January
The All-Star Game turned into a fond farewell: with the NHL lock-out ending, Ilya Kovalchuk and Pavel Datsyuk headed to Chelyabinsk for a last hurrah in front of the KHL fans who had thrilled to their performances at SKA and CSKA since September. But their presence could not stop the Eastern Conference winning its All-Star crown on the showcase’s first trip east.
The event’s new format, spread over two days with the skill show on Saturday and the game on Sunday, also proved a hit and is set to be repeated next year in Prague.
Back in KHL action the first play-off qualifiers confirmed their places in the post-season showdown, with Avangard leading the way in the East on January 9, closely followed by Metallurg Magnitogorsk.
In the West, SKA and Dynamo Moscow were the first to book their places, with CSKA close behind.
The transfer window closed midway through the month, and along with the departure of the NHL players many clubs iced new line-ups. Donbass Donetsk was among the busiest traders, bringing in goalie Chris Holt from Avtomobilist and forwards Dmitry Kagarlitsky and Randy Robitaille from Metallurg Novokuznetsk … but the refreshed roster ultimately fell narrowly short of a play-off spot in its first season.
Atlant Moscow Region, meanwhile, saw several senior players leave – and promptly kick-started a remarkable recovery which ultimately saw it sneak into the top eight.
February
SKA St. Petersburg – which had been in imperious form since Jukka Jalonen replaced Milos Riha – wrapped up the regular season title on February 1. A 3-1 win over Dynamo sent the Kontinental Cup back to the Northern Capital, and made it three wins from four games over the Moscow side.
Dynamo’s title defense, meanwhile, seemed to be wobbling as the post New Year hangover saw the team wrap up its regular season campaign in moderate form.
The race for play-off spots in the West went down to the wire, with Atlant thrashing Novokuznetsk 5-0 on the last day of the season to make it nine wins from 11 and steal eighth place in the West.
Donbass, Dinamo Minsk and Torpedo were all pushed into the inaugural Nadezhda Cup, while newcomers Slovan Bratislava and Lev Prague both reached post-season at the first time of asking.
On the international scene fans in Riga finally had something to cheer: local hero Dinamo had struggled all season, but the national team delighted its home supporters by winning its Olympic qualifier and booking its place in Sochi next February. Kazakhstan missed out in the same group, while Belarus was beaten by Slovenia after traveling to Denmark.
The play-offs
The Gagarin Cup is named after the first man in space, but it seemed that a visitor from out of this world might disrupt the start of the competition. Traktor Chelyabinsk had to act hastily to confirm its arena was safe to stage its play-off series against Barys after a meteorite landed nearby.
It was the Kazakhs which started with a bang, though, winning both games in Chelyabinsk before finally losing out 4-3 in the liveliest of the first-round clashes in the East.
Last season’s runner-up, Avangard, also had it tough against Sibir before edging a 4-3 series win, while Salavat Yulaev beat Metallurg in seven games. Ak Bars observed those battles from the training rink after dispatching neighbor Neftekhimik 4-0.
In the West, most series went to form, but there was disappointment for Lokomotiv after it lost out in six to Severstal. Along the way, that series produced the longest game yet played in the KHL: Severstal won Game 4 on home ice in the 119th minute.
Elsewhere SKA’s offense proved far too strong for Atlant, while Moscow imposed its mastery on central Europe: CSKA and Dynamo swept Lev and Slovan respectively, setting up a local derby in round two.
Round two
Goalie Michael Garnett was the hottest star in the east, shutting out Avangard four times in five games to set Traktor into the Conference Final. Valery Nichushkin, who celebrated his 18th birthday during the play-offs, also enhanced his burgeoning reputation with impressive solo goals to dislodge 2012 runner-up.
Ak Bars needed seven games to see off Salavat Yulaev in the other series, defeating one of its oldest rivals and advancing to the Conference Final for the first time since 2010.
The Moscow derby went Dynamo’s way, but CSKA put up more of a fight than the 4-1 scoreline would suggest. Twice the Army Men forced overtime, and Game 3, with the series tied at 1-1, saw a third-period equalizer from Janne Jalasvaara turn around a clash which might have slipped away from the Blue-and-Whites.
SKA, meanwhile, stuttered briefly in the opening moments of Game 1 against Severstal, but powered to a 7-4 win on the night and crushed all further resistance to sweep the series.
Conference Finals
In the West, it was a repeat of last year … and once again Dynamo’s play-off know-how proved greater than SKA’s much-vaunted offense. The Moscow side won twice in Petersburg, then overturned a 0-2 deficit on home ice to lead 3-0, with Jalonen left lamenting that his team was playing the better hockey but could not find a win.
Finally, after trailing 2-0 in Game 4, SKA hit form and rallied for a 6-2 win which sent the series back up north. An overtime win on home ice kept hopes alive, but back at Luzhniki a clinical 5-1 thrashing ensured it was two finals in a row for Dynamo.
Traktor, meanwhile, reprised its comeback from Round One and downed Ak Bars in seven. It looked so easy for Valery Belov’s men after two wins on home ice, and a win in Game 4 in Chelyabinsk.
But Traktor had other ideas, winning twice in Kazan to battle through to its first ever grand final against all the odds. Andrei Kostitsyn became the latest hero of Chelyabinsk hockey, grabbing the series-winning goal with just 29 seconds left to play, stunning the Tatneft Arena and sparking jubilation for Traktor.
The Gagarin Cup Final
Everyone expected a tight series between two sides renowned for well-drilled defense and clinical counter-attacks – and the opening games in Moscow lived up to those expectations. Dynamo won both by single-goal margins, coming from behind to take game 2 and leave Traktor at 0-2 for the third time in four series.
On home ice Traktor hit back with a 3-1 win, but stumbled in game 4 as Jakub Petruzalek– a January signing from Amur – got the only goal to put Dynamo one game away from glory. Expectations were high in Moscow, but a capacity Luzhniki crowd was stunned as Traktor throw off the shackles and fired in three goals in the first 10 minutes. No less spectacular was Dynamo’s recovery in the second period, tying the game at 3-3 when all hope seemed lost. But Kostitsyn popped up again to win it in the third, and it was back to the Urals.
This time Alexei Tsvetkov was the hero – his overtime strike, forcing home the rebound from a Denis Kokarev shot, gave Dynamo a 3-2 win on the day and ensured the Gagarin Cup remained in Moscow for a second successive season. Can the Blue-and-Whites make it three in a row next year? Will SKA finally find the winning play-off formula? Or will the Eastern giants deliver on their promise?
