the COVID-19 pandemic, Kunlun Red Star determined that they would be unable to play in Wukesong Arena situated in Beijing, China for this season. In August, the club signed a contract to play out of Mytishchi Arena, the second venue for the 2007 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships located on the outskirts of Moscow.
==Teams==
The 23 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.
Following Admiral Vladivostok's hiatus from the league, and to alleviate any potential issues with teams transiting during the COVID-19 pandemic, several conference and divisional changes were announced.
Western Conference 	Western Conference 	Eastern Conference 	Eastern Conference
Bobrov Division 	Tarasov Division 	Kharlamov Division 	Chernyshev Division
Jokerit 	CSKA Moscow 	Ak Bars Kazan 	Amur Khabarovsk
Severstal Cherepovets	Dinamo Minsk 	Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg	Avangard Omsk
SKA Saint Petersburg 	Dinamo Riga 	Metallurg Magnitogorsk 	Barys Nur-Sultan
HC Sochi 	Dynamo Moscow 	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 	Kunlun Red Star
Spartak Moscow 	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 	Salavat Yulaev Ufa
Vityaz Podolsk 	 	Traktor Chelyabinsk 	Sibir Novosibirsk
==Standings==
Each team played 60 games: playing every other team home-and-away (44 games), 8–10 games against division rivals and 6–8 games against teams in the other division in their respective conference.
Points were awarded for each game, where two points were awarded for all victories, regardless of whether it is in regulation time, in overtime or after game-winning shots. One point was awarded for losing in overtime or game-winning shots, and zero points for losing in regulation time. At the end of the regular season, the team that finished with the most points was crowned the Continental Cup winner.
=== Western Conference ===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W 	OTW	OTL	L 	GF 	GA 	GD 	Pts	Qualification
1 	CSKA Moscow (Z) 	60 	34	9 	5 	12	182	121	+61	91 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
2 	SKA Saint Petersburg (X)	60 	33	4 	8 	15	178	126	+52	82 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
3 	Dynamo Moscow 	60 	34	5 	6 	15	195	137	+58	84 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
4 	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 	60 	30	8 	7 	15	181	126	+55	83 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
5 	Jokerit 	60 	26	6 	9 	19	174	153	+21	73 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
6 	Severstal Cherepovets 	60 	23	9 	4 	24	149	159	−10	68 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
7 	Dinamo Minsk 	60 	17	15 	3 	25	167	174	−7 	67 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
8 	Spartak Moscow 	60 	20	8 	7 	25	157	173	−16	63 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
9 	Vityaz Podolsk 	60 	21	6 	5 	28	155	175	−20	59 	
10 	HC Sochi 	60 	12	2 	9 	37	121	202	−81	37 	
11 	Dinamo Riga 	60 	5 	4 	10 	41	126	211	−85	28 	
=== Eastern Conference ===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W 	OTW	OTL	L 	GF 	GA 	GD 	Pts	Qualification
1 	Ak Bars Kazan (Y) 	60 	33	8 	8 	11	185	131	+54	90 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
2 	Avangard Omsk (X) 	60 	33	3 	12 	12	180	134	+46	84 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
3 	Metallurg Magnitogorsk 	60 	31	6 	7 	16	165	138	+27	81 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
4 	Salavat Yulaev Ufa 	60 	28	10 	5 	17	181	151	+30	81 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
5 	Traktor Chelyabinsk 	60 	27	7 	6 	20	157	143	+14	74 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
6 	Barys Nur-Sultan 	60 	20	11 	7 	22	147	157	−10	69 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
7 	Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg	60 	24	6 	8 	22	152	154	−2 	68 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
8 	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 	60 	22	7 	9 	22	170	168	+2 	67 	Advance to Gagarin Cup Playoffs
9 	Sibir Novosibirsk 	60 	20	7 	4 	29	146	155	−9 	58 	
10 	Amur Khabarovsk 	60 	17	7 	7 	29	146	171	−25	55 	
11 	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 	60 	13	6 	2 	39	133	214	−81	40 	
12 	Kunlun Red Star 	60 	11	2 	8 	39	139	213	−74	34 	
==Gagarin Cup playoffs==
Ak Bars Kazan were the Eastern Conference regular season winners with 90 points. It was determined despite a 2–3 overtime loss at home to Spartak Moscow. CSKA Moscow were the Western Conference regular season winners with 91 points. It was determined following a 1–3 defeat suffered by closest challengers SKA Saint Petersburg, at home to Dynamo Moscow, leaving CSKA Moscow with an unassailable points lead. CSKA Moscow won the Continental Cup for the third season in succession and sixth time overall, defeating Ak Bars Kazan 1–0 on the final day of the regular season.
The 2021 Gagarin Cup playoffs started on 2 March 2021, and finished on 28 April 2021. The top eight teams from each of the conferences qualified for the playoffs.
==References==
Category:2021 in ice hockey