From Petersburg to Tashkent
The KHL’s global reach keeps growing. After entering a team in an international event for the first time at the weekend, the league is gearing up for the latest instalment of its World Games project. There’s also a groundbreaking 3x3 event on the horizon, plus the latest transfer news.
KHL World Team makes its debut
For the first time, the KHL entered a representative team in an international tournament. A roster of imports from around the league took part in the Channel 1 Cup in St. Petersburg over the weekend. With Mike Keenan as head coach, the KHL World Team faced Russia 25, Kazakhstan and Belarus in the four-team tournament. The idea was bold, but the challenges of assembling a roster from scratch took a toll. Despite a 3-1 victory over Kazakhstan, the World Team eventually finished third in the competition.
World Games head to Tashkent
There’s more international action on the way next Sunday when the KHL World Games visit Uzbekistan. Spartak will take on Dinamo Minsk in the capital city, Tashkent, as part of the league’s drive to bring top-level hockey to a wider audience. In recent seasons, Uzbekistan has joined the IIHF and started competing in the lower levels of the World Championship. In addition, the 12,000-seater Humo Arena, which will stage Sunday’s game, is also home to Humo Tashkent, currently playing in the Kazakh championship. Uzbekistan will be the 16th country to host a KHL game, and Tashkent the 49th city.
Russia 25 wins Channel 1 Cup
While the KHL World Team made its Channel 1 Cup debut, the tournament went to Russia 25. The host nation drew heavily on SKA St. Petersburg players for this year’s roster, which was intended to give opportunities to emerging international prospects as well as established stars. The Russians won all three games, albeit needing overtime to get past Belarus in game two. SKA duo Marat Khairullin led the team in scoring with 4 (1+3) points, while Evgeny Kuznetsov celebrated his first international action on home ice since 2016 with 3 (1+2) points through three games and was named MVP.
First look at 3x3 hockey
Team Russia also came out in Friday’s 3x3 tournament. Played on a rest day, it gave Petersburg fans a first chance to get a look at this new hockey format. The four teams played four games in an evening – two semi-finals and two placement games – with Russia 25 defeating Kazakhstan before winning 4-2 against Belarus in the final. Kazakhstan edged a 2-1 verdict over the KHL World Team with a goal 12 seconds from the end of the third-place playoff.
KHL 3x3 ready to go
That international tournament underlines Russia’s growing commitment to the 3x3 format, which is a potential Olympic discipline for the 2030 Games. The KHL is at the forefront of efforts to promote and develop the game and, starting Thursday, launches its own 3x3 championship. Eight established KHL teams are entering the tournament, which will play a 24 regular-season rounds before a summer playoff that concludes in July. At least one player on each roster must have extensive KHL experience – either 200 career games or 80 appearances through the last five seasons. The opening round of competition will be played in Moscow from Dec. 19-22.
Boucher arrives in Omsk
Avangard’s new head coach Guy Boucher made his long-awaited arrival in Omsk – and within hours of touching down in Siberia he and his assistant Dave Barr went out on the ice for his first practice with the team. After that first session, he spoke to the media and confirmed that he wants his team to produce fast and aggressive hockey. He also warned that the players’ physical conditioning is something he’ll be looking at as the Hawks look to shrug off a slow start to the season and secure a playoff spot.
All-Star rosters complete
The final selections for the 2025 Fonbet KHL All-Star Game were confirmed last week. After the fan poll and media nominations, the league’s representatives picked a further 11 players. Prominent names included SKA’s top defenseman Alexander Nikishin, Amur’s star forward Alex Galchenyuk and Ak Bars’ powerful defenseman Nikita Lyamkin. Every club will be represented in Novosibirsk, while seven of the league’s 11 picks – and 18 out of the final 40 – will make their first All-Star appearances.
Perlini joins Spartak
Former Coyotes, Blackhawks, Red Wings and Oilers winger Brendan Perlini has joined Spartak Moscow. The 28-year-old Anglo-Canadian inked a deal until the end of the season. In total, Perlini has 262 NHL appearances for 81 (50+31) points. Perlini has prior experience of European hockey after a spell in Switzerland in 2020/2021, and spent the last two seasons in the AHL.
Traktor adds cup-winning defenseman
Logan Day, a two-time Calder Cup winner, is on his way to Traktor after inking a deal until the end of the season. The 30-year-old American was part of the Hershey Bears AHL-winning roster in the last two seasons. However, he has not featured this term and took the chance to join Benoit Groulx’s team and explore hockey outside of North America for the first time in his career.
