The 2021-2022 schedule: just three days without hockey
KHL.ru presents the schedule for the 2021-2022 regular season.
The championship schedule was developed by the KHL’s specialist work group under the guidance of acting vice president for hockey operations Sergei Kozlov and expert Vladimir Zhidkov. As in previous years, much of the scheduling process was automated thanks to our partnership with SAP.
The 2021-2022 regular season schedule:
- Is balanced; keeping extended road trips to a minimum with a view to reducing the risk of fatigue and injury among players;
- Has just three days without games – a record low achieved only once before in the 2019/20 season;
- At the request of HC Lokomotiv, Yaroslavl will stage a game on Sep, 7, the 10th anniversary of the Lokomotiv air disaster;
- ‘Spare’ days are removed from road trips, maximizing potential savings on travel costs;
- Reduces the average number of games per day from 5.21 in the previous Olympic season to 5.1;
- For the vast majority (22 out of 24) clubs, there will be a home game immediately before the New Year holiday, or in the first week of January;
- Every club, with the exception of Kunlun Red Star, will play four games after the Olympics, including at least one home game.
672 games in 130 game days
The 2021-2022 regular season starts on Wednesday, Sep. 1 with the Opening Cup game between Avangard and CSKA in Balashikha. The following day sees Ak Bars, Lokomotiv, Neftekhimik, Severstal, Torpedo, Spartak and Sochi play their first home games. The first stage of the championship will conclude with nine games on March 1. In total there will be 130 game days.
In this Olympic season, each of the 24 clubs will play 56 games: two against every opponent (46 games) and a further 10 encounters with rivals from the same conference.
In line with the IIHF’s international calendar, the KHL schedule has pauses for two stages of the Euro Hockey Tour: Nov. 8-14 (in Finland) and Dec. 13-19 (In Russia). From Jan. 22 to Feb. 21, 2022, the KHL will pause to allow national teams to prepare and compete at the Winter Olympic Games. The sole exception is a game between Dinamo Minsk and Dinamo Riga, scheduled for Jan. 23. There are further breaks planned for the KHL All-Star Game (Jan. 15-16) and the New Year holidays (Dec. 31 – Jan. 1).
The Olympic pause brings a significant reduction in possible game days compared with previous seasons (in 2020/21 there were 142 game days). Despite this, the league managed to spread the games evenly through the season. The average games per day is up slightly compared with last season, from a record low of 4.86 to 5.1. In the last Olympic season in 2017/18, there were 5.21 games per day.
When drawing up the schedule, the KHL always strives to give every team equal conditions, particularly in terms of the rhythm of home games and road trips. This includes both the length of trips and the number of rest days. In addition, the schedulers look to create the easiest travel logistics for each team.
In the upcoming season several teams – particularly Ak Bars, Dynamo Moscow, Jokerit and Spartak – have more non-hockey commitments in their arenas. In accommodating this, we have maintained the best possible rhythm of home and away games for these teams but on occasion it is necessary to set up isolated road games against nearby opposition or play back-to-back games in the same arena. There are nine instances of this in total.
Each year, the league strives to reduce the number of days without a game while maintaining maximum efficiency for teams’ logistics. In 2021-2022 there are just three, equalling the all-time record from the 2019/20 season.
Due to the Olympic pause, each team will have the opportunity for extended preparations ahead of the decisive games of the regular season. This feature is reflected in the schedule, and after the Games each team will play four games with at least one on home ice (Kunlun Red Star is an exception to this, heading out on a tour of the Far East). This enables fans in every city of the KHL to see their teams in person after a one-month break.
Lokomotiv will play on Sep. 7
When creating the 2021-2022 schedule, the league was able to honor almost every club’s requests to play or rest on specific dates. Notably, for the first time since the 2011 air disaster, Lokomotiv will play on Sep. 7. The Yaroslavl club requested a home game on this date and will take on Dinamo Minsk.
Dynamo Moscow, Spartak and SKA all celebrate major anniversaries this season, and each will have a home game on the relevant date.
New line-ups in each division
Due to Admiral’s return to the competition, there are changes in each of the four divisions. Admiral returns to the Chernyshev Division, with Kunlun moving to the Kharlamov. Torpedo goes back to the Western Conference and joins the Bobrov Division, with Severstal going to the Tarasov.
Gagarin Cup climax on April 30
The playoffs will start on March 4 and, if needed, game seven of the Gagarin Cup final would be played on April 30.
After the Olympic pause, our teams need four games to get back into peak game condition, so the post season is delayed slightly. As a result, teams will play back-to-back in the first round of the playoffs for games one and two, then games three and four. This happened in the previous Olympic season, but this time we are able to revert to the usual ‘every other day’ cycle from the second round of the playoffs.
The schedule for the second round is more convenient for live TV broadcast and follows the pattern of the previous season: match-ups from the Eastern and Western conferences will play on the same day, with two series starting on one day and the other two following 24 hours later. As before, the Conference final and Gagarin Cup final series will play every other day.
The puck drops in 54 days. We’ll see you soon at the hockey!
