And we’re off ...

The 17th KHL season got underway last week. Here’s a rundown of some of the big moments.

Loko lands its first ever Opening Cup

The 2024-2025 curtain raiser saw Metallurg face Lokomotiv in Magnitogorsk. Last season’s champion fell behind early in the game and looked dead and buried at 0-3. A third-period fightback made it close, but the Railwaymen held on to win it 3-2. It was Lokomotiv’s third appearance in an Opening Cup game, and a first victory for the Yaroslavl team. Previously it lost in the first two KHL seasons.

Quickfire salvo gives Loko a winning start. September 3 round-up

Early pacesetters

Lokomotiv is one of four teams to win its opening two games. The other three are all in the East: Avtomobilist beat Traktor and Sibir, Avangard beat Sibir and Neftekhimik, while Salavat Yulaev won against Ak Bars then took a shoot-out against Traktor. In addition, Dinamo Minsk and HC Sochi have unbeaten records but have played just one game each, against Amur and Spartak respectively.

Groulx, Desyatkov get off the mark

Two head coaches claimed their first ever victories in the KHL – and both at the second attempt. Benoit Groulx, Traktor’s high-profile Canadian appointment, saw his team lose its opening game away at Avtomobilist. However, a trip to Kazakhstan brought a 4-1 victory. For Vityaz, Pavel Desyatkov is starting his first season in the top job. He also suffered an opening loss but responded with a 2-0 verdict against Amur. Avangard’s Sergei Zvyagin also gets a mention: he defeated Sibir 2-1 in his first game as a fully-fledged head coach, but previously won three games in an interim role during last season’s playoffs.

Meanwhile, Anvar Gatiyatulin’s first victory as head coach of Ak Bars was a different kind of milestone: it was also his 200th in the KHL.

Successful returns

One of the themes of the summer was Russian players returning home from North America. Two of them marked their first games back in the KHL with goals. Evgeny Kuznetsov was on target for SKA on his competitive debut for his new team at Metallurg on Thursday. The same day, Alexander Barabanov had a scoring start for Ak Bars at Salavat Yulaev. However, neither player celebrated a win: SKA lost in a shoot-out and Ak Bars went down 3-5 in the green derby. Nathan Todd and Sheldon Rempal scored their first KHL goals on their Ufa debuts in that game.

SKA beaten despite Kuznetsov goal, derby losses for CSKA, Ak Bars. September 5

Slow starters

At the other end of the charts, several teams are still looking for a first win. Amur suffered the most difficult start, failing to score in its opening two games against Dinamo Minsk and Vityaz.. Two other Eastern Conference teams remain without a point: both Lada and Sibir lost their first two. Torpedo and Barys have one point apiece from games that went to OT, but neither have managed a win so far. 

First hat-tricks

The opening week saw play players hit hat-tricks. Admiral’s Yegor Petukhov was first, potting a treble against Kunlun Red Star on Friday. However, he finished on the losing team after the Dragons took a 5-4 OT verdict. Then Petukhov and his team-mates saw CSKA’s Maxim Sorkin score three when the teams met in Moscow. The home team recovered from a slow start to win 6-2 and claim its first victory under Ilya Vorobyov.

Samoilov gets first shut-out of the season

Severstal’s Alexander Samoilov posted the first shut-out of the season. He made 29 saves to frustrate Torpedo in the Steelmen’s 3-0 win on Sep. 4. Five more goalies blanked their opponents in week one: Andrei Kareyev (Dinamo Minsk vs Amur), Maxim Dorozhko (Vityaz vs Amur), Vladimir Galkin (Avtomobilist vs Sibir), Daniil Isayev (Lokomotiv vs Lada) and Artyom Zagidulin (Neftemkhimik vs Metallurg).

Clean play

Week one of the 2024-2025 KHL season did not bring a single major penalty, far less a game penalty. Ak Bars newcomer Nic Petan is currently the man attracting most attention from the officials: he was called for three minors in his first two KHL games. However, the Canadian also has 4 (1+3) points, which should keep his new colleagues happy.

Barys adds another forward

After losing its first two games, Barys went back to the transfer market to secure the acquisition of Chase de Leo. The 28-year-old American made his NHL debut with Winnipeg in 2015-2016, but has played most of his hockey in the AHL. In the last two seasons he captained the San Diego Gulls. In total, he played 527 games for 365 (143+222) points, and made seven NHL appearances. This will be his first time outside of North America.