Ten reasons...

...why the KHL's second season will be more interesting than the first


Will the Dynamo tradition of taking home the gold exactly once every five years continue under Sergei Kotov?
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10. DYNAMO MOSCOW'S SHOOTOUTS

What other tricks does the Swedish virtuoso Linus Omark have in store for us? A goal off the shaft? Backward acceleration? Hitting the puck in mid-flight?

9. THE DIVORCE OF EAST AND WEST

Fewer flights, more derbies. Such was the KHL's slogan when it divided the league into two conferences in the off season Will it have any real effect on attendance for the dozen Urals derbies or the 12 in Moscow?

8. BANKRUPTCIES, PREVENTED AND POTENTIAL

Thanks to the influence of the KHL's president, destitute Lada and Vityaz will make it to the end of the season for sure. But problems could crop up in places where Alexander Medvedev's interference hasn't been needed yet. Will the league want to save other bankrupt teams, too? And if it does, will it be able to?

7. UFA RETRO A LA VIKTOR TIKHONOV

Bashkortostan is witnessing a revival of a bygone institution: using a local club as the basis for the national team. True, it's not official policy this time. And even while Vyacheslav Bykov and Igor Zakharkin are torn between their double duties as coaches to Salavat Yulaev and the Russian national team, people in Ufa will be expecting from them – at the very least – a spot in the final. Will the ex-army coaching duo be able to cope with the pressure and satisfy their new employers in the Gagarin Cup? Not to mention all of Russia at the Olympics in Vancouver?

6. THE YASHIN CURSE

It seems like Alexei has everything going for him – skill, stature and disposition. But for 16 years already, a simple rule has held: where there's Yashin, there's no title. You can make it to the playoffs, and even to the final, but the high-karat medals and cups always go to someone else. Will Captain Russia be overcome by his curse? Once again, he has a very real chance of striking gold in St. Petersburg.

5. THE PETERSBURG CURSE

Kazan, Togliatti, Yaroslavl, Magnitogorsk, Omsk, Ufa – all of the best teams from the regions have managed a win in the past 15 years. Some have had multiple. The army team from the Northern Capital is sick of languishing, and now they have a team with a do-or-die attitude. Will SKA St. Petersburg climb to the top for the first time in its history?

4. SERGEI FEDOROV, OF MAGNITOGORSK

The return of one of Soviet hockey's first defectors, Sergei Fedorov, is undoubtedly the biggest transfer in the history of our national hockey. And he's the main reason Magnitka will bring a packed arena to all of its away matches. Will the results justify the hype?

3. KHL-TV

KHL president Alexander Medvedev promised that the league would get its own television channel this season. If it really does happen, it'll blow the rest of our list out of the water. But as long as we're frozen in anticipation, we'll leave KHL-TV at No. 3.

2. WHAT WILL THE FETISOV/NEMCHINOV DUO MANAGE TO DO?

No one was shaken up by changes in the off season more than CSKA. The management and coaching staff were completely replaced. But the most amazing thing was whom new president Vyacheslav Fetisov – the human-hurricane – wanted to see as head coach. Isn't Sergei Nemchinov the complete opposite, both in personality and charisma, to his boss? And where will that rocky road take them if the team's modest composition doesn't give any hope for a rebirth of the famed club?

1. A ROOKIE COACH AND A CHAMPION TEAM

Dynamo Moscow was the first club to publicly announce its championship intentions. The task has been entrusted to Sergei Kotov, who comes as a highly regarded specialist but with no experience as head coach of a top-level team. Will the Dynamo tradition of taking home the gold exactly once every five years continue?

The Kontinental Hockey League structure

                      
              Kontinental Hockey League
                  Western Conference
Tarasov Division           Kharlamov Division   

Dynamo Moscow              Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 
CSKA Moscow                Atlant Moscow Oblast 
Spartak Moscow             Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
SKA Saint Petersburg       Severstal Cherepovets
Dinamo Riga                HC MVD                 
Dynamo Minsk               Vityaz Chekhov

                 Eastern Conference
Chernyshev Division          Bobrov Division

Ak Bars Kazan                Salavat Yulaev Ufa
Metallurg Magnitogorsk       Avangard Omsk
Traktor Chelyabinsk          Barys Astana
Lada Togliatti               Sibir Novosibirsk
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk      Amur Khabarovsk
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg   Metallurg Novokuznetsk


                 KHL Labelled Map HERE