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KHL has announced league schedule for 2019/2020 season |
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July 11th - Moscow. KHL has revealed their schedule for the upcoming season with a few tweaks and things that weren't around before.
The puck will officially drop on September 1st in the annual ''Opening Cup'' (previously Lokomotiv Cup to commemorate the tragedy of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl). The first game of the season will be played between last years finalists - CSKA Moscow and Avangard Omsk.
The regular season will run from September 1st to February 27th. A grand total of 744 games will be played between the 24 teams participating.
KHL will also play games outside of their borders. Davos, Almati, and Shenzhen, as well as Tallinn, will get their chance to host games.
December 23rd - KHL World Games in Davos - Switzerland where Salavat Julaev Ufa will host AkBars Kazan.
Almaty Kazakhstan - September 17th and 20th - Barys will host Spartak and Traktor teams.
Shenzhen - will be a temporary home of Kunlun Red Star - for six games - two against each of Salavat Julaev, Neftehimik, and Traktor.
Tallinn - Jokerit making their return to the Estonian capital to host back-to-back games against Severstal.
The full schedule can be found here: https://en.khl.ru/calendar/
Per the press release:
This year’s schedule is also the most even in terms of the spread of games per day (4.89 on average). Over the course of a 62-game campaign, teams will typically play 10-12 games each month and not more than 13 (with the exception of Traktor, which plays 14 games in one month). This means, unlike in previous years, there is no noticeable ‘front-loading’ of games in September and October. For the most part, road trips will not be longer than three games (with a few exceptions early in the season for Kunlun Red Star and Traktor).
Georgy Kobylyansky, KHL Vice-President of Sporting Operations:
Over 11 previous seasons the KHL has accumulated a wealth of experience in drawing up a successful schedule, keeping in mind that every campaign brings its own challenges and requirements. As a result, every year means starting afresh, trying to balance the wishes of all our stakeholders: clubs, national teams and, first and foremost, the fans. Our principal aim is to ensure that it is as easy as possible for everybody to get to see their favorite teams in action and to ensure that a trip to hockey brings only positive emotions. I hope that the schedule for the 2019/20 season is convenient and well-balanced for all concerned and I’m looking forward to seeing you all at the hockey.
KHL's All-Star week will take place in Moscow - the home of Dynamo Moscow in VTB Arena and will feature woman's all-star game that will kick things off on January 11th. The day after junior squads will face-off in the ''Youth Hockey League Challenge Cup''. The skills competition for the KHL itself will take place on January 18th with the All-Star game hosted on January 19th.
Georgy Kobylyansky, KHL Vice President of Hockey Operations:
Our choice of Moscow came after a long process of assessing several candidates, which included some of the most important hockey centers in Russia and Europe. I’d like to remind everyone that this isn’t just about the KHL All-Stars, it’s a full week-long celebration that encompasses three leagues and this is something that has to be taken into account when setting up the event. In the future, the KHL is eager to take the All-Star Week to new locations. Soon we will see new arenas opening in Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Omsk and Nizhny Novgorod, and we will, of course, look closely for opportunities to take our showcase event to these cities. For now, though, we’ve chosen to return to Moscow, where the proposals for 2020 most closely match our criteria and where, most importantly, we can see significant interest and support on behalf of the local authorities.
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