2011–12 KHL season
| 2011–12 KHL season | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| League | Kontinental Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | 12 September 2011 – 25 April 2012 |
| Number of teams | 23 |
| Regular season | |
| Continental Cup winner |
 Traktor Chelyabinsk
|
| Season MVP |
Alexander Radulov
|
| Top scorer |
Alexander Radulov
|
| Playoffs | |
| Western champions |
Dynamo Moscow
|
| Western runners-up |  SKA Saint Petersburg |
| Eastern champions |
Avangard Omsk
|
| Eastern runners-up | Traktor Chelyabinsk |
| Gagarin Cup | |
| Champions |
Dynamo Moscow
|
| Runners-up | Avangard Omsk |
| Finals MVP |
Alexander Eremenko Dynamo Mosocw |
The 2011–12 KHL season was the fourth season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The regular season began with the Opening Cup game on 7 September 2011, but because of the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster, which occurred during the first period of the Cup game and killed all but one member of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team, further play was delayed until 12 September 2011. The tragedy forced Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to cancel their participation in the KHL season. The Opening Cup was renamed the Lokomotiv Cup in honor of those lost in the tragedy. The regular season ended on 26 February 2012 and the following playoffs ended on 25 April.
The Gagarin Cup was won by Dynamo Moscow, defeating Avangard Omsk in a seven-game final series. Dynamo Moscow is the first champion from the Western Conference of the KHL.
Expansion to Slovakia
With the admission of Lev Poprad from Poprad, Slovakia the league expanded beyond the borders of the former Soviet Union. This brought the number of teams to 24. However, following a plane crash that claimed the lives of the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl squad, Lokomotiv withdrew from the season, leaving only 23 teams as in the previous season.
The regular season was supposed to start on 7 September 2011 with the Opening Cup and end on 26 February 2012 with short breaks in November, December and February for international matches and for the all-star game. However, after the Yaroslavl plane tragedy the schedule had to be modified: the start of the season was postponed to 12 September and the number of games for each team was reduced to 54 as in the previous season, when also only 23 teams participated.
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