January's finest: Francouz, Larsen, Khokhlachyov and Bikmullin

To mark the end of the fourth full month's play of the tenth season of the Championship, the Kontinental Hockey League has named the best players of January in four categories.

– Best goaltender was Pavel Francouz (Traktor), who helped the Chelyabinsk team win five of their eight matches, including two shutout wins on the road. The 27-year-old Czech achieved a save percentage of 95.64, a goals against average of 1.57, and a shutout series of 128 minutes 49 seconds;

Pavel Francouz, What would I regard as a successful season? Being the champion!

– Best defenseman was Philip Larsen (Salavat Yulaev). The 28-year-old also celebrated five wins in eight games, scoring 7 (1+6) points, recording 26 shots and 7 hits, and averaging 24 minutes 41 seconds on the ice. The Danish D-man did not receive a single negative rating in all January, earning a +6 for the month;

Larsen: I can't spurn the chance to play for Westerlund again

– Best forward was Alexander Khokhlachyov (Spartak), who in eight games tallied 14 (6+8) points, the best total of any player in the League. The 24-year-old Russian notched points in seven games, scored goals in four, hit a hat-trick against Severstal and struck the game-winner in the Moscow derby against Dynamo;

– Best rookie was 20-year-old Neftekhimik forward Rafael Bikmullin, who was given 7 outings in January, for which his account reads 4 (2+2) points, an average ice time of 11 minutes 11 seconds, no negative ratings and a +4 for the month. In the game against Torpedo in Nizhny Novgorod the youngster struck the first goal of his KHL career, and his goal against Vityaz was the game-winner.