2010–11 KHL season | |
---|---|
League | Kontinental Hockey League |
Sport | Ice hockey |
Duration | 8 September 2010 – 16 April 2011 |
Number of teams | 23 |
Regular season | |
Continental Cup winner | Avangard Omsk |
Season MVP |
Alexander Radulov Salavat Yulaev Ufa |
Top scorer |
Alexander Radulov Salavat Yulaev Ufa |
Playoffs | |
Western champions | Atlant Moscow Oblast |
Western runners-up | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl |
Eastern champions | Salavat Yulaev Ufa |
Eastern runners-up | Metallurg Magnitogorsk |
Gagarin Cup | |
Champions | Salavat Yulaev Ufa |
Runners-up | Atlant Moscow Oblast |
Finals MVP |
Konstantin Barulin Atlant Moscow Oblast |
The 2010–11 KHL season was the third season of the Kontinental Hockey League. It was held from 8 September 2010 and ended on 16 April 2011.
The season started with the Opening Cup game between the last season's finalists, Ak Bars Kazan and UHC Dynamo, the new team that was created by merging last season's Western conference winner HC MVD with Dynamo Moscow.
Salavat Yulaev Ufa won the Gagarin Cup and the Russian Championship after beating Atlant Moscow Oblast 4–1 in the play-off final series.
Folding of Lada Togliatti
Lada Togliatti dropped out of the league and joined the Russian Major League instead, after failing to meet the league's financial requirements.
Merger of HC MVD and Dynamo Moscow
On 30 April 2010, it was announced that HC MVD would merge with Dynamo Moscow to form UHC Dynamo, which for the time being will play the majority of their games at Megasport Arena in Moscow, while also attempting to play some games in Balashikha. The current plan is to have a new, large and modernized arena constructed in Balashikha by 2012.
Expansion teams
By the deadline of 1 April 2010, six new teams from four different countries applied for KHL membership for this season: HC Yugra, Krylya Sovetov Moscow and Gazovik Tyumen from Russia; HC Budivelnyk from Kiev, Ukraine; HC Lev from Hradec Králové, Czech Republic; and Vėtra Vilnius from Lithuania. Of these teams, Budivelnyk and Yugra were initially accepted into the KHL, but on 24 June 2010 Budivelnyk announced it is unable to participate in the KHL in the 2010–11 season because their stadium is not ready. On 16 July 2010, HC Lev, which in the meantime has been moved to Poprad in Slovakia, was accepted into the KHL, but after the Slovak Hockey Federation's delay to give permit to the team, the KHL excluded Lev from the 2010–11 season.