London or Dubai, Jokerit or SKA? The KHL Players’ Poll, part 3

In the third part of our new summer feature, we look at more of the opinions of the KHL’s players. The latest part of this year’s survey discusses which team has the best uniform, and which city would be the perfect host for a KHL game on tour. This year’s survey was circulated among all players in the league, and got replies from more than 200 across all of our clubs.

In which new city would you like to play a KHL game?

This question really sparked the imaginations of our players. Only South America, Africa and Antarctica went without a mention. Among the more exotic destinations on the list, we saw Melbourne, Singapore, Punta Cana and Armenia. Several players also voted for their home towns, and several Russian cities featured on the list as well.

Seventh place was shared among four cities, each with 1.5% of the vote. New York, Kaliningrad, Krasnodar and Krasnoyarsk polled equally. These three Russian cities, in diverse corners of this huge country, have varied hockey backgrounds. Krasnoyarsk is home to a VHL team — and notably staged the first ever Russian Classic game back in 2012 when local team Sokol played against a reborn Lokomotiv. Krasnodar has been in the VHL in the past, but thus far Kaliningrad has yet to enjoy pro hockey at all.

Sixth place went to Stockholm (1.9%), familiar to our Swedish players and a regular host of Eurotour internationals.

Moving into the top five, we have Tashkent — currently home to ambitious VHL outfit Humo, a club with plans to make its way into the KHL in the future. The Uzbek capital had 2.4% of the votes, while Italy’s upcoming Winter Olympic host, Milan, came fourth with 3.6%. Paris, a recent World Championship host city came third on the list, but there was a tight battle for top spot between London and Dubai. The British capital narrowly had the edge — 7.3% against 6.8%.

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Публикация от Хоккейный клуб «Ак Барс» (@hcakbars) 13 Янв 2019 в 2:53 PST

Which team has the most stylish uniform?

Most players voted for their current team when asked to choose their favorite jerseys. But that didn’t stop us from identifying a top five of clubs that picked up votes from opposing players. In fifth place we have Salavat Yulaev (5.1%), with the club’s black uniform especially popular. Sibir and Ak Bars (6.6% each) tied in third, with many players approving of the change kit in Kazan.

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Публикация от ХК Сибирь (@hc_sibir) 3 Фев 2020 в 7:20 PST

SKA came second, buoyed by players who liked the special Army-themed kit created for Defenders of the Fatherland day on Feb. 23.

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Публикация от Хоккейный клуб СКА (@hcska) 19 Фев 2020 в 10:55 PST

But the top jersey belongs to Jokerit with 12.6% of the votes. Last season the team unveiled a new black uniform and produced special editions for Hallowe’en and Christmas, making five different uniforms in total.

Suuren kysynnän vuoksi suositut Halloween-paidat on päätetty huutokaupata ensi viikolla.

LUE: https://t.co/vlP0ybvupC#Jokerit #KHLfi pic.twitter.com/8saaO3XeDV

— Helsingin Jokerit (@jokerithc) November 2, 2019