On Wednesday, the 23rd of May, in the concert hall of Moscow’s Barvikha Luxury Village hotel, the KHL staged the 2017-18 season Closing Ceremony, a glittering gala evening dedicated to celebrating the tenth anniversary season of the Kontinental Hockey League Championship and rewarding some of the many heroes whose talent, skill, and endeavor helped make this special, jubilee season such a spectacular success.
Some of the winners were already known, of course, as the prizes rewarded excellence during the reguar season, while others were known before the Gagarin Cup final, such as the trophies handed out to CSKA Moscow and Ak Bars Kazan for becoming champions of, respectively, the Western and Eastern Conference.
CATEGORY | WINNER |
TIKHONOV CUP Regular season winner |
SKA Saint Petersburg |
GOLDEN STICK Award Regular season MVP |
Nikita GUSEV SKA Saint Petersburg |
TOP SCORER Award Regular season top scorer (goals + assists) |
Ilya KOVALCHUK SKA Saint Petersburg 63 points (31 goals + 32 assists) |
TOP SNIPER Award Regular season top scorer (goals) |
Nigel DAWES Barys Astana 35 goals |
HIGHEST-SCORING DEFENSEMAN Award Regular season top scorer (goals + assists) |
Philip LARSEN Salavat Yulaev Ufa 38 points (11 goals+ 27 assists) |
BEST TROIKA Award Regular season highest-scoring offensive line |
Joonas KEMPPAINEN Linus OMARK Teemu HARTIKAINEN Salavat Yulaev Ufa 42 goals |
BEST PLUS-MINUS Award Highest +/- efficiency rating in regular season |
Maxim SHALUNOV CSKA Moscow +28 after 46 games |
WESTERN CONFERENCE WINNER'S TROPHY | CSKA Moscow |
EASTERN CONFERENCE WINNER'S TROPHY | Ak Bars Kazan |
VSEVOLOD BOBROV Award Highest-scoring team in the regular season |
SKA Saint Petersburg 270 goals |
PLAYOFF MVP Award |
Justin AZEVEDO Ak Bars Kazan |
BEST GOALTENDER Award |
Pavel FRANCOUZ Traktor Chelyabinsk |
Alexei Cherepanov Award for the BEST ROOKIE |
Vitaly KRAVTSOV Traktor Chelyabinsk |
GOLDEN HELMET Award Team of the Season – the six finest players in their respective positions |
|
GOALTENDER |
Pavel FRANCOUZ Traktor Chelyabinsk |
DEFENSEMEN |
Nikita TRYAMKIN Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg Bogdan KISELEVICH CSKA Moscow |
FORWARDS |
Nikita GUSEV SKA Saint Petersburg Justin AZEVEDO Ak Bars Kazan Dmitry KAGARLITSKY Severstal Cherepovets |
GENTLEMAN ON ICE Award Defenseman who combines sporting excellence with exemplary behavior |
Yegor MARTYNOV Avangard Omsk |
GENTLEMAN ON ICE Award Forward who combines sporting excellence with exemplary behavior |
Nikita GUSEV SKA Saint Petersburg |
SERVICES TO HOCKEY Award Best veteran player and ambassador of the game of hockey |
Pavel DATSYUK SKA Saint Petersburg |
SPLIT-SECOND Award For the fastest goal scored in the Championship |
Alexander YELESIN Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 00 minutes 05 seconds |
SPLIT-SECOND Award For the latest goal scored in the Championship |
Mika NIEMI Jokerit Helsinki 142 minutes 19 seconds |
IRON MAN Award Player with the most championship appearances over the last three seasons |
Evgeny TIMKIN Metallurg Magnitogorsk 224 games |
BEST COACH Award |
Zinetula BILYALETDINOV Ak Bars Kazan |
The Andrei Starovoytov GOLDEN WHISTLE Award Best referee of the Championship |
Konstantin OLENIN |
The Mikhail Galinovsky GOLDEN WHISTLE Award Best linesman of the Championship |
Alexander SADOVNIKOV |
VALENTIN SYCH Award Best leader of management at a KHL club |
Nail MAGANOV Ak Bars Kazan |
VLADIMIR PISKUNOV Award Best administrator at a KHL club |
Rustem KASHAPOV Ak Bars Kazan |
ANDREI ZIMIN Award Best doctor at a KHL club |
Ak Bars Kazan Medical Service, represented by club doctor Ilmir KHABIBRAKHMANOV |
WHL PLAYER OF THE SEASON Finest player in Women’s Hockey League |
Olga SOSINA Agidel Ufa |
PRICELESS LEAGUE Award Priceless supporter, priceless player |
Svetlana KOLYAGO Konstantin BARULIN HC Sochi |
Special Award - The SYRIUS PRIZE For a player who wins four of the great honors: Gagarin Cup, Olympic Games, Stanley Cup and World Championship |
Pavel Datsyuk SKA Saint-Petersburg |